June 12, 2019

Greetings Members, Partners, and Stakeholders,

Happy Father's Day! To celebrate fathers and their essential role in family engagement, NAFSCE is pleased to partner with J. Mike Hall, M.Ed of Strong Fathers, Strong Families to offer special NAFSCE-member discounts on summer coaching opportunities. Mike has trained hundreds of schools and Head Start programs and thousands of professionals to work more effectively with fathers/families for all economic and ethnic backgrounds. Visit nafsce.org/fatherhood to learn more and to take advantage of a limited-time discount on NAFSCE memberships, access articles, videos and other resources dedicated to this important subject.

We encourage you to take a minute to read about an important study from the University of Chicago which found that disadvantaged children who received high-quality early childhood education are reaping the benefits of that program 50 years later in terms of better life outcomes for them AND for their families.

School may be letting out for the summer, but there are many opportunities for family engagement advocates to learn and network. We hope to see many of you at the 2019 National Family and Community Engagement Conference, hosted by the Institute for Educational Leadership in Reno next month! NAFSCE will be there in full force, with several staff workshops, our exhibit booth, and some exciting announcements. Be sure to stop by our table to say hello and renew your NAFSCE membership. NAFSCE members, be sure to pick up your free t-shirt! If you have not already registered for the conference, it's not too late. Register today.

Also in July, NAFSCE will be attending the Family Engagement in Education: Creating Effective Home and School Partnerships for Student Success, led by Dr. Karen Mapp, offered at the Harvard Graduate School of Education . This four-day institute convenes educators and school leaders from around the world who delve into research on family engagement and learn how to align family engagement initiatives with standards-based reform. NAFSCE members receive a special discount for this valuable 4-day institute.

Read on to find more strategies for success, stories from the field, and research updates.

Best regards,
Vito Borrello
Executive Director
National Association for Family, School, and Community
PROGRAMS & CONVENINGS
You don't want to miss the 2019 National Family and Community Engagement Conference, July 10-12, 2019 in Reno, NV, hosted by the Institute for Educational Leadership. State leaders, school and district leaders, administrators, educators, community-based organizations, researchers and families will focus on solutions that enhance and expand engagement and improve student success through family-school-community partnerships. With pre-conference sessions, site-visits, 8 deep dives and over 70 workshops covering six strands, participants are sure to walk away with new skills and strategies that they can immediately apply to their work. Learn more about the event.
NAFSCE PROGRAMS
May Effective Practices Webinar archived recording now available

Solving the Performance Disconnect: How family engagement can bridge the gap between student test scores and parent perceptions of success
NAFSCE members can now view the recording and download the presentation from our May webinar. We have also linked several of the resources mentioned during the event in the archive. Access the archive here.

Webinar registrants should have received an email with a link to the program archive. To access all of NAFSCE's past Effective Practices webinars , we invite you to join NAFSCE today !
RESEARCH
Recent research from the University of Chicago looked at participants from a landmark study, the Perry Research Project, nearly 50 years later. The original study "aimed to study the lifetime impacts of providing high-quality preschool experiences to socioeconomically and developmentally disadvantaged African American children." New research surveyed original participants, now in their 50s, and showed improved outcomes for both participants and their children.
Research proves it: being an involved dad  makes men happier and healthier and contributes to future generations of family involvement and gender equality. D aughters are more likely to have greater career aspirations and their sons are more likely to become good life partners when  dads are involved  in their young children's lives. Read the article.
STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
Families with children of all ages are among those who make over 17 million visits to the Toronto Public Library’s (TPL) more than 100 branches each year. But library leaders recognized that children’s services staff members didn’t always know how to form strong connections with families that could help them take full advantage of the rich learning resources TPL has to offer. So TPL held a workshop to give staff members new skills for interacting with families, which included playing Global Family Research Project's Family Engagement Game for Change . Learn more and download the game here .
There are many well-documented barriers to accessing post-secondary education for students living in rural areas. However, "research shows that rural Appalachian students are more likely to have college-going aspirations if they perceive parent support for their postsecondary pursuits." A recent workshop in Eastern Kentucky brought together district leaders and practitioners to explore opportunities to increase family engagement, specifically in the rural context. Read more.
IN THE TRENCHES
After the U.S. Supreme Court  handed down the Janus v. AFSCME  (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees) decision last June, the National Education Association (NEA) projected they would lose as many as 200,000 members. Instead, "the Association has more members today than it did last year before the Court’s decision." Recently, the NEA has been especially active, advocating and organizing in several states across the country with a commitment to quality teaching and family engagement. Learn more.
The Georgia Department of Education and Georgia PTA recently recognized six parents with the Georgia Parent Leadership Award. The award was created to acknowledge parents outstanding leadership for aiding student success. Meshana Spivey, one of the winners, stepped up to re-establish one Georgia school's PTA and spearhead the creation of family literacy events and parent cafes.
Michigan’s third-grade reading retention law is set to be implemented in the 2019-20 school year. The law requires any third-grader reading below second-grade level to be retained in the third grade. However, many parents are in the dark about this policy.
Encouraged by research showing the academic benefits of parents spending just a small amount of time engaging with their children regularly, an elementary school in Las Vegas has begun implementing an after-school family game night. The game nights are popular among parents and students, but also teachers and administrators as they don't require extra work for them, but are a great way to foster parental engagement.
Shelby County Schools invited fathers from schools across the district to a kickoff breakfast to introduce them to All Pro Dads, a national organization that allows fathers to have the opportunity to have breakfast with their children once and month. This program give dads the opportunity to get more involved in the lives and education of their children. 
CAREER CENTER
The Senior Training Specialist is responsible for developing and providing training, technical assistance and outreach activities to families and professionals to support family engagement and literacy that ensures student success and meets the requirements of SFEC. Learn more . Learn more.
Manager, Operations, NAFSCE (Alexandria, VA)
The part-time Manager of Operations will manage NAFSCE’s various operational needs including finance, human resources, office and data base management. The successful candidate will work closely with NAFSCE’s Accountant for all day-to-day finance related duties in supporting the Accountant’s role of creating monthly financial reports, as well as budget planning and monitoring. Learn more.
MAEC is looking to hire two dynamic professionals who will support the management and development of the newly formed Collaborative Action for Family Engagement Center (CAFE). The CAFE Senior Program Associates will monitor and coordinate the delivery of high quality FSCE programming and technical assistance between four partner organizations to underserved communities across Maryland and Pennsylvania. Learn more.
Brazelton Touchpoints Center is currently seeking a Project Director of Research and Evaluation who will play a lead role in evaluation team projects including collaboration in study design, execution, and writing and presentation of findings. The ideal candidate is a highly qualified applied researcher with the abilities to think strategically, delegate responsibility, and communicate effectively. Preference will be given to applicants with strong writing skills and an interest in and experience with quantitative method and data analysis. Learn more.
L ist Your Job Here!
NAFSCE's Career Center   features a searchable job bank focused solely on family engagement opportunities. Posted positions are promoted in NAFSCE News, reaching thousands of family engagement professionals each month. 

NAFSCE Members  receive one free job or resume posting.  Organizational members  receive five postings. Not a NAFSCE member?  Join today  to enjoy this exclusive  member benefit .
The Research Coordinator manages and organizes research and evaluation projects and collaborates in study execution and presentation of findings as part of the Research and Evaluation Team.  Learn more.
JOIN NAFSCE TODAY!
When you support NAFSCE, you are supporting initiatives that have the potential to change the way our country thinks about the family's role in our children's education. From our partnership with the NEA to develop higher-education training for future teachers, to our work with the FrameWorks Institute to create a fundamental shift in the way people think about engaging parents and caregivers, NAFSCE's work will have a profound effect on how we all think about family engagement.

Learn more about our  membership benefits  for  individuals  and  organizations
Our members tell us that one of the most important benefits of their NAFSCE membership is the ability to learn from one another. You want to be able to ask for advice, network, share resources, and problem solve together. 

To make those connections easier, NAFSCE has created its own Members-Only Facebook Group. Join this private group today and let's get the conversation started! 

To request to join the group, click here. A NAFSCE administrator will confirm your membership and then approve your request to join. You do not need to use the same email address you used to join NAFSCE. And if you haven't already, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
601 King Street Suite 400-404
Alexandria, VA 22314
FOLLOW US