Strengthening the Conditions for Teacher Engagement and Retention

“This was such a valuable visit and I am so thankful for the Home Works Program, because it provides us the time and materials to make a deeper dive in our commitment to growing the climate and culture of our community and school.” 

- HW Educator

Teachers are most likely to feel successful in their roles and stay in the profession when they feel supported, confident, connected to families, and equipped to build meaningful relationships. Home Works helps to create these conditions by strengthening partnerships among  educators, families, and communities through our family engagement model that is grounded in the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships.

While our programs are designed to improve outcomes for students and families, they also benefit educators by strengthening trust, communication, and collaboration with families. These factors are linked to greater job satisfaction and long-term retention. Our impact data also shows that Home Works programming reduces barriers to student engagement, allowing teachers to spend more time focused on teaching. This report is intended to look at 2025-26 school year outcomes through a teacher-focused lens and dive deeper into some of the qualitative data they shared with us throughout the year.

Together, we are building schools where educators feel valued, families are true partners, and every student has the opportunity to thrive.

How Home Works Supports Teacher Engagement: The Data

How Home Works Supports Teacher Engagement: Qualitative Insights on the Data

Deepening Understanding of Students and Families

Home visits provide educators with a richer understanding of students' cultures, strengths, interests, and home experiences. This deeper perspective fosters empathy, strengthens teacher-student relationships, and helps educators better meet students' individual needs. A HW teacher this year shared the following about her home visit experience: 

“The home visit conversation with this family required sensitivity and patience, as we addressed some areas of concern regarding children who were not just new to the district, but new to their family. As foster parents, there is always great concern over students' ability to adjust to the existing children in the home. The parent provided important background information that truly helped us gain a better perspective on how to help them better adjust to our school. The parent also shared valuable insights and perspectives as her other children had attended a private Catholic school prior to transferring to ours. Our meeting went really well, and together, we identified practical strategies to move forward in building a great relationship with this family. I'm excited to share in the challenges and successes this amazing family will face as they navigate the world of foster care, adoption, and becoming a blended family. Our meeting fostered trust and reinforced our shared goal of helping the students succeed, both academically and socially, to the new home and school environment.”

Building Trusting Partnerships with Families

When educators and families develop trusting relationships, communication improves, challenges are addressed collaboratively, and teachers gain stronger support in helping students succeed. Here’s what another HW teacher had to say about co-creating the Plan for Student Success alongside her student’s family during the home visit:

“I learned that this parent had a lot of the same concerns about the student as I did, so we were able to make a plan for the student together to ensure her success on both ends.”

Builds Teacher Confidence

Many educators receive little formal preparation in family engagement. Home Works provides training, coaching, and real-world practice that increases educators' confidence and effectiveness in partnering with families. We often hear from teachers, especially those who are new to the profession, that our professional development is the first exposure to formal family engagement training they receive.

Recognizes Teachers' Investment

Home Works recognizes that meaningful family engagement requires time and intentionality. Through educator compensation, incentives, and recognition, we acknowledge the important work teachers do to strengthen family-school partnerships. In the 2025-26 school year, we gamified compensation to incentivize teachers to deepen their impact and reach more students with home visits. In doing so, we saw a 62% year-over-year increase in the number of teachers conducting 20+ visits throughout the year and a 40% year-over-year increase in HW-trained educators conducting home visits. These results demonstrate that teachers are more likely to engage deeply with families and sustain meaningful partnerships when they are recognized and supported.