Family Engagement in Action: PowerMyLearning

Strengthening the triangle of learning relationships between students, teachers, and families through online family workshops, activities, and teacher professional development

By Elisabeth Stock June 22, 2021

Family & Community Engagement

This essay and video are part of a series that supplement Embracing a New Normal: Toward a More Liberatory Approach to Family Engagement by Karen L. Mapp and Eyal Bergman, a report commissioned by Carnegie Corporation of New York that explores the dynamics and barriers that stand in the way of effective family-school partnerships and outlines how to reach a more liberatory, solidarity-driven, and equity-focused family engagement practice that supports educational excellence for all children. The essays and videos highlight five grantee partners of Carnegie Corporation of New York that are innovating and leading in the field of family-school partnerships and are rethinking their family engagement practices amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a renewed national reckoning on systemic racism.

In a recent conversation with other K–12 nonprofit leaders, we asked, “What is the one indicator that best predicted how well a school community would fare with the building closures?” We all agreed that that one indicator was strong learning relationships — not just between teachers and students but also between teachers and families. School communities that brought families into the learning process with purpose and compassion prior to the pandemic fared best at stemming the COVID-19 slide.

At PowerMyLearning, we recognized the importance of relationships with families long before the pandemic. That is because our insight is that students are most likely to succeed when supported by a strong triangle of learning relationships. (Picture a triangle with students at the top, teachers and families at the bottom two vertices, and everyone connected by learning relationships). For the last decade, we have focused on helping schools across the country strengthen this triangle via online family workshops, Family Playlists, and teacher professional development.

This spring, we created new online workshops for families seeking guidance on how best to help their children during school building closures. During this time, we also saw usage of Family Playlists increase threefold. Family Playlists are available via cell phones and in more than 100 languages. They enable teachers to invite families into the learning process and support their child’s learning in a fun and collaborative way — by having their child teach them what they are learning in class. This past spring, we rolled out a new component in our professional development services — helping teachers build their cultural competence, which is essential for developing mutual trust with their students and families and fostering their sense of belonging. Through Family Playlists and our professional development services, teachers can see what incredible assets families bring to the table, and this experience can help teachers overcome unconscious biases.

The murder of George Floyd motivated many of us to expand our understanding of white privilege and racial injustice. All of us need to recognize the biases we hold and learn how to fight against racism. This work needs to extend to organizations as well. At PowerMyLearning, we have revised our hiring process, tied our staff evaluation system to our values, and supported our team’s learning both independently and collectively. We have also purposefully elevated the voices of families as we develop our products and services.

As the leader of a K–12 education organization, I am committed to working alongside my peers in efforts to dismantle institutionalized racism. Through these efforts, which include strengthening relationships, we can remove barriers preventing all students and families from reaching their full potential.

Elisabeth Stock is chief executive officer and cofounder of PowerMyLearning, a nonprofit organization that advances educational equity and accelerates students’ social-emotional learning and academic achievement by collaborating with teachers, students, and families.

Photo Credit: Kali9/Getty Images | Video Credit: Carnegie Corporation of New York