HOME WORKS! (HW!) was founded in St Louis, MO, in 2007 to advance children's academic success by partnering with families and teachers to improve student academic achievement by building relationships between school and home. HW! began in a handful of schools, growing to serve 116 early childhood, elementary, middle, and high schools in urban, suburban, and rural districts and charter schools.
Now, more than fifteen years later, HW! continues to provide teachers and schools in low-income communities with the expert professional development, tools, and financial support needed to bridge the gap between school and home and engage parents as powerful partners in their children’s learning. Through Home Visits, Parent-Teacher Workshops, and School Events, nearly 1,000 students annually experience improved attendance, classroom behavior, and academic proficiency. Our impact is clear; when parents and teachers work together kids succeed!
Evaluation of our programmatic accomplishments provided by Goshen Educational Consulting for our 2023 Impact Report has shown incredible student improvement. Significantly, HW! students outperformed non-HW! students during the 2022-23 School Year:
- HW! students outperformed non-HW! students in math grade level competencies by 14%
- HW! students outperformed non-HW! students in reading grade level competencies by 13%
- HW! students outperformed non-HW! students in achieving expected growth in math by 16%
- HW! students outperformed non-HW! students in achieving expected growth in reading by 8%
HOME WORKS! defines parent engagement as a set of behaviors that parents intentionally and continuously practice that positively impact a child’s learning. Parent engagement acknowledges and focuses on the connection between a child’s learning at home and academic success at school.