Any effort to improve public education must also build trust between schools and students' families and engage parents and community-based organizations in reform efforts, a report from the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University finds. The report, Family Engagement and Education (47 pages, PDF), examined the school reform landscape in Pittsburgh and found limited engagement with and leadership from parents due, among other things, to scheduling difficulties, lack of capacity at the district level, and perceptions among parents and community-based organizations that the district's efforts to engage were superficial and lacking accountability. Nonprofit leaders, parents, and school and district staff all cited lack of trust — fueled by underlying racial dynamics and family members' own negative school experiences — as a major barrier to active engagement. Commissioned by the Heinz Endowments, the report recommends creating a platform for parent- and community-led efforts to improve schools through existing community-based organizations; expanding organizing efforts through coalition building; leveraging the leadership networks and policy expertise of advocacy organizations; and enabling local service organizations to include organizing activities.