The Five
Non-Negotiable
Core Practices
Deep listening—to families and educators through several years of conversations and focus groups—informed the development of the Parent Teacher Home Visits model and, therefore, each of the five non-negotiable core practices that make up the model meet the needs of educators remarkably well.
Visits are voluntary and arranged in advance.
Unlike the many mandatory activities in education, teachers are given the choice to participate in Parent Teacher Home Visits. Visits are not “one more thing” to be done, but something that teachers look forward to and can be arranged during times that are conducive to their schedule. To eliminate some barriers to participation, it is recommended that school leaders dedicate time within the school calendar for teachers to arrange and conduct visits.
Teachers are trained and compensated for visits.
The premise of Parent Teacher Home Visits is deceptively simple; however, training prepares school staff to build authentic relationships with families and supports fidelity of implementation. The model dictates that educators be compensated for visits outside of the school day to demonstrate value and respect for the time committed.
Visits focus on hopes and dreams.
Parent Teacher Home Visits is a two-visit model that focuses on building relationships of trust. By asking families to share their “hopes and dreams” for their child at the start of the first visit, educators lay the groundwork for a productive partnership focused on student success.
Educators visit a cross-section of students.
Parent Teacher Home Visits is not a targeted intervention to address academic, attendance, or behavioral concerns. Instead, it is universally applied to all students and their families with the expressed intent of building relationships of trust. As such, it is a low-stakes interaction that has a positive impact on educators and families alike. For example, teachers report that their assumptions about families were challenged and they developed more empathy as a result of home visits.
Educators go in pairs and reflect.
While the initial training introduces school staff to the model and prepares them for their first visit, professional learning continues through ongoing home visit practice and reflection. Visiting with a trained partner provides the opportunity for shared reflection and discussion about what was learned about the student and how to incorporate this learning into classroom instruction as well as what biases were held about the family prior to the visit and how those assumptions changed as a result. To maximize teacher learning and contribute to mindset shifts, it is recommended that schools incorporate time into staff meeting or professional learning community sessions to collectively debrief home visit experiences.
Rigorous research proves that Parent Teacher Home Visits work.
PTHV advances student success and school improvement by leveraging relationships, research, and a national network of partners to advance evidence-based practices in relational home visits within a comprehensive family engagement strategy.
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PTHV is a nonprofit grassroots network that must raise its operating budget every year. Like the local home visit projects we help, our network is sustained by collaboration.