Decades of research suggest that higher levels of parental education are related to more active and effective parental involvement (PI) practices. At the same time, schools’ policies and practices facilitate family-school-community partnerships (FSCPs) to support students in attaining successful outcomes. However, it is unclear which school policies are effective in equitably involving parents with lower educational attainment. This study aims to examine the relationships between different types of FSCP practices of Hungarian majority and minority schools in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and create more equitable experiences for parents with lower educational attainment. We formulated the following hypotheses: H1. Higher levels of parental education relate to more active home-based and school-based parental involvement. H2. Parent educational attainment relates to parents’ perceptions of FSCP practices. H3. Parents’ perceptions of FSCP have a stronger relationship to PI than individual student and parent characteristics. The study included parents of Hungarian primary and middle school students in three CEE countries (N = 1002). Our findings suggest that parents with lower educational attainment perceive community development policies and special support as more significant compared to parents with higher educational attainment. Moreover, parents’ perceptions of FSCP practices have a stronger relationship to PI than individual factors. To create a more equitable experience for families, it is proposed that demand-driven practices be developed in schools.

The COVID-19 pandemic created major disruptions in schooling and education. This exploratory study examines state-standardized test scores in traditional and community schools between 2019 and 2023, and qualitative data from a large urban school district located on the East Coast of the United States. The findings indicate declines in test scores for all students in both English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics. The 11 schools implementing a community school strategy reported slightly smaller declines than traditional schools in both ELA and math. Qualitative analysis reveals that community schools were able to pivot quickly to support student and family needs during the pandemic, which may have helped mitigate some of the negative impact of the COVID-19 learning disruptions. This exploratory study points to the potential of the community school strategy in providing holistic supports to alleviate some of the challenges associated with historically underinvested communities, and their responsiveness in times of crisis.

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This study presents the comprehensive findings of the MTA-DE-PARTNERED research and development program, which ran from 2021 to 2025, and aimed to explore and develop the theoretical, empirical, and practical dimensions of family-school partnerships. Within the framework of Epstein’s model of parental involvement, the research examined parents’ educational and learning-support activities at home, school–parent communication, volunteering, participation in decision-making, and community building. Analyses based on a review of the literature, large-scale questionnaire surveys, interviews, and case studies show that patterns of parental involvement are influenced by the child’s achievement, school type, school sector, and social background. The MTA-DE-PARTNERED program placed a strong emphasis on improving teacher training, recognizing that teachers’ preparedness and attitudes play a key role in the quality of the partnership. During the development phase, we created an evidence-based collection of best practices, a university toolkit, and an innovative educational board game based on cooperative. The board game aimed to support the positive development of asset-based attitudes among students and teachers through the simulation of various parental involvement scenarios. The results of the impact assessments suggest that the board game significantly contributes to the development of reflective thinking, a multi-perspective approach, and partnership-centered attitudes. This study shows that strengthening family-school collaboration requires systemic, research-based, and training-related innovations that will, in the long term, contribute to the improvement of student achievement and the development of pedagogical culture.