Partnering with Families to Transform School Communication

Our Parent Participatory Action Research (PAR) Initiative brings families and schools together to design meaningful, community-driven solutions to one of the most persistent challenges in education: How can communication between families and schools be improved?

Each month, we convene three school-based teams, each made up of six deeply committed parent researchers. These teams meet with our facilitator one Saturday a month to explore communication barriers, gather community perspectives, and develop actionable strategies that strengthen trust, transparency, and collaboration.

What We Do

Our PAR model centers parents as experts of their own experiences. Over the course of the year, parent researchers:

• Collect data through interviews, surveys, and observations
  
• Analyze themes around communication challenges and bright spots
  
• Test new approaches that make school-family communication more clear, timely, and culturally responsive
  
• Present findings and recommendations to school leaders, teachers, and district partners
  

This process not only produces practical solutions—it builds parent leadership, strengthens relationships across the school community, and ensures that families’ voices are at the heart of school improvement.

Why PAR With Parents?

Traditional school engagement often asks families to receive information, not shape it. PAR flips that dynamic.  By positioning parents as researchers, co-designers, and thought partners, we:

• Honor family knowledge and lived experience
  
• Create more relevant communication systems
  
• Increase participation and trust
  
• Produce changes that reflect what families actually want and need
  

Our Guiding Research Question

Across all three school teams, parents are investigating one shared inquiry:

How could communication between families and the school be improved?

Each school’s parent team will identify specific challenges, design research tools, gather evidence, propose solutions, and test new communication methods in real time.

Our Vision

We believe schools thrive when families are not just included but empowered. The Parent PAR Initiative builds a model for more equitable, community-rooted school communication—one where every family can access information, feel heard, and form strong partnerships with educators.