April 2026

Report Release:

The State of Family Engagement in California Schools

Research

& Policy

2-Pager

Full Report

Webinar Registration May 4, 20261 – 2 pm

In 2024, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) updated the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTPs) to include requirements for stronger family engagement. In 2025, CA-FEN engaged 371 current teachers and administrators in California through surveys and interviews to learn about their beliefs, behaviors or practices in family engagement, and their level of confidence meeting these standards.

Key Findings:

Educators care deeply about family engagement and student-centered learning. Most are aware of the new California teaching standards and agree with their goals but the gap between agreement and practice remains significant, driven by inadequate institutional support, time constraints, and a school culture that has yet to fully normalize family partnership as a core professional expectation and practice.

The most significantly applied standards are CSTP 1 and CSTP 2. Educators scored higher in practices that build connections with families (CSTP1: engaging and supporting all students). When asked to review the new CSTPs, the most significantly standard they reported applying was CSTP 2, where teachers create and uphold a safe, caring, and intellectually stimulating learning environment that affirms student agency, voice, identity, and development and promotes equity and inclusivity.

The sharpest gap falls under CSTP 5: Assessing Students for Learning. Teachers not only struggle to share assessment results with families in meaningful ways - many question whether the assessments themselves truly reflect what their students know and can do. Educators need knowledge, skills, and ongoing coaching to interpret data more broadly and to engage families in a culturally responsive way as genuine partners in understanding data to support student growth and learning.

"Asking educators to share data they don't fully trust puts everyone in a difficult position, especially families who want and deserve honest, transparent information about their child's growth and learning. Truly honoring parents as partners means sharing multiple data points in a timely way through conversations that together paint a full and clear picture of a child's development and learning progress— one parents can act on to better support their children's education." - Araceli Simeón, CA-FEN Executive Director

"Above all, schools must build cultures that genuinely support family partnerships and create space for educators to learn and lead together. Systemic change requires strong leadership, dedicated funding, and a commitment to ensuring that family engagement meaningfully addresses student needs and outcomes, especially when California persistently reports low student achievement." - Dr. Shulamit Ritblatt, Professor Emeritus

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This report was authored by Dr. Shulamit N. Ritblatt and Araceli Simeón. The research was led by Professor Emeritus Dr. Ritblatt formerly with San Diego State University and Founder, CEO of delibrainy LLC and SaFETi School and Family Engagement Training Institute. Dr. Ritblatt was supported by statistical consultant volunteer, Dr. Charles Van Liew. Outreach was led by Antoinette (Toni) Hernandez and supported by Araceli Simeón.

We are grateful to agencies and organizations that helped us disseminate the survey including: