Building Family–School Partnerships in Secondary Math

A Guide for Teachers Grades 6-12

Building Family–School Partnerships in Secondary Math is a must-have for all secondary math educators! Engaging secondary students’ families in math education has been a challenge for educators for years. Using entertaining vignettes and multifaceted home learning activities with real-world contexts, Bland and Rials provide practical, research-aligned strategies to help educators actively engage families in supporting students’ growth in mathematics.

Teacher leaders are educators who set a vision for improving instruction for their students and work collaboratively with colleagues to strengthen teaching practices across their schools. Building Family–School Partnerships in Secondary Math offers accessible and practical frameworks to support this work. It guides teachers in leading efforts that honor the knowledge, experiences, and contributions of students, families, and the broader school community. I highly recommend this book as a study resource for educators who are ready to support meaningful and lasting change in their schools.

Shakiyya Bland and Julitha Rials debunk the myth that advanced mathematics belong only in the classroom and to a select few, offering guidance to help educators partner with families to support all teens’ math learning. Educators will come away knowing how to explain classroom instructional practices to families, encourage family math exploration at home and in the community, and advocate for informed decision-making around math pathways.

With its focus on families with secondary school children, this book fills an important gap in the field of family engagement in mathematics. Bland and Rials’ deep understanding of adolescence and their knowledge of mathematics education result in powerful prompts and activities, carefully designed to support educators in their work with families.

Building Family–School Partnerships in Secondary Math is a must-read for anyone passionate about student success. Their dedication to building genuine family–school partnerships in math shines through every page. They truly hit the mark by showing how connecting with families strengthens learning, equity, and collaboration for every scholar.

This book is a useful roadmap to foster open dialogue with students and families to create an inclusive environment and promote culturally responsive teaching. It is full of engaging ideas that can be easily implemented in your secondary math classroom.

Building Family-School Partnerships in Secondary Math emphasizes that family engagement is not a surface-level activity, but a core component of effective mathematics instruction. It addresses the often-overlooked link between home and school during adolescence, especially in a content area in which many parents may not feel equipped to fully support their child.

Rooted in real classroom experience, this book provides practical tools for teachers to move past traditional efforts at parent involvement to foster genuine family-school partnerships in support of secondary math. Bland and Rials show how connecting math to students’ real, everyday life can transform engagement and better support every learner. It’s accessible, insightful, and highly relevant for today’s educators.

This book is a must- read for all secondary math teachers and leaders! Bland and Rials come with a strengths-based lens of students, families, and educators, and provide practical ideas for educators to immediately implement with all families. Educators reading this will be prepared to create truly culturally relevant classrooms, provide families strategies to complement instruction, and include them in important decisions for students across their secondary years.

Using research and practical strategies—from mathematical language routines to embracing Ubuntu—Building Family-School Partnerships in Secondary Math offers a transformative approach to actively engage families and caregivers as partners during their child’s secondary mathematics journey.