For too many new teachers, the first years in the classroom are a crash course in realities that weren’t covered in their credential programs. One of the most glaring gaps is learning how to meaningfully engage families as partners in their children’s education. Despite decades of research showing that family engagement boosts student outcomes, most preservice programs still offer little more than a cursory mention of the topic—if they address it at all.

This is the challenge explored in the latest episode of the Parent Teacher Home Visits Podcast, where host and PTHV Executive Director Andrea Prejean sits down with Tim Finklea and Jenna Porter to discuss the state of family engagement in teacher preparation. Tim Finklea is Vice President for Membership Engagement and Board Services at the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), which provides a national lens on how future teachers are trained and supported. Jenna Porter, a PTHV Board member, chairs Teaching Credentials at Sacramento State University in its College of Education. Their conversation makes clear: while the need is urgent, the solutions are within reach.

“It’s probably 40 years of research that when educators and families work together, students do better,” says Andrea. “They attend school more regularly. They achieve at higher levels. They experience greater well-being, and yet in many teacher preparation programs, family engagement is still treated as an add-on.”

A Critical Void in Teacher Preparation

Most teacher preparation programs focus heavily on curriculum, classroom management, and assessment. Yet, as Andrea and her guests point out, the ability to connect with families is just as critical to student learning as mastering content or pedagogy. When preservice teachers aren’t given opportunities to practice family engagement, they’re left to figure it out on their own—often after encountering challenges that could have been prevented with stronger partnerships.

Jenna Porter notes, “I became a mentor teacher in the Sacramento State credential program, and realized through that experience that the program wasn’t doing enough or providing enough structured preparation for family engagement. One of the standards of teachers’ performance expectations was, and still is, that teachers communicate professionally with families, but that is not the same as engaging families in their children’s education. So now my work as a teacher-educator in the credential program really does focus on family and community engagement, because I want to make sure that new teachers come out prepared with the specific tools and strategies to support all students’ learning, and engaging families is essential in doing that.”

The consequences of this training gap extend beyond student outcomes, deeply impacting teacher well-being and retention. Tim Finklea underscores the personal toll this takes on new educators, revealing how unprepared encounters can actually drive talent out of the profession.

“These meetings [with families] can be a source of anxiety, and they can be the reason why teachers choose to leave the classroom after year three, if you’re… giving a teacher the keys and saying… ‘you go for it. This is the way we’ve done it for the last 25 years.’… It’s not going to work out. So that’s why having these built-in, embedded processes within our teacher preparation program is key.”

A Model for Change: Embedding Family Engagement in Preservice Learning

That’s why PTHV advocates for integrating family engagement into the fabric of teacher preparation—not as a one-off workshop, but as a core competency. The podcast episode highlights programs that are leading the way, weaving relationship-building into every aspect of teacher training.

To bring this vision to life, the PTHV team spoke with Ashlee Teczon, a science teacher at Manteca High School in California, who experienced this approach firsthand. In a new video supplement to the podcast, Ashlee shares her journey from college student to classroom teacher—and how early exposure to PTHV transformed her understanding of what it means to teach.

A Teacher’s Story: From Theory to Practice

Ashlee’s path to teaching began as a learning assistant at Sacramento State, where she discovered a passion for working with young people. But it was her credential program’s focus on social justice and relationships that truly set the tone.

“The very first day, our professors talked about the three Rs: rigor, relevance, and relationship,” Ashlee recalls. “They really emphasized that third R—relationship-building. They said, ‘You can’t get rigor or relevance if you haven’t built a relationship with your students first.’ That stuck with me.”

This philosophy wasn’t confined to a single class. Instead, it was threaded throughout the program, shaping how Ashlee approached every aspect of teaching—including her interactions with students’ families.

When Parent Teacher Home Visits facilitators visited her class, Ashlee and her peers learned about the PTHV model directly from educators and parents. They practiced conversations, observed real home visits, and saw the impact of asking families about their hopes and dreams for their children.

“I had never seen something like this,” Ashlee says. “Watching teachers build connections with families before students even stepped into their classrooms—that was groundbreaking for me.”

Advice for New Teachers: Embrace Vulnerability and Connection

Ashlee acknowledges that making home visits or reaching out to families can feel daunting, especially for new teachers. She remembers her own nerves before her first visit, but says the experience quickly became transformative.

“Once you set the tone—‘How can I help your student be successful?’—it’s not so scary,” she says. “It’s about working together to build the best possible human being.”

Her advice to preservice teachers is clear: Don’t wait to start building these skills. Seek out opportunities to connect with families, ask questions, and be willing to share your own story. The payoff, she says, is a classroom where students feel seen, supported, and ready to learn.

Listen, Learn, and Lead the Change

The evidence is unequivocal: family engagement is not merely an add-on, but the bedrock upon which student success, teacher longevity, and resilient school communities are built. In a time when public education faces mounting challenges—from deepening social polarization to external pressures that erode trust and impact communities—equipping new teachers with the profound ability to forge authentic family partnerships is no longer optional; it is an absolute imperative.

Teacher preparation programs hold the power to shape the future of our classrooms, our schools, and indeed, our nation’s civic fabric. By embedding comprehensive family engagement training as a core competency, we empower a generation of educators to not just survive, but to truly thrive, and become agents of change in their communities and champions for every child. Teacher preparation programs can lead boldly, ensuring that every new educator enters the classroom ready to partner with families, strengthen school communities, and help all students reach their fullest potential. The future of our profession—and the success of our students—depends on it.

To delve deeper into the urgent imperative for integrating family engagement into teacher preparation, visit our podcast page.