When 4th grade teacher Stephanie Smith pushed through the broken down gate to her student's apartment, she heard yelling from a nearby unit. Neighbors fighting and the dull echo of police sirens are "noises that kids like John* hear every day."
"I knew he lived in a tough apartment complex," says Smith. "But it's not until you get to a home that you really see the stresses that surround a child."
Smith and her colleague knocked on John's door and his mother hesitantly invited them in. The teacher immediately noticed that family life revolved around a single dining room table on the tile floor. For the first 10 minutes, John's mom was clearly nervous. But as her son excitedly talked about his siblings—how his little brother could walk under the table without banging his head—she, too, opened up. "We got to talk about the kids," says Smith, "and it ended up being a fun home visit."
It took more than a year to convince the single mother of four that the visit wouldn't be a welfare check. "For a decade, she went through the education system at arm's length," says Smith, and she'd been distant with teachers. But it was like a "switch" had been turned on after the house call, which was set up on the mother's terms. Now, she picks up Smith's phone calls and has even offered to come to the school and sit in her son's classroom when his behavior unravels.
Home visits can be an authentic way to build rapport—and repair trust—with families, but they require a tenacious approach to logistics and a focus on family strengths.
Facing Fears
When considering the idea, teachers often raise concerns about personal safety as well as the amount of time home visits require (see survey). These concerns were front of mind when Smith started visiting Oak Ridge Elementary School families. However, safety, in particular, turned out to be a "false fear."
Although the surrounding neighborhood has its share of issues, including drugs and gang activity, the community is beginning to turn around. "I've never in my eight years of home visits had an incident where I was in harm's way," confides Smith. To initially gain confidence, she traveled with partner teachers who had been on "tons of home visits and were well-established in the neighborhood."
The Parent-Teacher Home Visit Project (PTHVP), a model that has been implemented in schools and districts nationwide, follows core practices (e.g., educators must travel in pairs) to stave off some of these concerns. For instance, teachers are trained, the visits are completely voluntary (for the teachers and parents), and staff are compensated for their time. In the Sacramento City Unified School District, where Smith teaches, educators earn the same hourly rate that they'd receive for common planning time or a staff meeting.
To scale a program districtwide, PTHVP requires districts to collaborate with a community organization and a local teachers union. Districts also have to source funds for teacher training and compensation and determine how to write the visits into teacher contracts.
For districts that have made the commitment, however, the payoff is notable. In a 2015 study from researchers at Johns Hopkins University, students in the District of Columbia who received a PTHVP-model home visit had 24 percent fewer absences and were more likely to read at or above grade level.
Studies on the program's efficacy have also shown that home visits lead to better student performance, increased parental involvement, and a stronger relationship between the school and family.
Laying the Groundwork
Whether participating as part of a larger program or conducting visits independently, educators have to first lay the groundwork, says Smith. "You can't bang down on doors or just pop in uninvited."
Smith warms parents to the idea by informing them that she's reaching out to every family in her class, and that the visits are "purely for building relationships." She also relies on the "little planted seeds of relationships from previous teachers" to put parents at ease (all Oak Ridge teachers conduct home visits).
If a student has a sibling in the school, Smith tries to partner with the sibling's teacher to conduct the visits together. She also connects resistant parents with parents who have experienced home visits. For the most part, it's worked. Smith teaches a 3rd and 4th grade loop, and usually by her second year with students, she's visited 90 percent of their families.
Edward Owusu, principal of Shady Grove Middle School in Gaithersburg, Md., says parents in the community are usually receptive to home visits. Administrators, counselors, and grade-level team leaders divide and conquer over the summer, spending a couple of professional days visiting incoming 6th graders and returning students. There isn't a district policy in place to guide their work, says Owusu; it's a simple effort to create that "personal touch" that connects the school and its families.
To soften the dynamic, the visits reach a broad swath of students. "If you're always going to talk to families whose kids are in trouble, that kind of gets old," Owusu observes. "Talk to the kids who are on the border, the kids who are finding themselves out, and the high flyers." The team hand-selects some students to visit and gets recommendations from 5th grade counselors for others. They also send out an open invite to all parents—which usually gets a strong response.
Before heading out on a visit, staff members ask families if they would like a translator to come along. It's not fair to expect a child to translate for his parents, Owusu remarks. Small gestures, like bringing a gift such as a bumper sticker or notebook emblazoned with the school's logo, also help. Smith often brings her student a new book or art supplies.
Most important, Owusu and his staff stay flexible as they plan, working around families' summer schedules and responding to any initial discomfort with care. "Sometimes we've conducted home visits at the doorstep," says Owusu, and that's OK.
Sticking to Strengths
Shady Grove's visits typically last about half an hour and touch upon ways the school can foster the child's success. Questions from the principal might include, "What do you see as your child's skill strengths at home?", "Do they help with younger siblings or with chores around the house?", and "What can we build upon and celebrate with them?"
Under the PTHVP model, the first visit focuses exclusively on getting to know a family—academics are off the table. Smith usually begins by asking about the child's hobbies, siblings, friends, or pets. Sometimes they'll play a favorite video game or kick the soccer ball around in the front yard.
But the heart of the visit revolves around an authentic exchange, says Carrie Rose, director of PTHVP. Teachers ask family members, "What are your hopes and dreams for your child?" and then share their own hopes and dreams for the success of the student.
They also discuss expectations and build an action plan around themes that emerge from both sides of the conversation (e.g., regular communication), explains Rose. At the end of the visit, teachers invite the family to come see the classroom or attend an upcoming event at the school.
Creating Cultural Context
In Washington State's Federal Way Public Schools, home visits serve as a cultural bridge. During visits, "teachers focus on learning about the cultural differences and the funds of knowledge of the family," says Trise Moore, director of family and community partnerships.
Started in 2011 by educators at Illahee Middle School, the dynamic home visits program relies on Margery Ginsberg and Raymond Wlodowski's Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching as its backbone. Teachers reflect on and then apply what they learn to their pedagogy, developing more relevant lessons and activities.
During home visits, teachers gain a cultural context that they "don't get to learn about within the classroom setting," relates Moore. In a post-visit survey, teachers indicated that they better "understand who [their] students are culturally" and are more likely to "intervene when [they] see culturally insensitive practices."
"In many schools, staff don't live in the neighborhoods where they teach," says Rose. But after the visits, "teachers report that they feel more connected to the neighborhood and the family."
Making It Meaningful
Despite some of its early successes, Federal Way's program is still emerging (about 100 teachers in nine schools have received training to participate). "We know how busy our teachers are and how limited their time is," explains Moore. "The challenge has been figuring out how to identify an approach that works best for teachers" (who have varying levels of interest) and how to find the resources to support it.
Indeed, home visits are just "one strategy" for building relationships with families, Rose emphasizes. It's up to teachers to determine whether these visits will be a good use of their time. "It's a great foundational strategy," she clarifies, "but if it's not meaningful, find a different strategy."
Owusu believes the visits have "made a wealth of difference" at Shady Grove Middle School "because they [show] parents we care." As a result, they are more open to honest conversations throughout the school year. "Usually when we make that connection in the summer, parents are more welcoming to our calls," he observes. "They feel like they know us."
Likewise, home visits have become a meaningful part of Smith's practice. "As a new teacher, I had to realize that my classroom might not be pristine and perfect every single day, and not everything gets laminated for every lesson," she says. "But I'm building relationships with families. It's worth it to put the whiteboard markers down, close the classroom door, and get out there into the community."
Seeing the Whole Picture
John still refers to his home visit months later, says Smith. He'll tell her, "Remember that time I showed you my mom's nail polish? Well, this weekend she painted her nails red."
"I have a better image of how his life is back at home," Smith assures, and she's more empathetic. If John doesn't complete his homework, she remembers that he has to walk 30 minutes to get home (through a circuitous safe route) and then take care of his little brother.
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*John is a pseudonym used to protect the student mentioned in this article.