Engaging Families During the Pandemic: Lessons from NYKids Research

By Aaron Leo and Kristen C. Wilcox

As we have recounted in previous blogs, NYKids’ most recent study explored the impacts of the pandemic on educators in six schools throughout New York State. One line of inquiry we pursued was regarding the strategies that educators utilized to keep family members engaged. This blog highlights some of the challenges educators in our study faced as well as efforts they made to overcome the difficulties to engaging families during the pandemic.

Family Engagement in a Pandemic

Family engagement has long been identified as an important influence on students’ academic performance, engagement in school, and social-emotional wellbeing.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic deeply transformed the relationship between educators and family members. Social distancing measures and school closures created physical barriers between families and schools, although caregivers were asked to participate more directly in their children’s virtual learning.

Many family members struggled to meet these new demands as they may have been working full-time or were unfamiliar with the technology needed for remote learning. Recent National Assessments of Educational Progress Long-Term Trends reports also show how children who did not have access to a reliable computer and high-speed internet in their homes (particularly in rural and suburban communities in contrast to urban) showed significant learning declines since the start of the pandemic.

Other emerging research shows that communications between schools and homes were strained during the pandemic because the typical strategies and events used by educators for family engagement could not be performed safely. As a result of these challenges, many families were unable to engage with school staff, a factor which may be implicated in academic learning gaps.

Lessons from NYKids’ Study

In this challenging and unprecedented context, what sorts of experiences did educators have as they sought to engage family members? What challenges did they face, and which strategies did they find most effective in engaging families through the pandemic?

NYKids recent study exploring educators’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic provides some answers to these questions. Drawing on interview and focus group data gathered from 88 educators in six schools ranging in size, school level, and demographic served, our team uncovered several common themes reported by participants in regard to family engagement.

First, several challenges were identified by participants:

• Educators described the difficulties they faced as they sought to engage students’ families during the pandemic in new ways. Many described feeling “disconnected” from families as previous methods of engagement were no longer available to them.
• In contrast, participants explained how some family members were increasingly concerned about their children’s schooling and frequently contacted educators. The desire among educators to communicate with families through various platforms and in different ways made it difficult to maintain personal boundaries.

  As one teacher explained, “During the pandemic, it was 24/7. I would get calls from parents at 11:00 at night because they would work until 9:00 and then they would come home. And that’s when their questions would be, and then that’s when I had to answer them.”

• Third, respondents noted inequalities which emerged through their attempts to engage families during the pandemic. Those families without reliable access to computers and high-speed internet were often unable to participate fully in remote schooling or connect with school staff regarding their children’s academics or receive pandemic-related news. Furthermore, remote forms of instruction – especially for young children or those students with special needs – require a high level of direct guidance from family members and caregivers, a demand which many working families struggled to fulfill.

“Some kids might be able to log on at any point during the day, some kids maybe not until five o’clock when their parents were home… depending on if they were essential [workers] or not.,” said one teacher.

Promising Engagement Strategies

Despite these difficulties, educators in our study described engagement strategies they found effective during the pandemic.

• For one, educators explained the importance of using a variety of tools to communicate with families including virtual applications, emails, phone calls, as well as home visits to ensure that families could engage with school staff in ways that best suited their communication style and work schedule.
• Educators also described the importance of accessibility for families to get information and support especially during periods when the schools were shut down. Although, as suggested above, setting boundaries became an issue at times, educators felt that their continued presence was crucial in assuaging the concerns of family members.

In describing family engagement efforts, a support staff member explained the need to do “anything to keep families feeling like they are engaged with the school.”

• Third, educators went beyond communicating with family members about their children’s school-related activities, but also sought to address the economic challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. To this end, educators collected and distributed food, supplies, and other resources to families throughout the pandemic.

“You had to put yourself in the shoes of those families, and they were really just trying to survive and have their basic needs met,” said a teacher.

• Finally, despite many difficult conversations, school and district leaders solicited the perspectives of families through forums, surveys, and committees. School and district leaders explained the importance of inviting family members to voice their opinions and provide input and feedback about important decisions. While recognizing the new challenges brought by the pandemic, many participants explained that both they and family members gained new insights and appreciation for each other as a result.

As a school leader said, “[Caregivers] have a deeper understanding of our approach, our resources, our expectations.”

New Strategies and New Appreciations to Meet New Challenges

Scholars have long recognized the impact of family engagement on students’ social-emotional wellbeing and academic achievement. However, the pandemic presented educators with unprecedented challenges to engage families.

As NYKids latest study findings demonstrate, educators faced numerous difficulties as they sought to engage with families in new ways. Educators also noted emerging inequalities in engagement especially among working families, those without access to the technologies needed for online schooling, and those whose children required special accommodations.

Our findings also demonstrated a range of effective strategies that educators used to engage with family members that reinforced relationships and developed new appreciations for what families and educators offer each other in meeting the needs of children and youth. Such strategies ranged from maintaining accessibility, using new ways to engage with family members, and seeking understanding to address the unique struggles of students’ families. In addition, educators reported enhanced appreciation for the need to listen to family members and welcome their input and feedback on important decisions regarding their children’s schooling.

Thank you for your interest in NYKids research. For more information on this research project, visit our website for full case studies of each school. To keep up our latest news, please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.