In Madison and Milwaukee last week, more than 60 educators spent their day doing something that rarely shows up in job descriptions: preparing to visit students’ homes to build trust with families. It marked the launch of WE-Lead (Wisconsin Educators Leading Family Engagement), a new partnership between the National Education Association, local unions, and Parent Teacher Home Visits that is designed to make relationship-based family engagement a core part of public schooling in the state. 

A Union-Led Moment, 28 Years in the Making 

Parent Teacher Home Visits began in 1998, when Sacramento families and educators, alongside their union, chose to stop working at odds and start building shared trust at the kitchen table. Today, both NEA and AFT support the model nationwide, and WE-Lead Wisconsin is the latest example of unions using their voice and resources to lead on family engagement and school improvement. 

In Madison, more than 35 educators from Carl Sandburg and Franklin Elementary Schools gathered at The Hub on February 20; in Milwaukee, 28 educators came together at MTEA headquarters the following day. A third cohort in Racine will launch on March 10, with all three districts moving toward home visits beginning this spring. 

What Educators Are Learning 

During the training, educators dig into Parent Teacher Home Visits’ five core practices, which were shaped by years of listening to both families and teachers. Visits are voluntary and scheduled in advance, educators are trained and compensated, conversations center on families’ hopes and dreams rather than deficits, visits are conducted with a cross-section of students, and educators reflect afterward with their visit partner about what they learned and how it will change their instruction. 

Home visits are typically 30 to 40 minutes and begin with one essential question: “What are your hopes and dreams for your child?” Research on the model shows a 21 percent reduction in chronic absenteeism and that students in schools implementing PTHV are more likely to score proficiently on standardized tests, while teachers report renewed connection to their purpose and improved relationships with families. 

Strategic Work in a Focus State 

WE-Lead Wisconsin is part of Parent Teacher Home Visits’ strategic plan to deepen its presence in three focus states and position home visits as both a foundational practice and a lever for addressing urgent challenges such as chronic absenteeism, teacher retention, and declining family trust in schools. By partnering with NEA, Madison Teachers Inc., and the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, PTHV is modeling the kind of union-led, equity-centered family engagement it aims to replicate across the country. 

Wisconsin is among the first states where PTHV is intentionally building stronger practice at the state level with anchor districts that can become long-term hubs for training and leadership. The WE-Lead pilots in Madison, Milwaukee, and Racine will inform how PTHV and its partners expand to other districts, grow local trainer capacity, and demonstrate that relational home visits can support both student success and a stronger, more trusted public education system. 

Home visits in Madison and Milwaukee are expected to begin this spring, with Racine close behind. As educators start knocking on doors, they are redefining what family engagement looks like in Wisconsin’s public schools, and importantly, they are putting a proven strategy for chronic absenteeism, teacher satisfaction, and retention, and rebuilding family trust to work in real time. 

Andrea Prejean is Executive Director of Parent Teacher Home Visits.

Want to bring Parent Teacher Home Visits to your district or union? Visit our Training & Services page to learn more.