Engaging a Global Network to Curate and Disseminate Evidence About What Works to Improve Family-School Engagement

This report is one in a series of case studies RAND researchers are conducting as part of an independent evaluation of the BHP Foundation's Education Equity (EE) program. This case study documents the work that the Brookings Institution's Center for Universal Education (CUE) undertook to produce and disseminate a Playbook that synthesizes evidence and promising strategies to improve family-school engagement. As part of this effort, CUE created the Family Engagement in Education Network (FEEN), a global network of partners, to support Playbook development and mobilization. The Playbook helped build the evidence base on this previously understudied topic. By providing education stakeholders with practical resources to support productive conversations between families and schools, CUE and its FEEN aim to support system-wide school improvement efforts.

As the authors explain in this report, CUE engaged in three key strategies during the development phase of the Playbook: (1) convening a network of collaborators (the FEEN), (2) engaging in large-scale data collection and coproduction, and (3) providing their collaborators with tangible benefits. As a result, when it came time to disseminate the Playbook, CUE had already established a built-in group of ambassadors. Other key strategies CUE employed to support dissemination included designing a product that could be adapted for audiences in different contexts and modeling an approach that FEEN members could emulate in their dissemination efforts.