The FAST Institute provides training and coaching for family engagement professionals, educators, and staff to help schools create a welcoming environment for all families—particularly for families of color and low-income families. It is designed to help, guide, and support participants to:
- Understand and embrace the importance of family engagement
- Engage families in culturally diverse settings, and bridge racial, socioeconomic, and cultural differences through an asset-based approach
- Begin a process of identification to remove barriers and amplify strengths related to family engagement
The institute blends best practices in teacher training and family and community engagement and applies an equity-focused approach. Training and coaching session topics, delivery (in-person or virtual), duration, and audience are all customizable to the needs of your school.
2022-23 Institute Offerings
Introduction to Family Engagement
Examine the differences between “involvement” and “engagement
Understand how your own background influences your perceptions of families and your ability to engage families
Compare and contrast the roles of parent coordinators, teachers, and principals in their relationship to family engagement
Creating a Welcoming Environment
Identify elements of a welcoming school climate
Explore the challenges and opportunities of family engagement
Discuss the ways the 10 FAST Values can be helpful in encouraging increased family engagement
Engaging Families Virtually and Other COVID-Era CHallenges
Introduce school staff to tangible, practical strategies and expectations for virtual family engagement
Explore the challenges and opportunities of parent engagement
Explore resources related to attendance, focusing on traditionally marginalized families
Empowering Families at Parent-Teacher Conferences
Examine the concept of “empowerment” and ways schools are/are not empowering to families
Provide concrete strategies and tools to help school staff build relationships with families
Prepare ways to empower and engage families before, during, and after parent-teacher conferences
Strengthening Classroom COnditions for Family Engagement
Understand what family engagement is and the importance of building relationships with families
Assess current classroom practices as they relate to family engagement
Learn hands-on strategies to help build trusting relationships with families
Family Engagement, Advocacy, and Power Sharing
Explore concepts of power and trust as they relate to a school community
Identify systems and structure for engaging families in school improvement planning and participation
Examine the concept of “social capital” and the importance of using social capital to build community
Bridging Race, Class, and Culture and Examining Implicit Bias
Assess both your personal and your school’s beliefs and actions
Explore asses-based and deficit-based perspectives and how they affect educators’ actions towards families
Identify implicit bias and examine its effects on education and kids
Determine how this relates to family engagement and what school staff can do differently
Collaborating with the Community
Identify assets in the school and community
Identity the resources that will help schools engage in community problem solving and building community capital
Explore ways to increase connections to community agencies/services to better meet the needs of families in your school
Engage in community asset mapping activity to get to know what and who is in your community
Evaluating and Sustaining Family Engagement Practices
Assess the effectiveness of the family engagement activities you have conducted during the year
Determine whether your school was successful in meeting the goals for student achievement and/or other goals set by you and your school
Learn how to monitor the overall strength of your parent engagement practices by conducting diagnostic assessments at the beginning and end of the year
Additional Topics
Please contact us to discuss any additional family engagement topics of interest not listed.
During these sessions, facilitators/coaches and participants review key research, discuss best practices, and share tools and strategies school staff can use daily when working with families. Emphasis is on group discussion and hands-on approaches that build family-school partnership.
If you are interested in strengthening and customizing your family engagement practice, contact us for more information. Explore our FAQs page to learn more.
Institute News 📌
- Preparing, supporting, and training educators to engage families with the FAST Institute“Is anyone else in here trained as a teacher?” Dr. Robyn Sperling, former school teacher and current Director of Research and Innovation at Families &… Read more: Preparing, supporting, and training educators to engage families with the FAST Institute
- Families & Schools Together among 10 organizations selected by the Carnegie Corporation for grantCarnegie Corporation of New York Names 10 Grant Recipients to Support Family Engagement Programs Philanthropic funding will advance new strategies to provide equitable learning for… Read more: Families & Schools Together among 10 organizations selected by the Carnegie Corporation for grant
- The FAST Institute partners with WEAC to support educators statewideFamilies & Schools Together is pleased to announce its first-ever partnership with the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC). WEAC, an affiliate of the National Education… Read more: The FAST Institute partners with WEAC to support educators statewide