Academic Family
Engagement at the
James Otis Elementary School
The structure to enable the culture
Best practices for sustaining successful teacher-family relationships through the pandemic are mostly undocumented. A survey conducted by the Action for Healthy Kids in January 2020 showed a substantial inclusion gap: the difference between parents interested in partnering with schools on student academics and well-being and the parents who feel included. The James Otis Elementary School (“The Otis”) succeeds in closing this gap.
The Otis Family Engagement Research Project
As the 2021 EdVestors' School on the Move Prize Winner, the Otis stood out as a school practicing highly effective engagement strategies. EdVestors partnered with Learning Experience Design Research at Charles River Media Group (“LXD Research”) to shine a spotlight on practices that succeed at The Otis to demonstrate “what works” when educational communities foster intentional partnerships between schools and families.
In partnership with the Otis and EdVestors, LXD Research implemented a mixed-methods evaluation focused on best practices at James Otis Elementary School to deepen understanding of the school’s work in family and community engagement, including their use of Academic Parent-Teacher Teams (APTT).
Research Methods
The purpose-driven study design focused on data collection activities that supported multi-modal use of findings and their dissemination to educational stakeholders. Research activities centered on connecting with the network of stakeholders that make up the Otis to hear their experiences and rigorously analyzing data to document emerging themes and webs of activities and meaning.
Research Methods
Community Partners
Interviews with three community partners that actively contribute resources and support to the Otis
Educators
Observations of the Otis’ virtual APTT sessions & APTT and family engagement educator survey with K-6 grade classroom teachers, specialists, interventionists, and substitutes
Administration and Staff
Interviews with three school leadership and staff members to learn school-based priorities and thinking behind the Otis’ APTT program
Family Partners
Interviews with four parents to learn about their experiences with APTT and family engagement at the Otis, families had a total of five children across K-6
Background on James Otis Elementary School
Sources: https://profiles.doe.mass.edu and https://www.jamesotis.org
Key Insight
The Otis has a structure in place to support and empower their culture of academic family engagement.
LXD Research found that APTT is not practiced in isolation but instead thrives as part of a larger matrix of family-school engagement and collaboration across roles. The Otis has a structure in place to support and empower their culture of academic success. The Otis practices what may be called a holistic form of Academic Family Engagement (AFE) as a complementary approach to family engagement that implements academic partnership, planning, and outreach as part of an active, structured, and intentional culture of engagement practices and relationships between families, staff, and teachers.
Key Findings
Key Insight
Academic Family Engagement supports teacher engagement, satisfaction, and retention.
Throughout this toolkit, you will find related insights, quotes, and supporting AFE resources that can be shared as part of this research report or on their own.
Educational stakeholders are invited to add these research-based AFE ideas, practices, and resources to their school’s educational and organizational matrix through reflection, iteration, and adoption of the best-practices inspired by research at the Otis.
Toolkit Orientation
LXD Research synthesized observation, survey, and interview data into four core areas to represent the voices of the AFE culture.
Partner Voices
Tool Share:
Essential Conditions for AFE
Partners’ Lens of the Otis
Community partners see the Otis' family engagement as academically-focused, leadership-driven, and outcome-oriented; this sets the Otis apart from other schools.
Schools Leadership Essential Conditions
The Otis’ family engagement is strong because they have very clear, intended outcomes on that engagement. They have very clear language and expectations of what they're trying to do with that. The same thing can happen with community partners too.
Community partners see the Otis as a special place
Leadership as fundamental
The Otis staff and administrator continuity is key
Goal & Outcomes Oriented
Consistent, well-organized, & non-bureaucratic
Elements to support growth: leadership, structure, and culture
Staff Voices
Tool Share:
AFE Action &
Communication Guides
Staff Lens of the Otis
Daily Connection with Families
Staff members at the Otis highlight their efforts to actively reach out to families to inquire about student absences, promote APTT sessions, share good news, ask if families need anything, and more on a daily on a basis.
Happening at the Otis
We are here to help each other. I think that's what makes the difference. - The Otis staff member
I think that the partnership between us, it's the key to solve any problem.
– The Otis staff member
It's teamwork between the nurse and myself, between the secretary and the principal, and calling. We are always calling them [families] and see why they're absent or if they need anything. And that's the key for them [students] to be in school.
– The Otis staff member
Partnerships are key for the Otis staff
Successful partnerships with families, empowered with knowledge about their students and school, are key to solving any problems or conflict.
Support of newcomer and English-language learner families is central to their work and to the Otis' success as a family-friendly school.
Collaboration between the Otis teachers and staff, including cafeteria workers and custodians, is a factor in the Otis’ ability to care for their students emotionally and academically.
Wide utilization of family programming, particularly by newcomer families, is noted and celebrated.
Educator Voices
Tool Share:
APTT Information & Resources
Educators’ Lens of the Otis
The Otis educators report that the Otis stands out from other schools because of the Otis’ long-term leadership, staff continuity, community coordinator position, family engagement activities (including APTT), and identity as a family-friendly school.
Happening at the Otis
The APTT program supports reflection, grounding of data, and next steps for educational outcomes. Rather than using the standards as a checklist, the Otis’ APTT program personifies the ways that families partner with teachers to help their children grow as individuals. – The Otis Classroom Teacher
Having parents be fully aware of where their child is in relation to their child's peer is essential. It [APTT] should be in every classroom in the city. – The Otis Specialist Teacher
There is flexibility in how teachers communicate with parents, whether it is parent/teacher conferences or daily talking points messages. The Otis leaves it up to the teacher to decide which is best way to engage with parents, which alleviates additional pressure and stress. – The Otis Classroom Teacher
APTT & Beyond
We strive to make sure that parents and families are involved in every aspect of our students' learning and provide opportunities for them to be involved in our school community.
– Classroom Teacher
Empowered Leaders
Engaged Families
Collaborative Teachers
Successful
Students
The Otis Educators say:
“It’s a great place to work!”
The role of school leadership and family continuity is important in building school community. “The Otis families are really invested in their children and the school. It's a great place to work.”
Take-home activities, when completed, reinforce student learning. Challenges that affect completion of APTT's take-home activities include parent schedules and the difficulty of finding activities best fit for older grades.
APTT is one impactful part of the family engagement matrix at the Otis. APTT empowers families to help their students succeed academically. Whole-class data sharing has a positive effect on families' academic engagement and student learning.
Language translation of APTT meetings and events, as well as cultural sensitivity and support for newcomer families, are significant factors in the Otis’ academic success and welcoming community feel.
Click here to view them all
Family Voices
Tool Share:
Communication Reflection
Families’ Lens of the Otis
Families highlight importance of family-friendly culture and events and programming for all families, including newcomer families, as factors in building community at the Otis.
Happening at the Otis
They're very intentional at the Otis about trying to make sure that everyone feels part of the Otis family.
From the principal down, even like on bus duty, I know they know where kids are going and they just know the students. And I think they take the time to get to know them and their families. – The Otis parent
This is just a culture of caring and wanting the kids to do well and connecting families at the beginning of the year. – The Otis parent
We know all the teachers over there. We deal with them like a family. – The Otis parent
The Otis has always been a safe space for our kids. – The Otis parent
What really impressed me was the attention to detail from the teachers and the differentiation that went behind providing every family with the resources that they needed to support the child. – The Otis parent
We have a lot of families in the building, a lot of immigrant families, who are working in the afternoon, the night shift, but they're home in the morning and that's when they engage with the school. – The Otis parent
Everyone feels part of the Otis family
Families express positive experiences with APTT meetings: differentiation, data, and take-home activities.
Families recognize school leadership as a large factor in the Otis’ success.
(“I could tell that her staff believed in her.” - The Otis parent)
Families identify wide-range of home-school communication strategies used to notify families of APTT meetings and family programming in general.
Families see the Otis’ continuity of staff members and commitment to supporting sibling continuity as a benefit to attending the Otis.
Tools Featured in This Report
Academic Family Engagement
Sample APPT Slide Decks (Kindergarten and Grade 4)
To Learn More
Related to Academic Family Engagement
What is APTT? WestEd’s Academic Parent Teacher Teams Brochure
Interview with expert from Lesley University about Parent Engagement
School Leadership Framework by TNTP
Family Literacy Night Toolkit by Tennessee Department of Education
Acknowledgements
LXD Research wishes to thank the EdVestors’ School on the Move Prize team and the Otis’ staff, community partners, and families for their support and collaboration.
Partnership and access allowed the LXD research team to provide culturally-informed and evidence-based findings about and resources for academic family engagement.
Through our partnership, we have collectively and cooperatively expanded our shared knowledge base around impactful engagement practices for schools, families, and community partners.