The Progressing Parental Engagement in the ACT project underpins the ACT Government's commitment to delivering the best schools and the best education for children and young people. The project sees learning as a partnership in which all parents are valued and respected as children's first and most influential teachers.
The project brings together research undertaken by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth in partnership with the Education Directorate, Catholic Education Office and The Association of Independent Schools. Its development involved working with and listening to ACT parents, families and the community about what matters to them in their child's learning.
The first technical report Our Evidence Base: Defining Parental Engagement, provides a shared understanding of parental engagement; what it is, why it matters, and how best to foster it.
The second technical report Our Evidence Base: Measuring Parental Engagement provides the 'how' of parental engagement - how to do it and how to do it effectively. It provides a survey instrument that schools can use to measure levels of parental engagement. The information gained through the survey will enable schools to develop targeted strategies to build and strengthen partnerships with families.
A series of fact sheets and key-idea resources provide school and families with tips and strategies on 'what works'.
Resources from Progressing Parental Engagement in the ACT project
The resources were developed by the ACT Education Directorate in partnership with the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, the Catholic Education Office and the Association of Independent Schools.
- Education Capital: Our Evidence Base - Defining Parental Engagement Report (194.8 KB)
- Education Capital: Our Evidence Base - Defining Parental Engagement Report (843.0 KB)
- Education Capital: Our Evidence Base - Measuring Parental Engagement (1.3 MB)
- Education Capital: Our Evidence Base - Measuring Parental Engagement (4.2 MB)
- Education Capital: Progressing Parental Engagement (1.2 MB)
- Progressing Parental Engagement in the ACT: Our Evidence Base - Survey Pilot and Recommendations (2.2 MB)
Parent Fact Sheets
- Education Capital: Parent Fact Sheet (427.7 KB)
- Parental Engagement in High School Fact Sheet (254.7 KB)
- Parental Engagement: Communicating with Your Child's School (1.1 MB)
- Parental Engagement: Family-Led Learning - Engaging the Whole Family (1.1 MB)
- Parental Engagement: What You Can Do at Home - Parental Engagement in Early Childhood (1.1 MB)
- Parental Engagement: What You Can Do at Home - Parental Engagement in Primary School (1.1 MB)
School Fact Sheets
- Education Capital: Teacher Fact Sheet (535.6 KB)
- Parental Engagement in High School (265.7 KB)
- Parental Engagement: Building a Strong Culture of Parent-School Engagement (1.3 MB)
- Parental Engagement: Engaging with Families for Whom English Is an Additional Language or Dialect (1.1 MB)
- Parental Engagement: Engaging with Families of Children with a Disability (1.1 MB)
- Parental Engagement: Supporting Children's Learning at Home (1.2 MB)
- Parental Engagement: Supporting Parents to Get Engaged with the School Community (1.3 MB)
Progressing Parental Engagement key-idea resources
- Aim High - Postcard (4Mb) and Poster (2Mb)