Family Engagement in Teacher Education: A National Review of Literacy Clinic Websites

In this national study, we examined university websites as public-facing artifacts of the work of literacy clinics within teacher education to understand how families and family engagement are represented. A sociocultural framework conceptualizes websites as socially situated practices shaped by history, knowledge, power, and institutional contexts. From a comprehensive database of literacy teacher preparation programs across the United States (n=1,123), 337 sites were identified as having literacy clinics, and 92 of those as representing families. A qualitative content analysis of these websites occurred through iterative phases of describing, coding, categorizing, and interpreting website content to identify patterns and meanings within and across sites. Four key findings surfaced. First, only 20% of clinic websites included families. Second, less than 10% of Clinics included mission statements that mention families. Third, website representations reflected a continuum of family engagement practices–-Families as Recipients of Information, Families as Involved in Clinic Sanctioned Ways, Families as Actively Engaged, and Families as Co-constructors. Fourth, there was considerable variability in the types and purposes of resources provided to families on websites, revealing assumptions about how clinics support family engagement. These findings extend research in literacy teacher education beyond why family engagement matters to how university literacy clinics represent partnerships with families through their digital presence.