Home‐to‐School Contact and Its Impact on Students' School Belonging: A Triadic, Mixed‐Methods Approach

ABSTRACT Home‐to‐school contact can reduce educational inequity. Yet, little research has examined how schools in low‐ and high‐SES neighborhoods engage only‐German‐speaking and multilingual families. Our mixed‐methods study addressed this gap by: (1) analyzing diversity‐related codes of conduct and communication strategies, (2) comparing teachers', parents', and students' home‐to‐school contact perspectives (MANOVA), and (3) linking them to school belonging. Participants included 944 students ( M age = 13.4; 64% multilingual), 28 classroom‐teachers ( M age = 46.8), and 352 parents ( M age = 44.5; 40% multilingual). A content analysis of school websites revealed similar diversity‐related codes of conduct, focused on tolerance and inclusion. High‐SES neighborhoods displayed more customized home‐to‐school communication strategies. Teachers and parents reported more contact in only‐German‐speaking families, and teachers reported more contact with multilingual families in high‐SES neighborhoods. All three contact perspectives predicted school belonging in high‐SES neighborhoods, but only teacher and student‐reported contact showed effects in low‐SES neighborhoods. Findings call for disentangling informant, SES, and migration factors in diverse schools.