Parental engagement refers to teachers and schools involving parents in supporting their children’s academic learning. It includes:

• approaches and programmes which aim to develop parental skills such as literacy or IT skills;
• general approaches which encourage parents to support their children with, for example reading or homework;
• the involvement of parents in their children’s learning activities; and
• more intensive programmes for families in crisis.

In a te ao Māori context, students are not seen in isolation from their parents/whānau. Parental and wider family/whānau engagement involves meaningful and reciprocal collaboration between teachers, students, and families/whānau. This partnership is built on respect, acknowledging the interconnectedness of Māori students with their whānau, hapū, and iwi. Schools ensure that parents/whānau play an active role in shaping their children’s learning goals and aspirations in education, with participation determined by parents/whānau themselves.

1. Parental engagement has a positive impact on average of 4 months’ additional progress. It is crucial to consider how to engage with all parents to avoid widening achievement gaps. 

2. Consider how to tailor school communications to encourage positive dialogue about learning. There is some evidence that personalised messages linked to learning can promote positive interactions.

3. Parental engagement strategies are typically more effective with parents of very young children. It is important to consider how schools will maintain parental engagement as children get older. For example, providing flexible communications (e.g. short sessions at flexible times) might create opportunities for parents of older students to engage with the school.

4. Consider what support schools can give to parents to ensure home learning is of high quality. For example, providing practical strategies with tips, support, and resources to assist learning at home may be more beneficial to student outcomes than simply gifting a book to students or asking parents to provide generic help to their children.

The average impact of the Parental engagement approaches is about an additional four months’ progress over the course of a year. There are also higher impacts for students with low prior achievement.

The evidence about how to improve achievement by increasing parental engagement is mixed and much less conclusive. There are examples where combining parental engagement strategies with other interventions, such as extended early years provision, has not been associated with any additional educational benefit. This suggests that developing effective parental engagement to improve their children’s achievement is challenging and needs careful monitoring and evaluation.

There is some evidence that supporting parents with their first child will have benefits for siblings.

Parents’ aspirations also appear to be important for student outcomes, although there is limited evidence to show that intervening to change parents’ aspirations will raise their children’s aspirations and achievement over the longer term.

Research undertaken in Aotearoa New Zealand has focused more on exploring the variability and challenges of parental (including whānau) involvement, than its effects and impacts. Researchers have noted the broad spectrum of family/whānau involvement approaches between schools, particularly noting the range of: principal views, capability to engage diverse ethnic groups, policy guidance at school level, and training and support for teachers to effectively engage families.

Research from ERO highlights some examples of effective relationships with families and whānau that include a clear focus on students’ learning and progress.

Research specifically around involving whānau Māori (of Year 9 students) in education finds that effective involvement prioritises whanaungatanga (building relationships), kotahitanga (ethic of bonding), rangatiratanga (teacher effectiveness) and manaakitanga (ethic of caring).

The key mechanism for parental engagement strategies is improving the quality and quantity of learning that takes place in the home learning environment. This is very challenging to implement in practice. Some key elements schools might choose to implement include:

• tailoring communications to encourage positive dialogue about learning
• regularly reviewing how well the school is working with parents, identifying areas for improvement
• offering more sustained and intensive support where needed

Implementing parental engagement strategies needs to consider potential barriers to parents engaging. For example, is there provision for working parents to engage in short sessions with flexible times – or even through remote engagement where available.

Parental engagement approaches are typically delivered over the course an academic year, as building effective relationships between school and parents requires a sustained effort over an extended period of time.

Overall, the median costs of implementing parental engagement are estimated as very low. Costs arise from staff training and development, which are more likely to be start-up costs. Staffing and supplying food/kai for out-of-hours family/whānau events, which are common in Aotearoa New Zealand schools, can increase the cost to the school.

Whilst the median cost estimate for parental engagement is very low, the option to include additional ongoing staff training, materials and resources, and additional staff time means that costs can range from very low to moderate.

These cost estimates assume that schools are already paying for technology for communication with parents, and facilities to host any in person meetings. These are all pre-requisite costs of implementing parental engagement strategies, without which the cost is likely to be higher.

Local research:

Hornby, G., & Witte, C. (2010). A survey of parental involvement in middle schools in New Zealand. Pastoral Care in Education, 28(1), 59–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643940903540363

Averill, R., Metson, A., & Bailey, S. (2016). Enhancing parental involvement in student learning. Curriculum Matters, 12, 109–131. https://doi.org/10.18296/cm.0016

Biddulph, f., Biddulph, J., & Biddulph, C. (2003). Biddulph, f., Biddulph, J., & Biddulph, C. (2003). The Complexity of Community and Family Influences on Children's Achievement in New Zealand: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration (BES). From The Complexity of Community and Family Influences on Children's Achievement in New Zealand: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration (BES) | Education Counts

Hornby, G., & Witte, C. (2010). Parental involvement in secondary schools in New Zealand: Implications for school psychologists. School Psychology International, 31(5), 495–508. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034310382611

Hall, N., Hornby, G., & Macfarlane, S. (2015). Enabling School Engagement for Māori Families in New Zealand. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 24(10), 3038–3046. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-014-0107-1