This November marks National Family Engagement Month 2025, a time when we come together to celebrate and advance the work of connecting families and educators for student success. In our newest podcast episode, I had the honor of sitting down with family engagement pioneer Anne T. Henderson to explore how this field has evolved—and what her 40 years of experience teaches us about navigating today’s challenging landscape.

When Anne went on her first Parent Teacher Home Visits in Sacramento more than two decades ago, she heard something she wasn’t expecting. Teacher after teacher told her the same thing: “I was thinking about leaving the profession until I started doing home visits.”

These weren’t struggling educators who had lost their passion for teaching. They were professionals who felt unsupported, disconnected from their students, and uncertain how to reach families. But after sitting in living rooms, seeing younger siblings peek around doorways, and asking parents about their hopes and dreams for their children, everything changed.

That shift in perspective—from suspicion to trust, from distance to connection—is at the heart of what makes family engagement truly transformative, not just for students, but for the stability of the education profession itself.

Four Decades of Building the Case for Family Voice

Anne T. Henderson isn’t just any advocate for family engagement; she’s the pioneer who wrote the first evidence review on parent involvement in 1981, a time when federal policymakers were actively attempting to dismantle family engagement requirements. When Capitol Hill staffers told her there was no evidence that parent involvement mattered, she knew they were wrong.

The research Anne has championed for four decades tells a clear story that remains urgent today: when families are authentically engaged—particularly low-income families—kids do better in school and schools become better places.

Why Relationships Matter to Student Success

Now, in 2025, with federal funding for Statewide Family Engagement Centers slashed and attendance challenges and teacher shortages growing nationwide, the fight for relational practice continues.

Anne emphasizes that authentic relationships—not compliance—drive real change. The data she has championed for decades consistently shows this:

• Teacher Retention: Schools that retain educators share one critical factor—relational trust built through collaborative relationships with families. Teachers report greater empathy for their students and renewed purpose after conducting home visits.
• Student Attendance: Students attend schools where they feel they belong, and that belonging comes from educators who know and value their families.
• School Culture Transformation: Districts using home visits report improved attendance, test scores, teacher morale, and family satisfaction—not because of a new program, but because relationships fundamentally changed how educators and families work together.

As Anne puts it, quoting pioneering psychiatrist James P. Comer: “Children learn from people they bond to, and they bond to people who know and respect their families.”

From Blame to Belonging

In our conversation, Anne shared a story that captures why home visits matter. She accompanied teachers to visit a high school student whose parents were worried about him spending time with an older cousin with “unsavory friends.” During the visit, the teacher learned the student loved music. The school had just started a music club. Problem solved—not through intervention or surveillance, but through connection.

This isn’t about adding more programs or requiring more compliance. It’s about fundamentally shifting school culture from transactional to relational. As I noted in the conversation, the PTHV model got its start in Sacramento when parents and teachers who were blaming each other for student struggles decided to sit down and talk. Two years of listening led to the home visit model that now operates in schools nationwide.

What Keeps Advocates Going?

Near the end of our conversation, I asked Anne what sustains her after nearly four decades in this challenging work.

Her answer was simple: “I love going to schools and talking to students, talking to families, talking to teachers, and just having a conversation that starts with some fun and some jokes and goes on to deeper topics. We’re really activating one another’s well-being… I feel like this work is the work we should be doing. This is the work that’s going to get us through the time that we’re in.”

That conviction—that relational practice is essential for navigating difficult times—resonates across the education field right now. When students struggle with belonging, when teachers feel isolated, the answer is always relationships.

Listen to the Full Conversation

Here’s how you can engage with the work discussed in the episode:

• Listen to the full conversation to hear Anne detail the history of family engagement policy and why she calls home visits “the closest thing to a silver bullet.”
• Explore how to launch the Parent Teacher Home Visits model in your community.
• Explore NAFSCE’s Core Competencies for practical frameworks that provide a roadmap for intentional relationship-building. 
• Read Anne’s foundational work: Beyond the Bake Sale and Everyone Wins!

Andrea Prejean is Executive Director of Parent Teacher Home Visits.