Parent leadership – which includes roles as co-creators, advocates, models, and more – is a central element to virtually every comprehensive family engagement framework given its transformative power. Among its many benefits, parent leadership has been shown to increase parental self-efficacy, build social capital and connection, and boost family engagement. Yet it is often underutilized. Many schools and districts unwittingly reinforce a power imbalance in their favor by adopting a deficit mindset about families and their ability to lead. To reverse this trend and help parents live into their fullest leadership potential, schools and districts need to start with an intentional mindset change about families’ assets.

Parent Teacher Home Visits is one approach to identifying and cultivating parent leaders. Countless personal stories of parents whose lives have been forever changed by home visits have emerged over our 20+ year history. Not only do these families recount changes to their experiences with educators including improved communication, but many also describe a fundamental shift in how they view education and their role in supporting public schools. Born from parent organizing and the principles of empowerment, our model of relational home visits paves the way for families and teachers to collaboratively identify priority education issues and co-create solutions. As a result, many parents engaged in home visiting have become ardent education advocates and leaders committed to advancing equity and best practices in education, including as certified trainers for local and national Parent Teacher Home Visits training sessions.