How Digital Tools Are Redefining Family Engagement in K-12 Education

Discover how schools can build stronger connections with families to provide more insight into every student’s learning experience and extend support from the classroom to home.

PowerSchool’s recent PowerSummit centered on strategies to address attendance, behavior, and academic interventions, as well as ways schools and districts can strengthen their connections to families to boost family engagement and student success. Research has clearly established the link between families that are engaged with their student’s learning journey and student achievement. When families regularly monitor student progress, assignments, attendance, activities, and events, students stay on track, stay in class, miss fewer assignments, and have higher grade point averages. 

Evolutions in education technology are creating a variety of ways for schools and districts to choose to engage with families and build stronger community connections. Knowing which tools and systems are best for each district’s unique needs can be a challenge, which is why PowerSummit included guidance on understanding the purposes of K-12 family engagement technology, knowing the features to look for in engagement software, and leveraging solutions most effectively to maximize impact and support student learning beyond the classroom.  

Here are four strategies PowerSummit sessions addressed to help schools and districts get the most out of their family engagement technology.  

Automating K-12 Contact Databases  

Managing contact information for schools and districts can be challenging due to diverse family dynamics. Many students may have multiple guardians or emergency contacts, and having accurate, up-to-date information is essential. Ensuring timely updates in these dynamic environments means eliminating reliance on manual entry, which is both time-consuming and prone to human error.  

Streamlining the gathering and maintenance of contact data ideally removes the “human factor” and becomes a fully automated process. This shift to automation improves accuracy and efficiency for how schools handle sensitive family information and ensures communications are appropriate and timely.  

Watch this brief clip from “Strategies for School/Family Engagement to Boost Student Success” to learn how to achieve the goal of family communication: ensuring the right people receive timely communications—such as emergency notifications—without relying on human or manual work.  

Improving Learning Experience Transparency: The “Single Pane of Glass” Engagement Hub  

Enhancing engagement and communication between families and schools is vital for student success. In PowerSchool’s 2024 Education Focus Report, a national survey found that 87% of respondents say that a “single pane of glass view,” where families can easily access all the information and resources they need to stay involved in their student’s learning, would improve school/home communication. Providing schools and families with a single tool such as MyPowerHub can: 

• Simplify and streamline parent/teacher communications to extend a supportive learning environment from the classroom to the home  
• Provide a single, centralized platform—the “pane of glass”—where families can easily access a comprehensive range of school-related information such as grades and assignments, school events, and news updates 

All-in-one access to information through one login improves transparency and strengthens the school/family connection. Watch this brief clip from “See MyPowerHub in Action” to learn the benefits of a single pane of glass engagement hub.  

Choosing Tools for Mass Communication  

Effective mass communication in schools is paramount in today’s education landscape—particularly for communications from the district or school level. These communications may include emergency alerts, permission forms, attendance notices, event reminders, and schedule changes.  

Not all communications systems are created equally, and in the session “Choosing a K-12 Notification and Communication Provider: 11 Questions to Consider,” a PowerSchool product expert identifies three of the most essential features of any communication system: 

1. The cost/value analysis makes it a worthy investment (efficiency gains, improved accuracy, enhanced family engagement, reduced risk, and long-term savings are to the school or district’s benefit)  
2. The tool can be effective from its very first day of implementation  
3. The system can adapt to evolving needs as districts change and grow.  

Watch this brief clip for more insight.  

Simplifying Family Access and Insight  

Schools and districts are increasingly leveraging AI to streamline operations and simplify time-consuming tasks. Tools such as PowerBuddy for Engagement, PowerSchool’s family-facing AI assistant, work within MyPowerHub to provide families with instant, accurate answers to their most important questions, saving valuable time for both students and staff while strengthening school connections.  

PowerBuddy for Engagement can save families time by quickly populating information from PowerSchool SIS, school and district websites, and handbooks. Simplifying access to student and school information reduces administrative burden by automating routine inquiries from families.  

Watch this brief clip to see PowerBuddy for Engagement in action.  

Making Learning a Family Affair  

According to youth.gov, “A comprehensive review of the literature on family engagement in early childhood found that all families from diverse socioeconomic, educational, and racial/ethnic backgrounds were interested in their child’s educational success and could effectively support their child’s learning at home and school when provided with the information and guidance that they needed.” This means that, when school-family connections are fostered, students benefit from: 

• Improved academic achievement  
• Whole child social and emotional development  
• Positive behavior  
• Enhanced communication, transparency, and trust  
• Increased engagement and motivation  
• Strong collaborative relationships with peers and adults  
• Bridged cultural gaps  

By choosing the right digital tools to engage families, schools and districts can create a holistic support system that enriches every student’s learning experience, empowers families to be advocates and allies for their students, and strengthens school communities.