As schools around the country have started a new school year, we know that family engagement and building family-school partnerships will be one thing that educators, school and district leaders will be thinking about. Research demonstrates that family engagement can lead to stronger academic success and better school attendance for children, as well as increased skills among parents to advocate for their children, and more collaboration between families and schools. But the reality remains that there are few options for training available to educators on how to actually do this work of engaging families.
The FAST Institute of Family Engagement provides the training educators need to be confident and capable in partnering with families. Over the course of a year, educators receive professional development sessions, ongoing coaching and support, as well as assessment and feedback. The result? Educators have the skills, knowledge, and confidence to build strong relationships with families, to create a welcoming school environment, and to establish practices that help link family engagement to learning.
Families & Schools Together received funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to pilot the FAST Institute in 15 schools in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) over the last two years. You can read more about the FAST Institute, how it is positioned within the broader field and ties into the latest research, as well as key learnings from our partnership with MPS.