More than a year and a half into a global pandemic, one thing is clear: what we’ve done in the past — our well-intentioned newsletters, our robo-calls, our dozens of flyers and emails and links home isn’t going to cut it. 

Families, for the most part, were bolstered by the roles we encouraged them to play in supporting their students during the pandemic. They engaged us as never before and, in many ways, schools made their voices feel heard and valued. Emerging research reveals that, in the years ahead, families want and expect more access to their child’s learning. 

To make the most of this opportunity, educators must be willing to reinvent their approach to engaging and communicating with families. 

At minimum, that means: 

• Providing robust family engagement training
• Facilitating deep exploration into and around things like culture, equity, and systemic barriers to school-home communication and relationships that power these engagements 
• Infusing clear, effective and meaningful school communication practices into every aspect of our day-to-day operations, from greeting students at the door or online, to reaching out to parents and answering questions

When it comes to school-home communication, your work must include a deep dive into the philosophy and science of effective engagement, strategies for what works and what doesn’t, and practical solutions to removing common barriers that stand between schools and homes. 

Your strategy should address the following:

• How to translate the ‘edu-speak,’ big words, and acronyms that sneak their way into our communications into everyday language
• How to strike a tone of “partnership” with families
• How to provide the “right” amount of information in way that that information can be easily received and understood by parents and others
• How to engage stakeholders with activities and calls to action that are understandable and “doable”
• How to make the most of non-verbal communication, like tone and body language
• How to navigate challenging and emotionally charged conversations
• How to engage parents and caregivers in the work of improving school-home communication
• How to infuse effective communication concepts and practices at every external touchpoint throughout the district or school 

It may have taken a pandemic to truly open our eyes to the issues around school-home communication, but here’s the good news: We now know what we need to do. That realization is the first step toward creating true partnerships between our schools and homes.

Interested in ways to close the loop between your school or district and families? Want a framework and tools to empower staff and build relationships?

Patricia Weinzapfel is an author and one of the nation’s leading voices of the power of clear and effective school-home communication. Check out her School Communication Masterclass Professional Learning series on RocketPD and sign up or book a 30-minute conversation to learn more about the work.

It took a global pandemic to make it crystal clear: The old way of doing school-home communication just doesn’t work.

Maybe it’s the cumbersome language and acronyms that educators use, or our often authoritative, sometimes dismissive tone, or the overwhelming amount of information that gets sent home in backpacks and via email and apps each day. Before we can get better at how we communicate with families, we need to unpack the many reasons school-home communication misses its mark.

Here are nine reasons why your school-home communication strategy is broken.  

Educators are busy

In all the many demands that make up your day, sending home that note, making the positive phone call, working to make sure you’ve come up with the right “partnership” word on that flyer can feel… impossible. Finding the will, and a way, to extend the same high level of effort and communication to every student and family is hard work.

What to do about it: break through all the noise and distractions. Rather than position school-home communication as one more thing your teachers and staff need to do, show them how embedding clear and effective communication into their daily routine can save them time and make their jobs easier.

Educators don’t know how to talk to parents

Very few educators have had classes in communication. Very few have had classes in family engagement. The absence of training and professional knowledge often makes the idea of communicating with parents and others intimidating. 

What to do about it: Show teachers and staff that you care about helping them build relationships with parents. Recognize that this particular skill set is not part of most educators’ traditional classroom training. Consider offering programs and incentives to help them acquire the skills and confidence to engage families in positive ways. That includes developing stronger two-way communication skills and learning to navigate the challenges and pitfalls of negative feedback, anger and complaints. 

Educators are stressed to the max

It’s hard to find the time to practice self-care. When we don’t take time to take care of ourselves, that stress often comes out in our school-home communication and in our interactions with families. Intellectually, we know that engaging and communicating with families works, we just need to find the physical bandwidth and space to make it happen. 

What to do about it: Focus on programs that promote personal well-being and mindfulness. Adult SEL and other initiatives focus on providing teachers and staff with the support, headspace and everyday routines and practices needed to reduce stress, depressurize and bring their A-game to work every day. 

We think we are the ‘authorities’

All day long, we find ourselves repeating, “Masks up!” and “Walk on the right side of the hallway.” We are, and have to be, the authorities on these topics. At the very least, we have to keep kids safe. But, when it comes time to communicate with families, it’s often hard for us as educators to shift gears, from that authoritative tone to one that is softer and conveys partnership and empathy with parents and adult guardians.  

What to do about it: Work with your team to recognize the context of the situation or situations in which clear and effective communication is required. Model the difference between in-school communication versus school-home communication through role play and provide tactics and strategies for adjusting the approach to the situation.

We’re locked inside our own ‘social bubbles’

Education is a bubble. Everyone knows everyone. It makes sense. We form friendships and fall in love with the people who we work with. That means educators often socialize with educators. In these circles, we continue to use our big education terms and acronyms with each other. This makes communication with our peers easy. But, when we use the same language with people outside of our social bubble — parents and caregivers, for example — those same words and terms cause the conversation to break down. 

What to do about it: Consider providing your team with a list of suggested alternative words and/or phrases to use when talking to parents or other community members. Draft a printable resource that they can send to their phone or hang up on their office wall to remind them of the different words and terms to use when talking directly to parents. Coach them on alternative approaches, methods or ways of communicating. Doing so, will make them more accessible to parents and guardians, and lay a foundation that they can nurture and build over time.

We rely on checklists

Who doesn’t love a checklist?!? I’m a huge fan. But when educators take the approach of ‘I sent home the newsletter… I communicated,’ we are not necessarily closing the communication loop. Effective school-home communication needs to be a two-way exchange between the school and the home. In addition to listening and sharing information, we need to always go the extra mile to confirm that a parent or stakeholder has both heard and understood the message.  

What to do about it: Don’t assume. Work with teachers and staff. Demonstrate not only what to do physically when talking with parents, but what questions to ask in follow-up to ensure that (1) your message has been received and (2) that a satisfactory response has been issued or next steps and expectations made clear.  

We are scared

The prospect of picking up the phone to call someone who doesn’t look like us, or someone we don’t know, is scary. It’s scary to have to facilitate a challenging conversation with a parent or send home a report that’s likely to get a negative reaction. This fear stems from the unknown. 

What to do about it: The more we are prepared for these conversations and communications, the more we can go into them with the open heart needed to form relationships with families that result in student success.

We don’t want to change

To truly close the communication loop, we will have to listen to families. That means being open to change. We have to be willing to change our approach, change our policies, change our priorities, change the way we do things, based on new perspectives and what we learn through listening.

What to do about it: Make sure your staff know that change is OK. Give them the space and the agency to make reasonable changes in how they engage and connect with families and other stakeholders. If they aren’t sure about a change, make sure they know who to ask, or where to go for approval. This will reduce the risk and make them more apt to try new things.

We simply don’t ‘believe’
Some educators just don’t believe families have the capacity to support learning at home. Or, they think families don’t care, or don’t have time, or have nothing to contribute, or… There are lots of reasons. The bottom line? These are often just negative assumptions. 

What to do about it: When we communicate effectively with families, and close the loop, parents and teachers can work together to contribute to the success of their students. Research shows us this is possible. Time and time again, our everyday practice confirms it. 

So, where do we go from here? 

In the years ahead, as we look to reinvent education and respond to the effects of a global pandemic, our schools will need families and the intimate knowledge and expertise that only they can provide. 

That means taking time to craft our messages, providing effective training in school-home communication and family engagement, and always doing everything we can to close the communication loop.

Interested in ways to close the communication loop between your school or district and families? Want a framework and tools to empower staff and build relationships? 

Patricia Weinzapfel is an author and one of the nation’s leading voices of the power of clear and effective school-home communication. Check out her School Communication Masterclass Professional Learning series on RocketPD and sign up or book a 30-minute conversation to learn more about the work.

Closing the loop between student performance, mental health and school-home communication

When it comes to school-home communication, schools are on the cusp of change.

Pre-pandemic, closing the communication loop with families — aka seeking out that rich information that helps students succeed — had often been last on a long list of “to dos.”

Now, as I travel the nation working with schools and school districts, I’m seeing many educators move communicating with families to the top of their task lists. 

And it isn’t just me.

In one national Brookings study, 41% of parents polled during the pandemic said they wanted their child’s school or teachers to communicate more.

An academic paper published by the Center on Reinventing Public Education this summer, cited parents’ mounting frustrations with uneven school-home communication, especially among minority and low-income families, saying simply, “don’t leave me out.”

That’s because parents know that, in the years ahead, as they work to help their children, both academically and mentally, through things like better social-emotional learning and accelerated learning, they will need an open line with schools and teachers.

Schools and teachers, for their part, know that they will need information and knowledge about students that only parents and/or their guardians can reasonably provide.

Here’s why school-home communication needs to be a part of your strategic vision this year:

Families are experts in their children

I have three children. And I often say, I am not an expert in Algebra. In fact, I’m pretty lousy at math. But, I am an expert in Benjamin. I’ve known that kid since the day he was born. 

A quick story for context: 

Benjamin, now in college, was a squirrely kid growing up. I remember his elementary school held a big meeting to talk about how to help him stay on task. At the time, Benjamin attended a public elementary school that required uniforms. The school decided that if Benjamin got his work done, he could have a “Free-Dress Friday.” 

I was not at the meeting. If I was, I could have told them, Benjamin doesn’t care what he wears. At his college, he’s one of those “shorts guys” that wears shorts all the time… and he attends school in upstate New York!

If the school had communicated with me, if I had been asked to share my knowledge about Benjamin beforehand, I would have suggested the teacher allow him to make dinosaur origami — something he really liked and felt passionate about at the time — when he finished his work, but no one asked me.

In the years ahead, schools need to create mechanisms for families to share their expertise about their children. Parents and guardians simply have access to more and valuable information about what motivates their children, empowers them, and helps them feel safe. 

Families are the experts in their family cultures

When schools communicate with families, and really listen, they learn things that they can use to support students.

Say, for example, you have a student who is the first in their family to graduate from high school.  It would help to know that fact, so that you can customize support for that student. Or, say you have a student whose family just moved to the United States. Knowing that might help you build and nurture a stronger connection to both the student and the family.  

In the years ahead, stronger school-home communication will serve as a bridge between family and school cultures, creating learning pathways and new opportunities for development and collaboration.

Families can change our assumptions

We all do it: make assumptions about students and about families. The danger is that these assumptions can creep into the way we reach and teach our students. When we take time to really get to know the family of a student, perhaps through a regular phone call, meeting, or a home visit, this experience often changes our assumptions. 

The more we authentically get to know our students and their families, the more we can build the relationships that lead to learning and, more importantly, that accelerate learning. 

Families are our most powerful partners

It’s never been more obvious: Schools need families, and families need schools. As we begin to address the issues created during the pandemic, we can build on that mutual need to engender trust and good will.

Moving forward, schools need families to reinforce and extend learning from the classroom into the home. Schools need families to tell them how their children are doing and feeling. And schools need to know the different family traditions and activities to incorporate into the classroom to create seamless learning. 

In the past year and a half, many parents and caregivers experienced access and exposure to our education system in ways not previously seen. They got glimpses of the classroom while peeking over their students’ shoulders during virtual lessons. For the first time, many parents talked with teachers about their child’s progress and attended virtual events. They experienced what it feels like when communication highways between the school and the home open up and they want those highways to stay open.

As educators, we have a window of opportunity to welcome families into learning in a way not done before. But that means communicating more intentionally. It’s time to go beyond the newsletters and automated phone calls to make real, meaningful connections with students and families.

If we don’t communicate effectively, using words families understand, taking a partnership tone and approach to communications and providing “just right ” useful, actionable information, this opportunity will close, possibly for good.  

There is no doubt: out of tumult comes change. It’s up to us to make sure that change is for the better. As we slowly emerge from this pandemic, it’s up to us as educators to close the school-home communication loop once and for all.

Interested in ways to close the loop between your school or district and families? Want a framework and tools to empower staff and build relationships? 

Patricia Weinzapfel is an author and one of the nation’s leading voices of the power of clear and effective school-home communication. Check out her School Communication Masterclass Professional Learning series on RocketPD and sign up or book a 30-minute conversation to learn more about the work.