Middle School Family Engagement Resources

Family engagement in education doesn’t stop after elementary school. It’s just as important, but it looks and sounds different.

Our Middle Ground project at the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center provides educators and families with research-based tips and opportunities for launching middle schoolers’ success.

What you will find below:

1. Research brief
2. Journal Articles
3. A fully-prepared workshop that schools can facilitate for families
4. Tips and social messaging for middle school families that schools can distribute

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Research Brief

This Brief written by our Center is for administrators, counselors, and teachers, 4th through 7th grade, looking to improve their strategies for partnering with families in order to facilitate and support early adolescents’ transition to middle school.

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Journal Articles

In this article in Phi Delta Kappan, we explored how a brief texting intervention might build trust between teachers and parents, empower parents to support their children, and contribute to students’ confidence and belonging in school. Our results indicate that brief communication interventions may bolster family engagement efforts in middle school.

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In this article published in the School-Community Journal, we provide research-based strategies for middle-level educators to effectively communicate with parents to bolster developmentally appropriate family engagement. These strategies are paired with examples demonstrating how the research translates into practice.

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Launching Success in the Middle School Years: Family Learning Pack for School Workshops

In this fully-prepared workshop for schools and community organizations to host for parents, grandparents, and other caregivers of middle schoolers, families will be introduced to effective family engagement strategies for the middle school age. They will explore how the developmental stage of early adolescence changes how families engage with the school to support middle schoolers’ growing independence. Families will have the opportunity to practice applying these strategies to everyday situations that families face in the middle school years. Download the file at the link below to access the workshop plan, PowerPoint slides, and all materials.

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Tips for Families

Download these research-based tips that all families can use with their middle schooler! This one-pager is available in multiple languages below.

English, Chinese Simplified, Somali, Nepali, Spanish, Arabic

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Social Media Images

Modify and use our middle school tips for families images in your local schools! Tag us on your social media platforms @OhioEngage.