Family Engagement during the Pandemic: Challenges, Inequities, and Opportunities for Adaptation

Abstract

The pandemic created a uniquely challenging situation in which educators pursued ways to engage family members. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with educators from six demographically diverse schools in New York State, this qualitative study contributes to emerging scholarship that has begun to document the efforts of educators to engage families during the pandemic. Findings have implications for educators and policymakers seeking to better understand family engagement challenges during the pandemic and offers practical guidance on promising practices educators might use to engage the diverse array of families and children they serve during times of disruption.

Keywords:

• Parent involvement
• family engagement
• equity
• social capital
• COVID-19

Notes

1 In this paper, the term “family” refers to all individuals in caretaking roles regardless of their biological relationship to the child. This inclusive definition includes people such as older siblings, grandparents, relatives, and “fictive kin” who may care for children despite not being related to them biologically or through marriage.

2 A full description of the methods and procedures is available at the researchers’ website https://ny-kids.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/nykids.covid_.study_.methods.FINAL_.pdf.