Have you or your colleagues grappled with the most effective ways to engage parents in the education of their students? Do you feel like your strategies have little impact? The primary goal of Families United in Educational Leadership (FUEL) is to involve families in the process of helping their student’s access higher education. This workshop will outline FUEL’s program model, explain the strategies used to engage families, and guide workshop participants through the process of determining how to most effectively reach families in their own communities. Through revealing the successes and challenges of implementing this program at nine schools and community organizations, workshop participants will leave this session with a set of steps to implement in their own contexts to encourage and incentivize family engagement.

1. NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATIONAL ACCESS
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
APRIL 19, 2012

2. Image taken from: http://www.mbexec.net/executive-network/blogs/tctyrell-smith/finding-your-true-career-
path-the-tootsie-pop-method

3.  Present workshop objectives
 Warm-up to get us going!
 Overview of FUEL and our Program Model
 Building a Family Engagement Program –
Implementing lessons into your own context
Partner Consultation & Sharing Best Practices
Conclusions & Feedback

4. 1.) Share the key components of the FUEL
Program
2.) Identify effective and ineffective engagement
strategies learned through the implementation
of FUEL
3.) Identify and plan to apply transferable family
engagement techniques to programs at your
own sites

6. If implementing a
NEW program
If improving an
existing program
If wondering if there
is just an easier way
to do this family
engagement stuff…

7. Share the key components of the FUEL
Program

8. FUEL believes that higher education is attainable for all, regardless of
income, and that family is crucial to students’ educational achievement.
Working with community partners, FUEL provides knowledge, resources,
connections, and financial incentives that empower parents to propel their
children into higher education.

9. “…students with involved parents, regardless of their family
income or background, are more likely to earn higher grades and
test scores, enroll in higher level classes, attend school and pass
their classes, develop better social skills, graduate from high
school, attend college, and find productive work. The opposite is
true for students whose parents are less engaged”
Balfanz, Robert, Bridgeland, John M., Moore, Laura A., Fox, Joanna Hornig. Building a Grad Nation: Progress
and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic. Johns Hopkins University, America’s Promise
Alliance. November 2010. p. 52
“…the key to furthering students’ academic success is
to “provide information to increase families’
knowledge of the college-going process.”
Stoutland, Sara E., How Students are Making it: Perspectives on Getting through College from
Recent Graduates of the Boston Public Schools, The Boston Foundation, June 2011.

10. FUEL
Parents Community
Partner

11. Types of Partnership
Charter
schools
16% After-school
programs
Public 48%
school
systems
36%
66% of partners work with exclusively
high school-aged students

12. 9 Sites in Boston, Lynn &
Chelsea, Massachusetts
Massachusetts Map Image taken from: http://www.digital-topo-maps.com/county-map/massachusetts.shtml

13. Our Families
Family Demographics Household Income
Caucasian Multi-
Other 3% Racial
5% 3%
Asian
7% More than
$50,000
25%
$30,000 or
under
Hispanic 44%
African-
American 54%
$30,000 to
28% $50,000
31%
73% of FUEL parents report having earned less than a bachelors degree.

14. Open Savings
Account and
make monthly
deposits to
receive match!
Encourage
Attend at least 6
child’s
Savings Circle
participation in
Workshops per
after-school
year
program
A
Successful
FUEL
Parent

15. Identify effective and ineffective
engagement strategies learned through the
implementation of FUEL

16. • Immigrant community
• 82% first language not
English
• 89% of students on
free/reduced lunch
• 55% high school
Image taken from: http://www.city-data.com/picfiles/pic31.php
graduation rate
Partnered with:
Chelsea Education Foundation
Chelsea Data taken from - Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Massachusetts School and District Profiles, Chelsea High 2009-
2010. http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/profiles/student.aspx?orgcode=00570505&orgtypecode=6&leftNavId=305&&fycode=2010
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Massachusetts School and District Profiles, Chelsea High 2009-2010. Cohort 2010 Graduation
Rates. http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/grad/grad_report.aspx?orgcode=00570505&orgtypecode=6&&fycode=2010

17. In the beginning…
• Model: High School-wide
• Start Date: January 2010
• Enrolled: 70 families
• Staff: 1 part time staff person
• Program components:
– Savings Goal: $1500 with match
– Attendance Requirement: 6
meetings per year
• Workshop content/facilitation:
Community-driven
• Workshop Location: various
Chelsea meeting spaces

21. Alignment with mission/
Goal #1 beliefs
Improve Savings
Circle Workshop
Attendance
Goal #2
Improve Savings Rates

22. • First morning Savings Circle
• Implementation of Alert Now call system
April 2011
• Closed at least 30 zero balance accounts
May 2011
• First hot meals
Aug. 2011
• Full time staff member
• Implement FUEL Family Statement
• Regular meeting time: 2nd Thursday each month
Sept. 2011
• Raffles and scholarships to incentivize attendance
• Decrease of saving rate & update family contact info
• FUEL Compacts announced
Nov. 2011
• Implement FUEL Savings Circle curriculum
• Bilingual sessions start & consistent meeting location
Dec. 2011 • Winter Giveaway

23. 90%
80%
80
70%
% 73%
60%
Percentage of families on track
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
11/1/2010- 4/1/2011- 11/1/2011-
3/31/2011 (140 10/31/2011 (167 3/31/2012 (113
familes) families) families)
milies saving on Percentage of families
67% 50% 73% saving on track
k
milies attending on Percentage of families
44% 23% 80% attending on track
ack

24. Structures
 Consistent Meeting Location
 Two Meeting Time Options
 Consistent Meeting Times/Dates
 Use of 24 session curriculum (planned in
advance)
 Consistent Facilitator
 Bilingual Facilitation
 Full Time Staff Member
 Hot meals for parents and family members

25. Systems
Non-Monetary
 Auto-call system with personalized message
 Monthly Newsletters
 Efforts to Outcomes Data Tracking Methods
 Development of Family Statement
 Sticking to the Contract
 Create opportunities to learn from families
Monetary
 Attendance Incentives
 Good Standing Incentives
 FUEL Compacts
 Lower Saving Rates

26. Link student
experiences to
parent workshops
Use multiple
communication
Offer more channels to reach
meetings than families
families must
attend Offer brainstorming and
collaborative sessions to
highlight existing
knowledge

29. Pair up with someone from a different organization
than the one you are from
Step 1 – Partner 1, present your preliminary plan
Step 2 – Partner 2, ask clarifying questions
• What is clear? What remains unclear/undefined?
• Avoid comments at this point, questions only!
Step 3 – Partner 2, provide Partner 1 with ideas
• How can they implement new structures/systems to
support their existing programming?
• If the program is new, is it aligned with mission and family
engagement goals?
Step 4 – Open Discussion between partners
• Next Steps for Partner 1?

30. Image taken from: http://www.ethannonsequitur.com/success-what-people-think-it-looks-like-really.html