Methodology
This website brings together evidence on ways to engage parents, particularly those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Our approach combines structured evidence review with targeted example-gathering, to balance methodological rigour with practical relevance.
This playbook suggests tactics to try in your area that others have tried in the past; they are not certain solutions. Often a tactic can work in one case and not in another, we have tried our best to synthesise how to make that tactic most effective.
Evidence gathering
Our work builds on existing high‑quality evidence and extends it through targeted searches to capture recent and practice‑based insights.
We began with recent, robust reviews that synthesise the state of the evidence on parental engagement, including:
These reviews provided a baseline understanding of what is already known, where evidence is strong, and where gaps remain.
To supplement these reviews to (a) see the most up-to-date research and (b) find a wider range of case studies and practice-based examples, we carried out further evidence gathering using:
- LitSynth, an AI literature search tool, to systematically identify relevant academic and grey literature
- Google Scholar, Pubmed and ERIC
- supplementary manual searching, to capture emerging studies, programme evaluations, and practitioner‑led evidence that may not yet be well indexed, such as through the Local Government Association's case study page
This combined approach allowed us to include both formal research and well‑documented, practice‑based examples.
Scope and filtering
Our searches were intentionally broad at the outset, in order to identify a wide range of potential examples, tactics, and case studies.
We then applied systematic filtering to prioritise evidence that:
- focuses on families experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage
- is based in the UK or comparable countries
- is relevant to education, the early years or adjacent fields (for example, public health or vaccination uptake), where transferable insights exist
Behavioural science approach
Alongside reviewing the evidence on what works, we undertook a deep-dive analysis to understand why parental engagement often fails. Rather than treating engagement as a single event, we conceptualised it as a journey that parents move through over time.
We applied a behavioural science lens using the COM-B model (capability, opportunity, motivation - behaviour) to identify the specific behavioural barriers preventing parents from progressing between stages. This allowed us to link barriers to targeted, evidence-informed tactics designed to address the underlying behavioural drivers.
Availability of evidence
This reflects how extensive and consistent the evidence base is.
- One or a small number of evidence sources, potentially including anecdotal accounts or single case studies. Evidence is limited in scope or repetition.
- Several pieces of evidence from different cases, settings, or time periods. May include quantitative measures and/or at least one experimental study, showing recurring patterns or effects.
- Many pieces of evidence across multiple contexts or populations, including repeated formal studies (such as multiple experiments or evaluations). The evidence base is broad and well-populated.
Together, these dimensions aim to provide users with a transparent, proportionate view of how much confidence to place in different examples and tactics, while recognising that high‑quality experimental evidence is not always available for real‑world practice.