It takes a village.
Information & resources that help families understand the school system here.
Information & resources for Local Education Agencies and schools here.
Information & resources to help parents, families, & the community support student success here.
Learn about what the TCPFE is doing to better the education environment here.
Apply for the Anita Villarreal Innovation in Engagement Award
The Anita Villarreal Innovation in Engagement Award honors Anita Villarreal's legacy and her lifelong commitment to family engagement and educational innovation. Anita spent nearly three decades with the Texas Education Agency dedicated to Title I and migrant students which also earned her the 2024 Bob Harmon Service to Education Award. To apply for this award, click below.
What we do
Our Events
The Parent & Family Engagement Statewide Initiative hosts many events throughout the year that benefit both families and educators to enhance student success. Experience the benefits of attending a PFE event. Click the event title for more information.
The Annual PFE Conference: A three-day event bringing together parents, families, educators, and community members to learn about best practices for engaging parents and families in their children's education.
PFE Best Practice Virtual Expos: These free, virtual events are valuable resources for educators interested in learning more about successful, effective parent and family engagement strategies from across the entire nation.
If you are interested in learning more about family engagement, we encourage you to attend a PFE event. There is something for everyone at every event.
Our Resources
Law & Statute
Parent and Family Engagement is weaved throughout the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA. While section 1116 addresses the majority of the requirements and provisions related to parental engagement in Title I schools, parent and family engagement is also mentioned in a few other sections. This section provides resources relating to parent and family engagement as laid out in ESSA.
PFE Toolkits
PFE Toolkits are created by the PFE Statewide Initiative to help LEAs and schools meet the requirements of ESSA. There are toolkits over the following requirements:
PFE Building Capacity
PFE Program Evaluation
School-Parent Compact
Written PFE Policy (LEA & School)
Annual Title I Meeting
Parents & Families
The Parent & Family Engagement Statewide Initiative is committed to providing parents and families with resources needed to support their child's education.
A few of the resources offered are:
PFE Texas Newsletter: Our quarterly newsletter features articles on a variety of topics related to parent and family engagement, as well as upcoming events and workshops.
Navigating the Future (NTSS) Website: This website was created as a source to provide information for parents, families, and educators about some frequently requested topics. Parents and families can find information about enrollment and vaccinations, attendance, transitions through grade levels, discipline, and other topics.
Many of these resources are available in Spanish as well as other languages. Click the “Learn More” button to learn more.
Sign up for our newsletter and our ListServ to learn about information, resources, and to stay up-to-date on upcoming events and workshops.
LEAs & Schools
The Parent and Family Engagement Statewide Initiative is committed to helping schools build strong partnerships with parents and families. By providing educational staff with the resources and support they need, the PFE Statewide Initiative is helping to ensure that all students have the opportunity to succeed. These include:
Events: The PFE Statewide Initiative offers a variety of professional development opportunities for educational staff on topics such as building relationships with parents, communicating effectively with families, and creating a welcoming and supportive school environment.
Parent and Family Engagement Toolkits: These toolkits provide educators with information and resources to help meet the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
Click “Learn More” below to see all the resources.
Navigating the School System
Understanding the school system can be tricky, but it's important to help our kids succeed. The "Navigating the School System" website is here to assist parents, families, and teachers with things like enrollment, vaccinations, attendance, moving up grades, discipline, and more.
It's essential to know that rules might be different in various places. The details on this site aren't legal advice, just general information. Keep in mind that the info might not be the latest. The website also has links to other websites for more help.
PFE Council
The council began on May 25, 2018 under the direction of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the American Institute for Research. Coordination of the Council was moved to the Parent and Family Engagement (PFE) Statewide Initiative in 2020.
The Council is comprised of TEA staff, Education Service Center (ESC) staff, Local Education Agency (LEA) staff, parents, Migrant State Parent Advisory Council representatives, and staff from the Parent and Family Engagement (PFE) Statewide Initiative. The mission of the council is to build capacity for parent, family, and community engagement in Texas schools by advising TEA on how families, community members, and educators can unite in the shared goal of equipping Texas children with the skills to become productive citizens and lifelong learners.
Work created and delivered based upon guidance of the Council includes the Parent and Family Engagement State Plan, Customer Service in Education training, and Parent and Family Engagement Best Practices Expos.
Click “Learn More” below for more information.