The effects of consultation-based family-school engagement on student and parent outcomes: a meta-analysis

Given that consultation has consistently yielded benefits for clients and consultees, it is likely an effective method of promoting family-school engagement. Thus, this meta-analysis examined the effects of consultation-based family-school engagement on child and parent outcomes, and complementary intervention methods used in conjunction with consultation. This study also sought to advance consultation research via a contemporary meta-analytic technique, robust variance estimation (RVE). Analyses yielded significant effects of consultation-based family-school engagement on children’s social-behavioral competence (δ = 0.34), mental health (δ = 0.37), and academic achievement (δ = 0.27). Significant effects for parent practices (δ = 0.53), parent attitudes (δ = 0.49), and relational outcomes (δ = 0.37) were also found. Complementary intervention methods revealed significant effects across various child, parent, and relational outcomes. Results indicate benefits of consultation-based family-school engagement for key outcomes and have implications for utilizing complementary methods to augment the net effects of consultation for valuable stakeholders.