Engage Every Family: Five Simple Principles

Foreword
Preface
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1: Would Every Family Choose You?
Customers Make Paydays Possible
Every Opportunity Is a Marketing Opportunity
Some Ideas to Get Started
Reality, Perceptions, and Beliefs
Finally, the Secret to Success!
The Importance of Caring
The Importance of Process
The Need for Leadership
Chapter 2: A Quick Note About Motivating Teachers
Three Kinds of Teachers: A Slightly Humorous Look
Can I Get a Copy of That?
My Dumb Idea
Chapter 3: Equity, Bias, and Family Disengagement
Isn’t Forever Long Enough?
What Is Equity?
Culturally Responsive Family Engagement
Implicit Bias
Why Do Families Disengage?
The Cycle of Disengagement
Why Some Families Stay Away From Schools
The Very Few
Case Study: Ernest B.
Chapter 4: Engaging Every Family in Middle and High School
Why Do Families Disengage From Secondary Schools?
Academic Socialization and Home-Based Engagement
Designing Family Engagement at the Secondary School Level
Chapter 5: An Introduction to the Five Simple Principles
Where to Start
Introducing the Five Simple Principles
The Logic Model
The Five Simple Principles Further Defined
Chapter 6: Principle #1: A Culture that Engages Every Family
Culture Drives Everything
Cultures and Subcultures
Cultural Challenges
Breaking the Cycle
School Culture Defined
School District Inconsistency with Families
Start With Policy
Culture Case Study: The Science Project
Creating a Culture to Engage Every Family
Chapter 7: Principle #2: Communicate Effectively and Develop Relationships
It’s the Little Things
Case Study: I Know What They Think of Me
Understanding the Importance of Relationships
With Families
Working With the “Hard to Reach”
Home Visits
Working With Families With Limited English Proficiency
Engaging With Families of Children With Special Needs
Case Study: Jonathan and the Self-Contained English Class
The Role of Fear and Trust in Relationships With Families
Case Studies: What Could Have Been Done Differently?
Ideas to Promote Trusting Relationships Between Schools and Every Family
The Welcoming Environment of Schools
Customer Service
Welcoming Every Family
Issues and Solutions in Communicating With Families
Connecting Communication and Relationships With Technology
Communicate Effectively and Build Relationships
Chapter 8: Principle #3: Build Family Efficacy
What Is Efficacy?
The Weekly Folder
Creating the Transparent School
Case Study: Class Isn’t the Same Without You
Family–Student–Teacher Conferences
Do We Need to Interact With Every Family?
What Motivates Families?
Interactive Homework Design: Invisible Engagement
Sharing Data With Families
Case Study: Trying to Talk to the Math Teacher
Case Study: Teaching Responsibility?
A Critical Component of Inviting Family Participation
Building Successful Relationships That Promote Family Efficacy
Chapter 9: Principle #4: Engage Every Family In Decision Making
Problems and Solutions
Where We Are Today
Let Every Family Have a Say
A Working Definition
How to Select Families
Getting Back to the Tip of the Spear
Case Study: The Uniform Policy
Chapter 10: Principle #5: Engage The Greater Community
The Power of Community
Social Capital and Modern School–Community Partnerships
Community Schools and Asset Mapping
The Advantages of Community Schools
The Start of an Asset Map
The Idea of Collective Impact
How Community Connections Can Help
The Necessary Ingredients for Successful Community Engagement
The Benefits of Engaging the Community
Additional Benefits of School–Community Partnerships
Designing Community Engagement
Chapter 11: Taking Action And Measuring Success
Start with Data
Goal Statements
Now It’s Your Turn
Engage Every Family: Five Simple Principles
Epilogue: Exceeding Expectations
Two Huge Questions
References
Index

For over twenty-five years, Dr. Steve Constantino has captivated thousands of teachers, administrators, school board members, and businesspeople from the United States and around the world. His keynote presentations and workshops have been featured in local, state, regional, national, and international conferences. Working as a high school principal in 1995, he stumbled across research about the effects of family engagement on student learning and was immediately convinced that this was the missing ingredient in helping all children learn.

Steve¿s work quickly gained national prominence, and soon he began traveling the United States, speaking, and working with all types of educators, school board members, and businesses to promote sound practices in family engagement that result in increased academic achievement for all students. His natural gifts as a motivating orator, coupled with his knowledge and practical experience, make him one of the most sought-after speakers in the field of family engagement.

Steve began his career as an instrumental music teacher and later became an assistant principal, principal, deputy superintendent, and district superintendent. Steve is the former chief academic officer and acting superintendent of public instruction for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Steve is an executive professor at the William & Mary School of Education where he teachers in the Education Policy, Planning and Leadership department and continues to travel the globe helping schools, districts, and organizations to engage every family.

New and Improved - Revisit Five Simple Principles and Engage With Every Family
Join Dr. Steve Constantino as he outlines a pathway and process to engage every family on the journey toward improved student learning, including the traditionally disengaged. Revisions and additions include updated research to ensure a firmer foundation for each of its five simple principles as well as:
?       A deeper dive into the idea of empowering families to work alongside teachers for improved learning
?       A subtle switch from building to developing relationships, and how trust is at the core of that difference
?       Reflections about implicit bias, equitable learning outcomes, and the role family engagement plays