Understand the Cultures You Serve

Your program staff should represent and understand the students and families you serve. Look for staff members who share students' cultural backgrounds, religions and languages, and who live in the same communities.
Do your best to find staff members of different educational and career backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations and economic levels, and staff who are fluent in languages spoken by your students and families.
Coordinate with local schools and their family liaisons to get to know the cultures in your community.
Make program information available in languages and formats your families can understand. You can present information in various ways:
- Website
- Town hall meetings
- Phone calls
- Text messages
- Social media
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Introduction
- 1Overview
- 2Key Terms
- 3Great Benefits, Low Turnout
- 4Why Is It Important?
- 5Great Benefits, Low Turnout
- 6Reasons Why Families Don't Connect
- 7Overcome Challenges
- 8Back to Basics
- 9Assess Your Family Engagement
- 10Plot Your Challenges
- 11Building Blocks of Family Engagement
- 12Build Relationships
- 13Communicate With Families
- 14Know Your Families
- 15Do's and Don'ts for a Welcoming Environment
- 16Understand the Cultures You Serve
- 17Be Open to Different Types of Engagement Activities
- 18Meet Family Needs
- 19Getting Input From Families
- 20Expand Services to Engage Families
- 21Four Key Types of Engagement
- 22Adult Development Activities
- 23Spotlight Topic: Drug and Alcohol Prevention
- 24Shared Activities for Students and Families
- 25Governance and Leadership Opportunities
- 26School and Community Linking Activities
- 27Support Families
- 28Benefits of Family Engagement
- 29Working With Families in Rural Areas — Understand Needs
- 30Working With Families in Rural Areas - Strategies
- 31Working With Culturally Diverse Families - Understand Needs
- 32Working With Culturally Diverse Families - Strategies
- 33Working With Nontraditional Families - Understand Needs
- 34Working With Nontraditional Families - Strategies
- 35Special Challenges: Families Facing Drug and Alcohol Problems
- 36Keep It Going
- 37Learn More Library
- 38Acknowledgements
- 39Congratulations
- 40Check for Understanding
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Implementation Strategies
- 1Implementing Family Engagement
- 2Know Families and Their Cultures
- 3Know Families and Their Cultures - Coaching Moment
- 4Understand Challenges to Family Engagement
- 5Understand Challenges to Family Engagement - Coaching Moment
- 6Engage Families
- 7Create a Welcoming Environment
- 8Support Families
- 9Support Families - Coaching Moment
- 10Pull It Together
- 11Additional Resources
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Coaching My Staff
My Notebook
Family Engagement
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Glossary
Family Engagement
Show Family Engagement Glossary
A term often used to describe programs that offer student instruction and enrichment activities during nonschool hours (see also: out-of-school time, increased learning time)
For the purposes of participating in 21st CCLC program activities, all people who are either responsible for a child or anyone the child identifies as being important in their lives (e.g., close family friend, sibling, extended family member, neighbor); for the purposes of protecting privacy, federal policy says only certain people (as defined in Title I) may receive student data
Building relationships through activities such as helping parents and caregivers develop their own skills, offering educational activities for families and students together, bringing family members into leadership positions with the 21st CCLC program, and connecting families with schools and resources in the community
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act requires that every school district and every school receiving Title I dollars must have a written parent engagement policy and must build school capacity to effectively implement the policy. The policy must be developed jointly with, approved by, and distributed to parents of participating children and the local community. As a school partner, a 21st CCLC program can be very important to implementing and sustaining the parent engagement plan. Copies of the plan should be available from school and district offices, and may be available on their websites.
A designated staff person who communicates directly with caregivers and family members to invite their involvement and participation with a 21st CCLC program; a family liaison often helps to connect students' families with program, school or community services that support learning and well-being
Hours outside of the regular school day, and they are often used for student enrichment activities that augment regular school-time instruction. Out-of-school time can occur before or after school, or in the summer.
Students are invited to express opinions and make choices about planning and implementing their own learning experiences
A friendly, supportive atmosphere that encourages family participation and unites the 21st CCLC staff, family and community in supporting student development and academic achievement