Engaging Families in the High School Transition: Initial Findings from a Continuous Improvement Initiative

This case study focuses on one district's process of continuous improvement in family engagement. The improvement effort addresses the point at which family engagement tends to decline precipitously and students are particularly vulnerable--the transition into high school. In this article we analyze the implementation of a continuous improvement approach to engaging families as students make this critical transition. In particular, we describe (a) the variation in schools' family engagement activities and participation in cycles of inquiry, (b) the challenges identified by schools to implementing the family engagement approach and cycles of inquiry, and (c) the learning that occurred for both the participating schools and the district-university partnership team through the continuous improvement process. [This article was published in "School Community Journal" (EJ1184768).]