Epstein’s Parent Engagement Model: How To Make an Impact

Introduction

Anyone working in school communication and fostering positive school cultures should familiarize themselves with Joyce L. Epstein and Associates’ impressive (and cohesive) book, School, Family, and Community Partnerships – Your Handbook for Action.

Epstein’s practical school-home partnership action plan, backed up with an educational research, is a gold standard of building partnerships with families and bridging the gap not just between school and home, but also between the school and community. What is powerful about the Joyce L. Epstein’s model is how the three spheres -school, home, and community- influence child, overlapping and supporting each other’s work.

The three interconnected spheres work seamlessly in the child’s life without divisiveness. Epstein (2009, p. 11) gives tangible examples of how school should feel more like home, homes should feel more like school, and communities should provide enriching educational experiences for families. Consider it a triple effect when school, home, and the community sync together in a partnership to benefit students’ learning and academic outcomes.  

Here are some key takeaways from the Epstein framework – and practical model – that power the evolution of School Signals and guide our vision.

Number One: School Communication Systems Must Unlock Both Institutional and Individual Levels of Communication

Joyce L. Epstein identifies two communication levels: the institutional level, which includes communication to all families, and the individualized level, which encompasses communication between a parent and a teacher. Both levels provide opportunities to connect with families. Schools must make sure in their communication action plan that communication is easy and engagement effective not just between a teacher and a parent but also school-wide. 

The School Signals approach: The problem of using multiple siloed platforms and apps is that they not only divert attention and are hard to keep up with, but they also dilute the messaging from official to unofficial, making it hard to know which communication represents the school’s voice. School Signals works to unify all school-related communication. It is one platform for all school communication, encompassing institutional and individualized levels. There is power in a unified app where both levels of school communication are in balance, teachers and parents are supported by the administration, and everyone is aware of the selected communication platform.

Number Two: Digital School Communication Shouldn’t Remove the Child’s Role in Connecting School and Family

Epstein brings up the vital role of a student in the school-home communication. She regards students’ role highly valuable in connecting school and home. Students are not just messengers, but they actively navigate between school and home, bridging the gap. While modern school communication methods via apps and various direct notification methods remove some of the traditional messenger role from the student, we should keep students in focus when planning communication models. After all, schools are about students, and keeping students at the front and center is essential. For example, the recent student-led parent-teacher conference model suggests that students proudly showcase their work and enjoy being active members between the school and home.

The School Signals approach: At School Signals, we recommend that the students still deliver some paper-based communication while teachers safeguard/reference the information in the app. For instance, communication that directly relates to them, such as best homework practices, that benefit from parent-child communication, is best delivered and initiated directly by the child.

Number Three: Language Translation In a School Communication App Is Essential

Epstein repeats the need for language translations and sees it as a benchmark of an inclusive school community. Translation tools and community support is essential for families who do not speak English and/or don’t have community connections to help them navigate a school system that is somewhat foreign to them. (See article on how to build connections with ESL families.)

Translating communication to a recipient’s language is a clear and, quite frankly, straightforward benchmark of an inclusive school community. Today, thanks to AI technology, translation solutions are very accessible and can be integrated as part of the school communication solution. When schools form a communication plan, it’s vital to check on the language translation needs and ensure that any school communication application that the school adopts has adequate translation tools.

The School Signals approach:  In School Signals, parents set their preferred language, and the school communication is automatically translated into their native language. We work closely with schools to ensure every needed language is included in our translation service.

Number Four: All Parents Are Part of the Partnership. Easy Volunteer Sign-up System is an Essential Part of School Engagement Software.

Epstein emphasizes in her research that school communication and parent volunteering must be inclusive and reach the whole parent community. The author underlines that volunteer opportunities shouldn’t be limited to school hours but should extend to community partnerships and off-school hours to get all parents involved. Additionally, volunteer opportunities should be culturally inclusive, and all families’ knowledge, including those who are not as educated or come from other countries, should be valued. When families navigate the three spheres -school, home, and community- extending the opportunities to local community partnership programs makes sense.

The School Signals approach: At School Signals, admins, teachers, and parent admins can set volunteer opportunities for evening hours and weekends to maximize parent participation. Additionally, volunteer opportunities can be set for recurring needs or on an event basis. Also, please stay tuned for our volunteer hour feature that motivates parents to participate and provides organizers a clear window into earned volunteer hours. Regardless, schools should recognize that just like in fundraising, where all contributions matter, volunteering is an effort valued in building the fibers of a positive school climate and culture.

Number Five: Parents, including Parent Organizations, Must Be Involved in the Decision Making. A Unified School Communication Platform Includes Parent Groups.

Epstein writes, “Include parents in school decisions, developing parent leaders and representatives.” (2009, Epstein and Ass., p. 16) However, when it comes to operating parent-driven school engagement, many parent organizations communicate in a silo. They may self-organize a WhatsApp group or a text message thread. While this may be a quick approach to connect with a handful of parents, it misses several benchmarks, such as:

• Not connecting with the broader school community and being able to reach out to get new members.
• Not bridging the communication gap between school leaders and parents, and missing out on collaboration opportunities between teachers and staff.
• Not providing communication transparency in case of a dispute or conflict.

The School Signals approach: Parent groups operate and communicate on the same communication platform as the school community. Parent group leaders and classroom parents are given practical communication tools to connect with the school community already using the system. The school leaders recognize the critical interconnected work parents are doing, and support their efforts by selecting a platform that empowers parent-to-parent communication.

Family Engagement Committees, comprised of staff, teachers and parents, get practical tools to conduct their work.

Number Six: School Events Facilitate Positive School Communities. School Communication Includes Events Engagement.

With her framework of six types of involvement in creating school-family partnerships, Epstein reminds us to consider school events broadly as tools to facilitate partnership building. She sees parenting support as a cornerstone of school-home partnerships, and reminds that school events should include hosting parenting workshops, seminars, and courses. Likewise, schools can promote local community events that support parenting and education. (2009, Epstein and Ass., p. 16-17)

The School Signals approach: School events are front and central in the School Signals communication, where events can be shared effectively, and event hubs foster conversations and positive buzz. Include event RSVPs, volunteering sign-ups, pictures, and post-event feedback forms.

Number Seven: Parent Engagement and Its Impact Needs to Be Measured. School Communication Platforms Should Be Equipped with the Tools.

Epstein suggests forming a one-year action plan for school-parent partnerships, and upon completion, measuring the successes of the program and identifying shortcomings. Feedback can be gathered throughout the year after school events and parent activities, and a larger evaluation may be conducted every few years district-wide. Since wide-scale surveying may take ample resources, Epstein suggests smaller-scale focus group interviews to gather parent feedback.

The School Signals approach: School Signals comes with a built-in custom online forms creation system, and a template forms library filled with parent feedback forms. School administrators, teachers, and parent leads can customize and create feedback and survey forms and use pre-set templates. The forms are contextually displayed where they belong, whether an event feedback form, a parent-teacher conference feedback form, or a parent engagement survey. Anonymous form filling is supported to receive honest and straightforward feedback.

The Takeaway

In our digital era, we expect to be connected and informed. Yet scattered apps and fragmented channels have made it harder to achieve. Who is in charge? Who is included? How is communication coordinated?

Joyce L. Epstein’s school-home partnership model states that partnerships are strongest when communication is clear, shared, and steady across the three spheres of school, family, and community. Family Engagement Committees can support this work and make sure communication aligns with mutually shared goals.

Above, we’ve identified ways the School Signals platform is built per Epstein’s principles to foster the school-home partnership. Students feel the positive difference when families and schools are rooted in the same conversations and the shared community.

Note

School, Family, and Community Partnerships – Your Handbook for Action by Joyce L. Epstein and Associates has four editions. This post refers to the third edition, published in 2009. The book, both the third and fourth edition, is available in book stores nation-wide.