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As a parent of a student with a disability, Jessica Battle has become well-versed in federal law. She knows what accommodations her daughter, now a senior in high school, needs so she can learn, and she鈥檚 well aware of what teachers are required to do under her Individualized Education Program, or IEP.

So when she found out her daughter鈥檚 teacher wasn鈥檛 following the IEP and providing her accommodations in class, Battle didn鈥檛 hesitate to call a meeting.

鈥淲e go in and the teacher [said], 鈥業鈥檓 just going to let you know, I don鈥檛 know what an IEP is,鈥欌�� Battle said.

The experience underscored a belief Battle and many other parents of students with special needs have long had about the school system: They鈥檙e the sole advocates for their children, and they have to embrace that role.

鈥淎s parents, we have to know everything on the IEP,鈥� Battle said.

Parent involvement is required by federal special education law in determining the services a student with special needs receives. But too few educators are equipped to work effectively with families, whether it鈥檚 navigating the intricacies of special education services or more generally inviting parents to be partners in their kids鈥� education.

Researchers agree that robust parent and family engagement, in which schools build trusting, reciprocal relationships with students鈥� caregivers, is a promising strategy that can help reduce chronic absenteeism, cut dropout rates, and boost academic achievement. For it to be effective, everyone in a school system鈥攖eachers, principals, and superintendents鈥攏eeds to be working with families to focus on student achievement and build long-lasting trust in the school system.

Far too many educators, however, view parent and family engagement as an 鈥渁dd-on鈥� to their overall practice, said Karen Mapp, an educational leadership professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, who has focused her research on parent and family engagement strategies.

That鈥檚 not their fault, she said.

Parent and family engagement often isn鈥檛 built into the college and university programs that prepare the vast majority of America鈥檚 teachers for the classroom. Only 51 percent of educator-preparation programs provide at least one course on parent and family engagement, from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, or AACTE, and the National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement, or NAFSCE. And not all of those courses are required.

That number has barely grown over the past 20 years, according to the survey, and 55 percent of university department heads believe their students are less prepared for family engagement than other facets of teaching.

Additionally, most states don鈥檛 have any laws or policies requiring schools to train teachers in family engagement after they鈥檝e entered the classroom. Colorado and Nevada are the only states with laws requiring that their departments of education employ staffers who support districts in developing and implementing family and community engagement policies and practices.

鈥淲e have trained people to think that this is an add-on, or we have not trained them at all,鈥� Mapp said. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 train them, then of course they鈥檙e going to think this is something that鈥檚 not important.鈥�

NAFSCE and the Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity, a professional development organization, have partnered with the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation鈥攖he accrediting body for 551 college and university teacher-prep programs鈥攖o revise the standards those programs have to meet to include a focus on parent engagement. CAEP鈥檚 competitor, the 6-year-old Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation, also developed its teacher preparation standards with a focus on parent and family engagement. The two accrediting organizations account for the vast majority of preparation programs.

But parent and family engagement has yet to catch on as a core skill for educators or as a core function for school systems.

Training aspiring teachers to empower parents

Battle didn鈥檛 always know how to best serve her daughter. But she received special training few other parents can access. The Rocky Mount, N.C., mom learned almost everything she knows about IEPs and disability accommodations from Patricia Brewer, a professor in teacher education at North Carolina Wesleyan University.

For the past nine years, Brewer has hosted an after-school program for local families of students with disabilities where students receive tutoring from special education teacher candidates while Brewer teaches their parents to advocate for their kids.

鈥淚 tell them, you never, ever go to a meeting without paperwork in your hand,鈥� Brewer said. 鈥淵ou never, ever go to a meeting without questions. You never, ever go to a meeting without knowing and understanding your child鈥檚 IEP. You get to know as much as you possibly can so you can ask those questions, and if you don鈥檛 know, you ask. You have that right.鈥�

The lessons cover a range of topics, such as what it means to have an IEP, students鈥� and parents鈥� rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, signs of academic and behavior problems, interpreting assessment data, becoming an effective advocate for students, and the questions parents should ask in meetings with teachers.

They have been a game changer for Battle and other parents in the program, who say they feel more confident and less frustrated in dealing with their school systems.

鈥淣ow when I go in, even to her middle school, they were like, 鈥極h, she鈥檚 a Wesleyan parent,鈥欌�� Battle said. 鈥淸The teachers] were way more prepared. They knew I knew the rights and the laws and everything we were taught here by Dr. Brewer.鈥�

Brewer started the program when she realized that many parents in Rocky Mount, where North Carolina Wesleyan is located, didn鈥檛 have a solid understanding of IEPs or what the law requires for family participation in shaping special education plans and arrangements.

Federal law requires one or both parents to be present at every IEP meeting, in which teachers and families discuss a student鈥檚 progress on their education plan and adjust accommodations if necessary. Teachers are required to schedule meetings early enough to ensure parents can attend, and to plan meetings at a mutually convenient time and place, according to the U.S. Department of Education. When neither parent can attend an IEP meeting in person, schools have to offer a virtual or teleconference option.

Brewer thought she could help by giving parents the tools they need to be advocates while also teaching her students鈥攆uture teachers鈥攅ffective practices for working with parents.

鈥淚 impress upon [my students] that parents are equal partners,鈥� Brewer said. 鈥淵ou all are going to be teachers. You all want to be great teachers. But at the same time, you must understand that these kids鈥� parents, they are equal to you, your partners, and I want you to see them as [such.]鈥�

The program has helped teacher candidates, even those who don鈥檛 plan on specializing in special education, feel more confident about communicating with parents.

鈥淲ithout this classroom, without this tutoring program, I would not have any idea what I鈥檓 hearing in these [IEP] meetings,鈥� said Alina Smith, a special education and elementary education major. 鈥淭he biggest thing I鈥檝e learned through this is that parents are their child鈥檚 biggest advocates.鈥�

Standards are a first step

Programs like Brewer鈥檚 are rare but growing, said Mark LaCelle-Peterson, president of the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation.

Since it began in 2018, the organization, which accredits 200 universities including North Carolina Wesleyan, has required through its standards that programs include parent engagement in their courses.

The standards state that graduating teacher candidates must be prepared to 鈥渦nderstand and engage local school and cultural communities, and communicate and foster relationships with families/guardians/caregivers in a variety of communities.鈥�

The idea is to provide a 鈥渇loor鈥� for college programs and let them build from there, LaCelle-Peterson said.

鈥淲e all agree on what鈥檚 important,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow, you have to figure out how you鈥檙e going to do it and document it.鈥�

In 2022, CAEP, the country鈥檚 largest accreditor for educator preparation programs, revised its standards to include family and community engagement. The updated standards require teacher candidates to demonstrate that they can 鈥渨ork effectively with diverse P-12 students and their families.鈥�

鈥淲e were somewhat surprised that a lot of universities just took these and made them into a course because they thought this is really a worthwhile focus,鈥� said Christopher Koch, CAEP鈥檚 president. 鈥淭he folks they鈥檙e preparing need to be able to work with different kinds of families鈥攆amilies where English may not be spoken in the home, families who are homeless.鈥�

The goal was to create a baseline agreement among educator groups to improve instruction on parent engagement, said Vito Borrello, executive director of the National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement, which helped CAEP develop the standards.

鈥淭here is a desire now in higher education to address this in ways that have not been addressed before,鈥� Borrello said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 an understanding that this needs to happen, there鈥檚 a desire for this to happen.鈥�

What state agencies can do

While teacher-prep programs gradually incorporate more training on parent engagement, there鈥檚 still not much state-level emphasis on ensuring schools treat parents as partners, especially as parents鈥� trust in overall school systems has become a pressure point following the pandemic.

Darcy Hutchins is the director of family, school, and community partnerships in Colorado鈥檚 education department. She鈥檚 one of just two people in the entire country with a legally required, state agency job focused on family and community engagement.

Hutchins鈥� office鈥攚hich has one other employee鈥攊s charged with helping the state鈥檚 schools and districts engage effectively with families and their communities. She serves as a resource for districts, sharing what鈥檚 worked well elsewhere through webinars, meetings with district family engagement coordinators, and in-person district visits. She also works with lower-performing schools to increase parent engagement, and she works on ensuring school boards adopt parent engagement policies.

Hutchins also oversees the State Advisory Council for Parent Involvement in Education, which comprises parents, teachers, nonprofit leaders, state education officials, and higher education leaders. In recent years, the council has developed an online course to help families understand school family engagement programs, participated in NAFSCE鈥檚 development of the national Educator Preparation Framework for Family and Community Partnerships, developed a family and community engagement communications toolkit for schools, and expanded the state鈥檚 鈥減romising partnerships practices,鈥� a collection of strategies schools can use to improve family and community engagement.

The council was established in 2009 when Colorado enacted its initial law to increase parent involvement. That law established a grant program to help school districts expand parent engagement and required Colorado districts to set up local parent and family advisory committees that mirror the statewide one. In 2013, lawmakers amended the law to add Hutchins鈥� role and further boost family engagement resources.

鈥淲hat [the law] really did was elevate family engagement pieces in other legislation that oftentimes get backburnered,鈥� Hutchins, who is the first to serve in the position, said. 鈥淚t really highlighted the importance of having a family engagement policy.鈥�

The vast majority of Hutchins鈥� work involves helping districts create parent and family engagement policies that fit their communities. Sometimes that means hosting 鈥渃offee chat鈥� meetings with district leaders where they share experiences and best practices. Other times, it鈥檚 traveling to rural communities to listen to the challenges they鈥檙e facing.

In Nevada, the only other state with required by law, the education department also provides districts with advice on the development and implementation of family engagement practices, works with an advisory council to develop family engagement policies, and shares best practices with schools and districts.

One of the top strategies Hutchins has promoted in Colorado is parent-teacher home visits, in which teachers hold meetings at parents鈥� homes to strengthen relationships and build trust. The strategy has been especially useful in Denver, where home visits have helped connect the parents of thousands of newly arrived students to the school system.

鈥淚f we focus on those relationship-building types of initiatives, that鈥檚 when efficacy increases, that鈥檚 when a sense of belonging increases, and students will want to be in school,鈥� she said.

Making parent engagement a priority for the future

Hutchins, who began her career as a 1st grade teacher in Baltimore, agrees with Borrello and Mapp that much more needs to be done to make parent engagement a systemic priority in public education.

鈥淚 went through a traditional ed prep program, knowing I wanted to be an elementary school teacher, [and] we never talked about parent and family engagement,鈥� Hutchins said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e just sort of thrown in and expected to know what to do.鈥�

Colorado was one of the states to help the National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement develop its effective family partnerships framework鈥攚hich outlines best practices for districts, teacher-prep programs, and state education departments to improve family engagement. The state has also received one of the association鈥檚 Family Engagement and Educator Preparation Innovation Project grants to work on incorporating family engagement into teacher training.

With the help of that grant, the state has convened a group of colleges and universities that come together to develop family engagement courses and discuss how to embed family and parent engagement in other teacher preparation classes.

Other national organizations are also highlighting the importance of family engagement. The National Parent Teacher Association has its own standards, which provide districts with a guide on improving parent and family engagement. The National Education Association鈥攖he nation鈥檚 largest teachers鈥� union鈥攈as a partnership with WETA, a PBS station in Alexandria, Va., to provide free resources and courses for educators on parent engagement.

鈥淚f we鈥檙e going to have truly sustained impact,鈥� Borrello said, 鈥渨e need to have that long-term approach, while we鈥檙e providing in-service programs, training principals, training superintendents, and training teachers in ways that are creating that welcome environment, embracing families as partners.鈥�