Integrating Family Engagement Into School Improvement: The Boston Model

Expanding Family Engagement Through Coordinated District Strategies

Building on the success of the Office of Family and Student Engagement (OFSE) and Family and Community Outreach Centers (FCOCs), Boston Public Schools (BPS) have also implemented aligned strategies that integrate these efforts into the district’s broader academic and equity goals. A key development is the integration of family engagement into school improvement plans (SIPs). Principals are now tasked with outlining how they will engage families to support student achievement. This requirement ensures that family engagement is not treated as a standalone initiative but rather as a critical component of instructional leadership and school accountability. It also aligns with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's guidance on family engagement as a driver of student success and school improvement¹.

Another practical step has been the use of family liaisons in schools, who act as cultural brokers and communication facilitators between families and educators. These positions, often filled by individuals from the local community, are crucial in addressing language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, and trust gaps. By being present in the school daily and accessible to families, liaisons help personalize outreach and ensure that families feel welcomed and heard. Research shows that when schools hire dedicated staff to focus on family partnerships, student attendance improves, and disciplinary incidents decrease, particularly in schools serving high-poverty communities².

Professional Development and Capacity Building for Educators

Another essential component of BPS’s family engagement efforts has been a strong emphasis on professional development. The OFSE offers ongoing training to educators focused on building relational trust with families, understanding diverse cultural norms, and engaging in two-way communication. These sessions are often co-facilitated by family members who share their lived experiences, helping educators gain authentic insight into the communities they serve. This peer-informed learning model has increased empathy and improved communication between school staff and families³.

Additionally, BPS has developed a “Family Engagement Toolkit” that school leaders can use to guide staff development and planning. The toolkit includes sample communication plans, event templates, feedback forms, and guidance on how to evaluate engagement activities for effectiveness. By equipping schools with concrete tools and frameworks, the district encourages a consistent approach across schools while allowing room for site-specific customization. A 2022 evaluation of the toolkit’s use found that schools with high implementation fidelity reported increased family participation in instructional activities, such as academic nights and student-led conferences⁴.

Leveraging Data to Strengthen Family-School Collaboration

BPS has also advanced their family engagement work by incorporating data collection and analysis into their strategy. Through annual family surveys and feedback loops, the district gathers information on families’ perceptions of school climate, communication effectiveness, and opportunities for involvement. These survey results are disaggregated by race, language, and neighborhood to identify patterns and inform targeted responses. For example, when data showed that Somali-speaking families were less likely to attend parent-teacher conferences, schools partnered with local community-based organizations to host culturally responsive family events in accessible locations⁵.

Schools also use student performance data in family meetings to co-create learning goals and action plans. This approach transforms traditional family engagement from passive information-sharing to active partnership. Teachers are trained to present assessment data in plain language and elicit input from families about how best to support learning at home. This strategy aligns with national best practices that emphasize shared decision-making over compliance-oriented communication⁶. By grounding conversations in data, schools and families can focus their collaboration on concrete academic outcomes.

Strengthening Community Partnerships for Holistic Support

Beyond school walls, BPS has deepened its partnerships with community-based organizations (CBOs) to provide wraparound services that complement academic instruction. These partnerships are often brokered through FCOCs, which serve as hubs for connecting families to services such as housing assistance, mental health counseling, and food access. Partnerships with local health centers have also enabled schools to host vaccination clinics and health screenings, reducing barriers that disproportionately affect low-income students’ ability to attend and succeed in school⁷.

These collaborations reflect a growing recognition in municipal education systems that student learning is inextricably linked to social determinants of health and wellness. By embedding community partners into the fabric of school life, BPS strengthens its capacity to meet the diverse needs of students and families. Municipal governments play a critical role in facilitating these partnerships by convening stakeholders, aligning funding streams, and ensuring that services are culturally relevant and equitably distributed. Strategic use of municipal resources, such as community centers and libraries, further supports this integrated approach⁸.

Implications for Municipal Practitioners and Education Leaders

For municipal government practitioners looking to replicate or adapt BPS’s strategies, several actionable insights emerge. First, it is essential to institutionalize family engagement through policy and planning frameworks. Embedding family engagement metrics into school accountability systems ensures that these efforts are sustained and prioritized. Second, investing in staff positions dedicated to relationship-building, such as family liaisons, can dramatically enhance trust and two-way communication with historically marginalized communities. These roles should be funded and supported as part of core school operations, not relegated to short-term grants.

Third, municipal leaders should facilitate cross-sector collaboration to address non-academic barriers to learning. Coordinated partnerships between education, health, housing, and social services can create a more comprehensive support system for students and families. This requires intentional coordination across departments, data-sharing agreements, and a shared commitment to equity. Finally, practitioners must commit to continuous improvement by collecting and acting on feedback from families. Authentic engagement is not a one-time activity but a sustained process of listening, adapting, and co-creating solutions with those most affected by educational inequities⁹.

Bibliography

1. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. “Family and Community Engagement.” Accessed April 2024. https://www.doe.mass.edu/sfce.

2. Weiss, Heather B., M. Elena Lopez, and Holly Kreider. *Preparing Educators to Engage Families: Case Studies Using an Ecological Systems Framework*. Sage Publications, 2014.

3. Boston Public Schools. “Office of Family and Student Engagement: Professional Development Offerings.” Accessed April 2024. https://www.bostonpublicschools.org/ofse.

4. Harvard Family Research Project. “Family Engagement Toolkit: Strategies for Success.” 2022. https://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/family-engagement-toolkit-strategies-for-success.

5. Boston Public Schools. “Family Engagement and Equity Data Dashboard.” Accessed April 2024. https://www.bostonpublicschools.org/datadashboard.

6. Epstein, Joyce L. *School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Preparing Educators and Improving Schools*. Routledge, 2018.

7. City of Boston. “Boston Community Partnerships Annual Report.” Office of Health and Human Services, 2023. https://www.boston.gov/departments/health-and-human-services.

8. Coalition for Community Schools. “Community Schools: A Strategy, Not a Program.” Institute for Educational Leadership, 2021. https://www.communityschools.org/resources/strategy-not-program.

9. U.S. Department of Education. “Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships.” 2018. https://www2.ed.gov/documents/family-community/framework.pdf.