Systematizing Family Engagement to Support Student Learning
How Oxnard School District Prepare Parents to be Change Agents
Since 2019, the Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) has gathered students, families, community partners, educators, educational partners, and researchers to forge meaningful connections across culturally and linguistically diverse communities. The goals of these gatherings have been to share best practices for community engagement and support one another during challenging times—all while peer leading and learning from each other to accomplish these goals. This Spotlight was created from an issue of CEI's Voices from the Field, which highlight stories that offer lessons and models for other schools and districts looking to engage their communities more deeply and effectively.
Overview
Understanding the value of collaborative relationships between schools and the community, Oxnard School District (OSD) prioritizes parent and family engagement in their district's goals — such efforts are aimed at empowering parents as change agents and partners in education (OSD, LCAP 2022-2023). Grounding their work in the California Family Engagement Framework, OSD narrowed their focus to two areas: 1) capacity building and 2) access and equity to address barriers that prevent meaningful partnerships. OSD then sought out strategies based on recommendations from research. OSD found that increased opportunities for parents, students, and school personnel to interact directly with each other, as well as providing parents access to training and education on instructional strategies that build on their strengths would help improve collaboration and communication (CA Department of Education, pg. 42). From these suggestions, OSD worked to establish their Equity, Family, and Community Engagement Department, create parent and community groups, maintain parent and community liaison roles, and develop partnerships with various community organizations.
Empowering and Building the Capacity of the Community
Oxnard School District worked to build the capacity of staff and families in order to be better positioned as advocates and partners in education. OSD established various parent and community groups, such as the District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC), Parent Advisory Committee, Parent-Teacher Association, African American Parent & Community Advisory Group, School Site Councils, Mixteco Advisory Group, Asian American & Pacific Islander Advisory Group, and a District Family and Community Engagement Committee. The district also hosts meetings designed explicitly for their newcomer families. These committees are aimed at impacting students’ academic and social-emotional development by strengthening trust and ensuring all voices are heard. This is exemplified in the establishment of the African American and Mixteco advisory groups, considering African American students represent 0.8% of the district’s student population and only 2.4% of their English Learners speak Mixtec languages (EdData, 2021-2022). These parent groups offer opportunities for parents to voice their needs and engage in the district's decision-making processes, including the development of OSD's Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) goals, the design of learning experiences for students and families, and the development of a district-level Parent and Family Engagement Policy. OSD’s efforts in building and supporting parent leaders has led them to be selected as part of the Professional Learning Network on Family and Community Engagement within the California Department of Education (OSD, LCAP 2022-2023).
OSD recognized the importance of building the capacity of their staff as well. By providing professional development on topics such as respectful partnerships, collaboration skills, communication strategies, cultural proficiency, and connecting program activities to academic goals, OSD equipped their educators and administrators with the tools to foster relational trust with families. The district's efforts to facilitate trust and communication within the community helped their educators and families collaborate as equal partners in supporting and advocating for students’ needs.
Increasing Access to Ensure Students and Families Can Thrive
To effectively advocate for their child, families need access to information that allows them to understand and effectively participate in their child's education. OSD established parent and community liaison roles to build lines of communication between the district, parents, and community partners, ensuring students and families have what they need to succeed. Parent Support Liaisons help increase family and community engagement by acting as the direct link between schools and families. They not only establish effective channels for communication and interaction between the home and the school, but also offer training opportunities for other parents looking to get more involved in the school and community. Similarly, District Community Liaisons serve as collaborative partners between the district and families of students most at-risk (e.g. students identified as homeless or foster youth) to ensure they have access to additional resources and supports that are available to them.
OSD has also recently expanded their biliteracy program to provide learning opportunities that meet the needs of their students and families. With English Learners making up over 50% of the district's student population, OSD offers three program options to ensure all students have access to research-based and standards-driven instruction regardless of their native language: Sheltered English Immersion (SEI), Dual Language Immersion (DLI), and Newcomer Academy (EdData, 2021-2022). This rounded approach allows for students and families to access key resources and programs that reflect their individual needs, whether that’s through academic support, social and emotional support, or enrichment and intervention opportunities.
Centering Equity in Family and Community Engagement Practices
With equity as a focus of OSD’s LCAP goals, the Equity, Family, and Community Engagement Department is tasked with supporting district-wide efforts to expand equitable learning environments and opportunities that focus on the needs of all students, especially those who are traditionally underrepresented and underserved. Recognizing that families serve as integral partners in supporting students' academic and social-emotional well-being, their work includes developing community partnerships, facilitating open forums, and creating programs for families to engage with the school and district (OSD, LCAP 2022-2023). To ensure equity stays at the center of their family and community engagement work, OSD also established a district-wide Family and Community Engagement Committee. Composed of parent, community, and district staff representatives from all schools in the district, this committee focuses on issues of equity, social justice, and culturally responsive practices (OSD, LCAP 2022-2023).
OSD’s equity efforts are reflected in their work with the Community Engagement Initiative (CEI), in which the district has identified their problem of practice as “Creating opportunities and supporting active engagement of our African American and Mixteco families to actively participate in shared decision making that impacts student learning” (January 2023 PLLN Presentation). As mentioned above, African American and Mixteco students only make up about 3% of their student population (EdData, 2021-2022). However, as OSD believes that its equity efforts should be inclusive of all families, the district continues to celebrate, encourage, and reinforce their ethnic and linguistic diversity by ensuring that they have translators/interpreters and steering committees/parent groups for both their African American and Mixteco families (OSD, LCAP 2022-2023). By embedding equity into their family and community engagement practices, OSD invites families to collectively work towards their vision of nurturing and empowering multilingual global citizens.
Community Partnerships to Strengthen Family Engagement & Student Learning
OSD’s community partnerships have increased access to resources that build the collective capacity of students, families, and schools. Particularly, their partnership with the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) has been instrumental in building collaborative partnerships with parents of English Learners and empowering them as strong leaders in their child’s education through Project 2 Inspire. This program is a research-based, collaborative program that not only offers parents high quality education, resources, and leadership development, but also offers educators and administrators with professional development on research-based strategies and effective practices to meet the needs of second language learners. With the belief that meaningful partnerships significantly improve student achievement, OSD engaged parents in the Project 2 Inspire program, providing them with the tools to get involved in the school and community as true partners in their children's education.
In the upcoming school year, OSD is hoping to collaborate with local universities and community partners to provide students with mentoring opportunities that help develop their college and career readiness, deepen their connection with the community, and promote a stronger sense of identity. Through its community partnerships, OSD is creating a growing network of resources and services that students and families can tap into to feel supported and encouraged.
Lessons Learned
As OSD’s work around family and community engagement continues, they plan to incorporate elements of the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships to further develop and strengthen systemic practices that drive effective family and community engagement. While OSD already offers various district-level parent and community groups, the district hopes to expand their efforts in fostering successful home-school partnerships by establishing site-level Family and Community Engagement Committees that represent diverse backgrounds and roles. As the collective capacity of educators and families is integral to sustaining these relationships, OSD also hopes to offer more professional development to enhance teachers’ effectiveness in supporting culturally responsive family engagement and asset-based lesson design enhanced by families’ funds of knowledge.
Learn More About Oxnard School District's Partners
The California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE)’s Project 2 Inspire program provides high-quality education, resources, and leadership development to all parents. CABE also offers professional development for district and school administrators, parent involvement coordinators or liaisons, and other family engagement professionals on researched based strategies and effective practices.
Oxnard School District works in collaboration with Ventura County Office of Education to provide supplementary education and support services to eligible migrant students and families as part of California’s Migrant Education Program (MEP).
The Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) supports, organizes, and empowers indigenous migrant communities through its various programs that focus on organizing and advocacy; outreach and access; health and healthing; immigration; and research and evaluation.
Oxnard College offers college-level courses for OSD's students.
The Ventura County Behavioral Health Department (VCBH) provides mental health services for students and families in Oxnard School District.
Meet the Team
Teresa Ruvalcaba
Manager of Equity, Family, and
Community Engagement
Alberto Mendoza
Parent Support Liaison
Maria Magana
School Counselor,
Marshall School
About the Community Engagement Initiative
The Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) is intended to strengthen California's System of Support by building the capacity of school districts to authentically engage one another. This includes identifying effective models of community engagement, developing metrics to evaluate those models, having difficult conversations, building trusting relationships, and participating in the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) development process.
Since 2019, the Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) has gathered students, families, community partners, educators, educational partners, and researchers to forge meaningful connections across culturally and linguistically diverse communities. The goals of these gatherings have been to share best practices for community engagement and support one another during challenging times—all while peer leading and learning from each other to accomplish these goals. This Spotlight was created from an issue of CEI's Voices from the Field, which highlight stories that offer lessons and models for other schools and districts looking to engage their communities more deeply and effectively.
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