Improving Educational Outcomes through Family Engagement

Harvard University via edX Professional Certificate

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Provider

edX Professional Certificate
Pricing

$254.00
Languages

English
Certificate

Certificate Available
Level

Beginner

Found in

Overview

In this program, leading expert and Harvard Graduate School of Education Professor Karen L. Mapp guides you from the foundations of cultivating partnerships between schools and families to the advanced frameworks that continue to drive positive outcomes for students, schools, and the broader communities.

Building on nearly 30 years of research, Mapp introduces the concept of family engagement, focused primarily on the student outcomes achieved through increased student support both at home and in the community. In Introduction to Family Engagement, you will gain key insights and explore strategies related to fostering shared goals and partnerships between students, families, and educators.

In course two, Family Engagement in Education: The Dual Capacity-Building Framework, you will dive deeper into the strategic model and framework to establish deeper connections with schools and communities – fostering collaboration, building trust, and encouraging shared accountability. You will also explore today’s most pressing issues in education, highlighting inequities in education related to race, access, and other socioeconomic themes.

By combining these two courses, the Improving Educational Outcomes through Family Engagement Program provides deep insight into the critical role family engagement and collaboration plays in improving students’ academic, social, and emotional outcomes. These courses focus on the transformative impact of strong home-school partnerships, equipping educators and community leaders with the knowledge and skills to drive positive change in their educational environments.

Syllabus

Courses under this program:
Course 1: Introduction to Family Engagement in Education

Learn about successful collaborations between families and educators and why they lead to improved outcomes for students and schools.

Course 2: Family Engagement in Education: The Dual Capacity-Building Framework

Learn how to apply the Dual Capacity-Building Framework with Dr. Karen L. Mapp to build authentic family-school partnerships that foster equity, trust, and student success.

Courses

9 reviews
8 weeks, 2-3 hours a week, 2-3 hours a week
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In this education course, you will learn what family engagement is and why it matters to the success of students and schools. We will explore the research linking family engagement to better educational outcomes and speak directly with researchers, educators, students, and families about promising practices in the field.

Family engagement describes what families do at home and in the community to support their children’s learning and development. It also encompasses the shared partnership and responsibility between home and school.

Such engagement is essential for school improvement. It is also increasingly recognized as an integral element for proficient practice as an educator.
0 reviews
8 weeks, 2-3 hours a week, 2-3 hours a week
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The Covid-19 pandemic changed the education landscape quickly and permanently. Once bustling school yards and extracurricular activities were shut down and schools abruptly shifted to an online- or hybrid-learning format. This impacted students, teachers, and families, and allowed important new research to be conducted on these core groups. In the years since the launch of Introduction to Family Engagement in Education, Harvard University faculty Karen L. Mapp has used her expertise in the field alongside new research conducted during the pandemic to inform fundamental changes to the Dual Capacity-Building Framework, which was previously developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education.

In this course, Mapp will lead you through the framework, providing real-world scenarios and case studies from experts in the field—helping you not only understand how the framework is structured, but also how to apply it directly in your engagements with partners like parents, guardians, educators, community leaders, and policymakers.

With the Dual Capacity-Building Framework as your guide, you will explore each component of the framework in-depth—identifying key personas and conditions that impact outcomes, and learning how to influence change to drive better educational environments and student learning successes. The course and framework emphasize accountability and respect, providing the skills and resources to develop meaningful, authentic, and trusting relationships between families and schools. By creating a shared language and knowledge of the pillars to effective partnerships, both students and schools will benefit in the long-term.

Additionally, the course explores inequalities in education, such as income, race, and access, bringing to light the importance of developing deeper connections and growing the confidence of educators and family members to support students in marginalized populations and areas where education is key to student’s social development and success.

Join your peers to share stories and cases that reflect your own communities—building a toolkit that helps foster student success, encourages unity and harmony across communities, and creates more inclusive and supportive educational policies and programs.