April 24, 2019
Greetings Members, Partners, and Stakeholders,
Several new studies, featured below, call attention to the importance of family engagement in all aspects of students' lives - from
STEM involvement to
mental health in middle schoolers. Another
new study details similarities and differences among countries in parents’ perceptions of and involvement in education, providing some insight into how we might confront and better understand differing cultural perspectives in the diverse families we serve.
Finally, in May we are doing something a little different with our Effective Practices webinar. If you're in the DC Metro region, we hope you'll join us at the NEA offices on May 22 from 12 pm to 2 pm for a
brown bag lunch and
live stream webinar. See below and watch your email for additional information on this event, including some exciting special guests.
Best regards,
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Vito Borrello
Executive Director
National Association for Family, School, and Community
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APRIL EFFECTIVE PRACTICES WEBINAR
Using Quantitative and Qualitative Data to Evaluate and Guide Family Engagement
Learn how to identify sources of data that you already have or could easily collect to begin reflecting on and evaluating your work supporting families. This webinar will help you make your data and stories demonstrate the impact of your work and let your community speak! You'll learn tried and true tips on how to make the most of your quantitative and qualitative data.
Participants will:
1) Understand the difference between quantitative and qualitative data and where they are commonly found in schools.
2) Learn strategies and tips for gathering and using data to measure and reflect engagement practices.
3) Understand how to analyze both types of data to extract patterns and exemplars of impact.
Our Presenters:
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Amanda Klein is the owner of Structured Solutions Educational Consulting, LLC. She brings extensive first-hand experience with students, families, school leaders, and district offices to her work supporting schools, districts, and non-profit organizations with engagement. In addition to her experience as a teacher, community school coordinator, and district support staff, Amanda Klein has spent numerous years building data collection and tracking systems, conducting trainings on data usage in engagement and attendance, and building structures into previously undefined roles.
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Keami Harris, NAFSCE Director of Capacity Building Programs
Before joining NAFSCE, Keami was Director of Programs and Affiliate Relations for the National Black Child Development Institute. There she provided support and oversight of a National Affiliate network working to improve the lives of Black children and their families through education and advocacy. As an elementary school teacher with the Prince George’s County Public School system in Maryland, Keami analyzed school assessment data, and setting yearly goals and objectives for school improvement.
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Reyna Hernandez, NAFSCE Director of Policy & Research
Reyna previously served as an Assistant Superintendent at ISBE for five years, overseeing the Division of English Language Learners, Early Childhood, and family and community engagement efforts. Her previous experiences include Research and Policy Associate at the Latino Policy Forum, Community Education Parent Facilitator at Waukegan CUSD 60, and educational director and trustee at the National Hispanic Institute.
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MAY EFFECTIVE PRACTICES IN-PERSON GATHERING AND LIVE STREAMING EVENT
Brown-bag Lunch at the National Education Association (NEA)
DATE: Wed. May 22, 12:00 - 2:00 pm ET
LOCATION:
The NEA Offices: 1201 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036, or register to sign in to the live stream.
Please join us as we discuss recent research, important trends, and other hot topics in the field of family engagement. If you live in the Metro DC region or happen to be visiting on May 22, we hope you'll join us for this in-person discussion.
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MAY NAFSCE MEMBER
COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
Topic: Your call! Tell us about projects you are working on, where you need help and your plans to prevent the Summer Slide.
The NAFSCE CoP is an online one hour discussion for members. We are a "no-guilt group" of members who just show up and join in the conversation on a regular basis.m Any questions concerning this CoP, contact Ann Bohman at
abohman01@columus.rr.com or 624-761-3182
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March Effective Practices Member-Only Webinar archived recording now available
Maximizing your NAFSCE Membership
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This white paper from the
Stem Next Opportunity Fund
highlights research studies and programs that demonstrate the importance of family engagement in STEM. It also details promising practices that promote family engagement in STEM and offers case studies of organizations using the practices effectively. The paper has enormous implications for how professionals and organizations can promote the interest and participation of underrepresented populations into the ever-growing STEM field.
Read the white paper.
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The Varkey Foundation’s
recent survey asked almost 30,000 parents from 29 countries about their perceptions, hopes, fears and aspirations for their children’s education. Results show some common trends—most parents world-wide have fairly high confidence in the quality of teaching their children receive and also recognize teachers as the most important factor in school quality.
Read about the survey here.
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In the past several years, youth suicide rates and reports of bullying have increased markedly.
This study
by the University of Maryland shows that middle school students who feel their parents are more involved in their education have fewer mental health problems in response to bullying. The study also showed the reverse effect; students who reported their parents were less involved in their education had higher rates of mental health issues and suicidal thoughts. The study "serves as a reminder for school leaders that boosting parent engagement is also a way to support students' SEL skills."
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This brief from the
Global Family Research Project highlights three lessons learned from a technical assistance project coaching participants in an Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership. The lessons: be intentional, activate organizational change, and unlearning is part of the process.
The article dives deeper into what each of these lessons means for creating authentic and sustainable family engagement.
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The interpreter in the Netflix show
Tidying Up with Marie Kondo tends to be someone viewers don't really notice--she doesn't want the show to be about her, but rather the relationship between Kondo and the family she is working with. In her latest blog post, NAFSCE member Laura Gardner notes that having trained professional interpreters like Kondo's allows relationships to grow between parents, teachers, administrators, counselors, etc., not just between parents and bilingual staff who may be interpreting at a school. Gardner highlights some key strategies interpreters use to facilitate relationship building and the importance of hiring
trained interpreters in schools.
Read the blog.
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The students at LeBron James' I Promise School were identified as some of the lowest performers in Akron Pubic Schools. However, in its first year, 3rd and 4th grade students are making huge gains--90% are meeting or exceeding their individual growth goals in math and reading. What is the school doing differently to contribute to its early success? In addition to implementing a trauma-informed curriculum, "the school is unusual in the resources and attention it devotes to parents," including a family resource center, GED prep, health and legal services and even a barber shop.
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An initiative funded in part by Too Small to Fail brings literacy centers to laundromats across New York City. The idea is to try to reach low-income families where they are and to provide rich literary environments to those who may not have access otherwise.
Learn more.
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St Paul’s Dugsi Academy has a student population made up entirely of Somali refugee students. In 2016, after repeatedly scoring poorly on standardized tests and consistently ranking among the lowest-performing schools in the state, the school’s non-profit authorizer staged an intervention bringing in outside help. Mary Stafford, a school turnaround veteran, took on the job and has experienced tremendous success in her first two years working with the school.
Learn how she did it.
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In
this article, six parents from cities across the country share their journeys into parent advocacy and family-school engagement leadership roles. The six profile videos detail the strategies these parents have used in organizing other parents to get involved as well as the successes and challenges they've faced in navigating the education systems in their cities as parents.
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Memphis Lift, a parent advocacy group, has been giving a voice to parents from Memphis' lowest performing schools since 2015. Now Memphis Lift is providing support to parents all over the country interested in starting their own groups. The group uses grassroots strategies to engage parents and has begun a fellowship program to train parents to navigate the school system and advocate for their children's education.
Read more.
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The Institute for Educational Leadership is proud to host the
2019 National Family and Community Engagement Conference
on July 10-12, 2019 in Reno, NV. This is an opportunity for state leaders, school and district leaders, administrators, educators, community-based organizations, researchers and families to 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.
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Apply now for Teaching for Change’s 2019 Tellin’ Stories Race, Equity, and Family Engagement Summer Institutes. Registration will close when full, limited scholarships available. The summer institutes will teach participants to apply an asset-based lens to family engagement that is grounded in popular education, community organizing, racial equity, and family engagement research.
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Presented by Successful Innovations, the National Family Engagement Summit is scheduled for April 15-17, 2020 in Norfolk, VA. The Super Early Bird Special is now open (save $75)!
Learn more.
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Special notice:
Between now and July 12, NAFSCE members receive priority consideration, including a $250 tuition discount, for Family Engagement in Education: Creating Effective Home and School Partnerships for Student Success program, led by Dr. Karen Mapp.
Learn more about the special offer.
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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.
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LENA is looking for a Principal, Early Childhood Partnerships/Business Development to establish and develop new partnerships across the early childhood sector at the local, regional, state and federal levels. This role is a combination of cultivating relationships, solving problems, sales and building LENA’s presence in the sector. This
role is key in supporting the accelerated expansion of LENA’s programs.
Learn more.
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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
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Learn more.
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MAEC is looking for a dynamic individual to develop and deliver customized trainings, professional development, and technical assistance to schools and school districts on civil rights and educational equity issues (race, gender, national origin (ELs), socioeconomic diversity, and/or religion). This individual will also evaluate the effectiveness of training programs to provide feedback to clients and to improve MAEC services.
Learn more.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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601 King Street Suite 400-404
Alexandria, VA 22314
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