Caregiver Engagement in Education

The indicator measures frequency of communications with parents or caregivers by teachers or education personnel informing them of learning content and teaching methods over a pre-determined period of time (for example, a school year / non-formal education (NFE) cycle / month).

1) Decide on the pre-determined period of time relevant to the programme (for example, how many sessions were held in a school year/NFE cycle/month).

2) [optional] Decide on an ideal frequency of (or target for) parental/caregiver engagement over the pre-set period of time (for example, at least one meeting per 6 months or 2 meetings per year).

3) Collect the required data related to (a) frequency of communications between parents/caregivers and teachers/education personnel over this time-period; and (b) what information is provided during these sessions from the following sources:

• interviews with a representative sample of school or learning space directors, teachers and/or parents or caregivers (recommended survey questions for measuring this indicator can be found here).
• reviews of Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) documentation (if applicable – refer to Important Comments below for additional guidance)

4) Use this information to determine (a) the number of parent / caregiver-teacher / educator engagement sessions held over the pre-determined period of time and (b) whether these sessions provided parents/caregivers with relevant information on learning content and teaching methods.

5) To calculate the frequency of engagement, divide the number of parent/caregiver-teacher/educator engagement sessions [that provided information on learning content and teaching methods] by the number of pre-determined time periods that have passed (for example, if 9 parent-teacher sessions were held over 12 months, divide 9 by 12, which gives an average of 0.75 sessions per month).

6) [optional] Determine whether the calculated frequency is adequate according to the pre-set target.

1) This is INEE Indicator 3.14.

2) PTA are a useful means of facilitating two-way communication between teachers and caregivers. In some countries alternative names of PTAs may include "community education committee" or "school management committee" - always use the locally known name of PTA.

3) Related indicators:

     UNRWA

        - number of parents/guardians who have attended at least one awareness session on EiE related themes

        - % of Parent-Teacher Associations who conducted at least one EiE-related activity, in line with the PTA ETI