Program | Practice | Policy
Families play a critical role in student decision-making about advanced coursework, but their ability to engage with schools is often shaped by the realities of poverty and other external forces. It is not that families do not care—on the contrary, families consistently want the best for their children. However, challenges such as irregular work schedules, multiple jobs, transportation barriers, and housing or food insecurity can make attending school meetings, workshops, or navigating complex systems seem nearly impossible. When schools and districts recognize these barriers and provide intentional supports, families are better able to participate in decisions that open doors to advanced coursework opportunities for their students.
Family education programs build awareness and confidence by providing multilingual, accessible, and ongoing guidance. Community partner programs extend the reach of schools by offering navigation supports, mentoring, tutoring, and logistical help. In Kentucky, the statewide network of Family Resource and Youth Services Centers (FRYSCs) helps address nonacademic barriers to student success. These centers can be leveraged to ensure families are aware of advanced coursework options and the supports available to make them attainable.
A new statewide resource, Futuriti.org, offers Kentuckians a one-stop online portal—called Future Finder—to explore career paths, required education and training, postsecondary institutions, funding programs, and labor market data. By helping students and families connect advanced coursework choices with long-term career outcomes, Futuriti complements school-based programming and supports informed decision-making across the talent pipeline.
Nationally, families also benefit from resources that connect advanced coursework to college and career outcomes. The College Scorecard, for example, provides transparent information on college costs, graduation rates, and earnings. Linking advanced coursework choices to long-term opportunities makes the case more tangible for families weighing whether to encourage their student to take on rigorous courses.
Community partners—including nonprofits, universities, and employers—can also play an essential role in supporting family engagement. They can co-host informational workshops, provide mentoring or tutoring services, or offer financial and logistical support such as transportation. This creates a stronger ecosystem of support around students and ensures that no single barrier keeps them from advanced coursework.
Map the ecosystem. Identify all relevant school-based supports, FRYSC services, community-based organizations, and higher education partners who can assist with family education and navigation.
Offer recurring family workshops. Provide sessions throughout the year in multiple languages covering AP, IB, and dual credit benefits, costs, scheduling, and transferability. Include guidance on AP exam fees, KHEAA programs, and college outcomes available through the College Scorecard.
Create navigator roles. Assign counselors, FRYSC coordinators, or family liaisons to act as “navigators” for families, reaching out directly to students identified for advanced coursework through universal identification tools like AP Potential.
Coordinate tutoring and bridge programs. Partner with libraries, universities, and community centers to host tutoring sessions or bridge programs that reinforce advanced coursework preparation.
Provide simple, accessible artifacts. Offer course maps, family checklists, and deadline calendars. Send reminders by text or email in the family’s preferred language.
Collect and act on feedback. Regularly survey families to assess whether information is clear and whether supports are meeting their needs. Use results to improve outreach and programming.
People: Counselors, FRYSC coordinators, family liaisons, and partner staff to lead workshops and support navigation.
Materials: Multilingual guides, workshop slide decks, calendars of deadlines, and curated digital resources such as the College Scorecard.
Facilities: School cafeterias, libraries, community centers, and virtual platforms for family sessions.
Data & outreach systems: Lists of eligible students from identification systems like AP Potential, as well as platforms for communication (robocalls, texts, emails).
Partnerships: Agreements with universities, community-based organizations, and employers to co-host family engagement events and provide mentoring, tutoring, or transportation assistance.
Track both early signals and long-term outcomes.
Tracks participation in K-3 Primary Talent Pool and 4-12 gifted programs. Currently shows only 31 Black students and 55 Latino students per 100 needed for fair representation, indicating systematic barriers in early identification that compound through educational trajectories.
Measures enrollment and completion in this gateway course. With only 76% of students attending schools offering it and significant demographic gaps, this predicts high school mathematics trajectories and STEM pathway access.
Combines systematic use of research-based identification tools (like AP Potential and multiple measures) with availability of qualified teachers prepared for advanced instruction across diverse contexts.
Tracks current advanced coursework enrollment by demographics while measuring family awareness, participation in information sessions, and confidence navigating systems.
Advanced coursework participation and longitudinal outcomes by demographics and geography represents Kentucky’s most comprehensive way to measure whether access to rigorous learning opportunities truly delivers on their promise. This indicator goes beyond simple enrollment counts to track what happens to students after high school, comparing those who engaged in advanced coursework—AP, IB, dual credit, and honors—with those who did not.
Tracks progressive narrowing from enrollment → completion → exam-taking → qualifying scores, revealing where students lose momentum particularly in high-poverty districts.
