When teachers and families have strong relationships, students succeed in school and beyond. Flamboyan Foundation created the Family Engagement Assessment Tool to help you understand where your family engagement practice is strong and give you actionable resources to improve.
Read on for useful tips to help you make the most of the Tool!
Before taking the Tool…
Take the Tool strategically. We recommend completing the Tool 2 to 3 times during the school year:
- Once at the beginning of the school year ensures you’ll start off strong;
- In the middle of the year, so you’ll have the opportunity to course correct if you haven’t engaged all families or if any challenges arise; and
- At the end of the year to reflect on your progress and plan for the next school year!
Consider the past few interactions you’ve had with your students’ families. It’s good to have some recent examples in mind as you go through the Tool to ground you in your current relationships with your students’ families.
- It can be helpful to think about a conversation with a student’s family that went really well and a conversation that didn’t go so well.
- In addition, consider any tools like Remind or ClassDojo you use to communicate with families.
While taking the Tool…
Don’t overthink your answers – there is no right answer except for the honest one. When in doubt, go with your first response.
- It can be hard to acknowledge where we can grow. Know that your responses are confidential and that every educator has room to develop their family engagement practice.
After taking the Tool…
Reflect on your Area of Strength and Area of Growth.
- Be sure to print your results or email them to yourself as once you leave the website, your results will not be saved.
Remember: it’s a marathon, not a sprint!
- We know that as an educator, you’re short on time and it can feel like you don’t have a spare moment to focus on engaging families. Know that family engagement takes sustained effort – concentrate on finding a few minutes every day and see how it pays off at the end of the school year.
If you like the Tool, share it with another educator you know and compare your results – they’ll be able to support you to grow, just as you will be able to help them.
- Find additional resources to support you in the Resource Library as you deepen your practice and encounter new situations.
Want to tell us how using the Tool went? Fill out this survey, or contact us at product@flamboyanfoundation.org! We’d love to hear from you.