What does effective family engagement look like in action? There’s no one formula, but all 15 programs recognized by NAEYC’s Engaging Diverse Families project start with a strong vision shared by staff and families that honors family engagement. Each of these programs acts on the six principles of family engagement with many best practices in common. But each program also applies unique approaches to implementing these principles―approaches that are as diverse as the families served.

This report shares how 15 real early childhood education programs put the six principles of family engagement into action. For more examples of policies and practices that support family engagement, see the individual profiles of the 10 programs NAEYC identified as exemplary.

• Principle 1: Programs invite families to participate in decision making and goal setting for their child
• Principle 2: Teachers and programs engage families in two-way communication 
• Principle 3: Programs and teachers engage families in ways that are truly reciprocal 
• Principle 4: Programs provide learning activities for the home and in the community
• Principle 5: Programs invite families to participate in program-level decisions and wider advocacy efforts
• Principle 6: Programs implement a comprehensive program-level system

Developed for NAEYC's Engaging Diverse Families Project through a generous grant from the Picower Foundation.
© National Association for the Education of Young Children.