by Erin Okuno

We believe children, especially children of color, have the right to be whole, well, and successful. With this belief the Southeast Seattle Education Coalition and their partners set out to construct a family engagement survey to learn how families feel about engaging with schools and the education system.

The 2019 survey was designed in partnership with representatives from six schools and community organizations from diverse backgrounds. As a design team we took time to talk about what values we want to convey, and what stories we know about our communities, and what truths we want to uncover. Through these conversations we rewrote the 2015 SESEC family engagement survey to update it and refresh to meet changing needs, demographics, and today’s student community. This year we’re looking at new measures including housing and financial stability, disability, alongside other facets of school and community wellbeing such as communication, and how school faculty and staff work alongside families and students.

Building a great survey doesn’t equate to having strong survey results. We also worked with our partners to figure out the best ways to distribute and collect surveys, especially concentrating on finding and reaching families of color. Our partners know their communities best and used different methods to engage with the communities to collect survey results. Some held focus groups or interviews, others had the surveys available at family events. The survey is available in Chinese, English, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese. SESEC has also committed to paying for interpreters if families would like support in completing the survey.

Once the surveys close on December 15, 2019 our research partner from the University of Washington College of Education will do a deep analysis of the data. The results will be shared at a community event in Spring 2020.

SESEC’s family engagement survey closes on Sunday, December 15. If you would like to participate visit: http://bit.ly/SESECFamilySurvey2019.

Southeast Seattle Education Coalition (SESEC) is a coalition of Community Based Organizations (CBOs), schools, educators, community leaders, parents and caregivers, and concerned SE Seattle residents working to improve education for all children, especially those in SE Seattle and those farthest away from opportunities.