After all, itвЂ™s hard to replicate the experience that parents had when family living rooms literally became classrooms. Through that experience, вЂњI understood things about the way that my son learns that would have taken me years to figure out.вЂќ She was able to give and get feedback from his teachers and even borrowed some of the classroom lingo, telling her child to use his вЂњlistening ears, looking eyes, and quiet handsвЂќ at home.ДЄnd, yet, those strengthened bonds may turn out to be fragile. I got to go back to preschool,вЂќ said Naomi Nedd, whose 4-year-old son is in a state-supported program for children with significant learning and thinking differences. These developments could be potentially game-changing for student learning. And two-thirds reported that they have a stronger sense of what their child is learning in school. Sixty-two percent of parents surveyed by Rutgers said they have a better picture of their child as a learner than they did before the pandemic, including their academic strengths and weaknesses. Parents also now have a keener sense of what goes on in their childвЂ™s school, in part because they now know what itвЂ™s like to sit just a few feet away from their childвЂ™s Zoom class or log in to a learning management system to help with assignments. ThatвЂ™s a big change from life before the pandemic. вЂњFamilies have responded quite positively to that change.вЂќ вЂњThe conversations switched away from discipline and вЂthis is what your child isnвЂ™t doingвЂ™ to вЂhereвЂ™s what we can do together to make sure that your child continues to learn and grow,вЂ™вЂќ Mapp said. In fact, a whopping 79 percent of educators who said parent communication increased, including teachers and school and district leaders, surveyed by the EdWeek Research Center, said that the upswing in communication had a positive impact on academic outcomes.Дuring the pandemic, the content of the communication changed, Mapp said, with a greater focus on childrenвЂ™s individual learning needs, since parents were a huge part of supporting classroom instruction. Just 9 percent said parent-school communication decreased.ДЄnd educators think better parent communication had big benefits for student achievement. And more than a third-37 percent-said it increased вЂњa lot,вЂќ according to a survey by the EdWeek Research Center. More than three-quarters of educators said that parent-school communication increased during the pandemic.

That priority shift is echoed in some surveys. вЂњSo now youвЂ™ve gone from something that was low priority to something that is probably right at the top.вЂќ вЂњFamily engagement had to move to the top of the priority list now because no learning, no teaching, no education is happening without communication with families,вЂќ said Karen Mapp, a senior lecturer at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, who has studied the interactions between parents and schools for years. And, it is a golden opportunity for schools to push parent engagement to a higher level this year and beyond. In many places, communication between schools and parents is turning out to be one of the bright spots in an otherwise chaotic and uncertain era of education. Families who couldnвЂ™t make an information session in real time were able to log on at their convenience. The district saw increases in attendance for parent meetings and for parent-teacher conferences. вЂњIt allowed us to reach exponentially more families than I have ever reached in my career,вЂќ Burney said.

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