Ample evidence points to family engagement as an essential strategy for school improvement and student achievement. Yet, effective family engagement is a critical gap in the professional development portfolios of most educators. This obstacle begins with educator preparation programs, where there is a void in both curriculum and experiential learning opportunities designed to build pre-service educators’ knowledge and skills around high-impact, culturally-responsive family engagement, and continues with in-service professional learning opportunities.

Parent Teacher Home Visits offers real benefit to educators and supports their professional growth at all stages of their careers – it works for novice and veteran educators alike! The practice starts with a required Introduction to Parent Teacher Home Visits training that develops a conceptual understanding around home visits as a high-impact family engagement strategy as well as provides practical implementation support. Then, educators engage in a powerful action-reflection process that is built into the home visit model; educators conduct visits in pairs, reflect on what they have learned about students and their families as well as themselves, and then apply that learning to their classroom and family engagement practices. Few professional development offerings actually change educator practice, but research shows that educators who practice Parent Teacher Home Visits experience positive shifts in their mindsets and practices which ultimately leads to improved student outcomes.