69传媒

Parents have taken center stage in political debates over K-12 education in the past four years.

Contentious school board meetings over COVID-19 safety protocols, library books, and instruction about race and gender have garnered outsized attention. Eight states have passed parents鈥� bills of rights to give parents more control over what their children are taught at school. A federal parents鈥� bill of rights passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

That鈥檚 only one picture of parent involvement that doesn鈥檛 represent the day-to-day reality for most families and educators. But it didn鈥檛 manifest out of thin air. Experts say it鈥檚 the result of a lack of trust between the adults in a student鈥檚 life: their parents and their teachers.

But many schools are looking to rebuild that trust.

This special reporting project documents some of the efforts schools, districts, teacher-preparation programs, and state education agencies are undertaking to make parents and caregivers partners in their children鈥檚 education.

In Southfield, Mich., a community schools model that establishes the school as a hub for support services has robust family engagement as its foundation. In Rocky Mount, N.C., an after-school program run by an education professor teaches parents of students with special needs how to effectively advocate for their children. And in Denver, a home visiting program brings teachers and parents closer.