The TFE Standards were developed by Bay Area students and parents in a two-year community-led research process
Transformative Family Engagement Standards (TFES) represent the set of baseline standards a school district must have in place to meaningfully engage students and families in school and district transformation, what we call Transformative Family Engagement (TFE).
Transformative Family Engagement is the practice of centering students, families, and educators as leaders and designers of systems change in schools and districts. Transformative Family Engagement learns from the expert knowledge and lived experiences of students and their families to address explicit and implicit racism in education systems, ultimately transforming learning experiences, opportunities, and outcomes for students of color. TFE requires collective learning, mutual responsibility, and shared power among students, families, and educators to transform education systems and create the educational experiences that our students deserve.
Transformative Family Engagement Standards
Standard 1: Shared Decision-Making
District includes students and families in shared decision-making to support student learning experiences and outcomes.
Standard 2: Communication and Language Access
District ensures all students, families, schools, and central offices can communicate about student achievement and learning conditions in families’ preferred language and communication style.
Standard 3: Student and Family Leadership
District invests in the development of student and family leaders to support family engagement in student learning and shared decision-making.
Standard 4: Educator Recruitment and Retention
District incorporates students and families in educator recruitment and retention efforts.
Standard 5: Partnerships for Teaching and Learning
District invests in the development of family-educator partnerships to support student learning, and incorporates students and families into teaching, learning, and instruction.
Standard 6: Comprehensive Services to Students
District has a whole child approach to education and incorporates students and families into the design, planning, and continuous improvement of services to students and families.
Standard 7: School-Wide Social and Emotional Behavioral Development
District incorporates students and families into the design, implementation, and evaluation of policies and practices that support schoolwide social and emotional behavioral development.
Standard 8: School, District, and Community Learning
District provides ongoing family engagement professional learning for all educators, staff, and community members, and incorporates students and families into the design and delivery of these learning opportunities.
Standard 9: Culture, Climate, and Relationships
District partners with students and families to monitor, measure, and improve school and district culture, climate, and relationships that are welcoming and supportive of students and families.
Standard 10: Continuous Improvement and Systemwide Capacity Building
District collaborates with students and families to design, integrate, and continuously improve transformative family engagement throughout the system.
Read our report detailing our community-led research process for developing the TFE Standards.
We are a group of students, parents, and education justice organizations working together to build community power, generate accountability for education equity, and design and support transformative family engagement practices in schools and districts so that all students thrive.