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What are we going to cover?

Getting children ready for school through the use of the New Head Start Parent, Family & Community Engagement Framework. Presented by Richard Braun, Family & Community Services Supervisor, Stanislaus County Office of Education

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What are we going to cover?

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  1. Getting children ready for school through the use of the New Head Start Parent, Family & Community Engagement Framework Presented by Richard Braun, Family & Community Services Supervisor, Stanislaus County Office of Education Part was modified from a presentation by Catherine Ayoub, Heather Weiss and the NCPFCE Leadership Team

  2. What are we going to cover? • What is the difference between involvement and engagement? • The Parent, Family & Community Engagement Framework • How/what to apply from the framework to your own program

  3. Involvement or Engagement “Involvement comes from the Latin word, ‘involvere,’ which means ‘to roll into’ and by extension implies wrapping up of enveloping parents somehow into the system.” Cited by CA State TTA Center at 2012 CHSA Parent Engagement Conference

  4. Involvement or Engagement “Engagement comes from ‘en,’ meaning ‘to make’ and ‘gage’ meaning a pledge – so together they mean to make a pledge or moral commitment. The word engagement is further defined as ‘contact by fitting together; … the messing of gears.’” The idea is to go from a “come to our meetings” to us “being part of their life/reality.” Cited by CA State TTA Center at 2012 CHSA Parent Engagement Conference

  5. When parents are actively engaged in their children’s learning, all benefit • Children will be more ready for Kindergarten • Families will be better prepared to remain engaged in your program and in the public school • Programs will have higher levels of quality • Communities will be able to provide stronger support to the next generation

  6. Why change anything? • We need to increase clarity about parent, family, and community engagement components. • We need to embed the engagement throughout the entire program – system wide, not just FSWs. • We need to move beyond well intentioned but random acts. • We need to use data to measure progress and drive continuous improvement.

  7. Definitions • Family Engagement: • Building relationships with families that support family well-being, strong parent-child relationships and ongoing learning and development of parents and children. • A set of beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and activities of families that support their children’s positive development from early childhood through young adulthood. • It happens in the home, the early childhood program, school and in the community. • A shared responsibility with all those who support children’s learning.

  8. Achieving excellence for children and families requires full engagement by all • Parents • Family Service Workers • Teachers/Home Visitors • Bus drivers, cooks, janitors • Program Directors • Governing Board members • Community partners

  9. Food for thought • How does what has been stated encompass what you are already doing? • How does it look different from current practice? Hmm!

  10. OHS Parent, Family and Community Engagement Framework

  11. OHS Parent, Family and Community Engagement Framework • The engagement needs to be grounded in the foundation of the entire program. It has to be included in: • Program Leadership • Continuous program improvement • Professional development

  12. Program Foundations

  13. So what can the Foundations do? • Program Leadership • Set ambitious goals and high expectations • Put in place collaborative decision making • Ensure that engagement is a shared priority for all staff • Continuous Improvement • Use data about engagement efforts to make decisions • Professional Development • High quality training for all staff • Cross service-area teams • Career pathways and recognition

  14. OHS Parent, Family and Community Engagement Framework • The engagement needs to be grounded in the areas of impact of the entire program. It has to be included in: • Program environment • Family Partnerships • Teaching and Learning • Community Partnership

  15. Impact Areas Build upon the Foundations

  16. So what can the Impact Areas do? • Program Environment • Create a welcoming and inviting setting • Be responsive to cultural and linguistic differences • Create a system of regular communication • Family Partnerships • See the families as the lead partner in developing and achieving the goals in their plans • Create respectful, trusting relationship between staff and parents • Teaching and Learning • Parents are seen as partners with teachers to support children’s learning and development • Support families as lifelong educators/learners • Support positive parent-child relationships • Support for the parents during transitions

  17. So what can the Impact Areas do? • Community Partnerships • Commitment to social support systems within the program and the larger community • Collaborative relationships for comprehensive services

  18. Family Engagement Outcomes

  19. What are the different outcomes of the engagement of parents/families? • Family well-being • Parent-child relationships, • Families as lifelong educators, • Families as learners, • Family engagement in transitions, • Family connections with the community, and • Families as advocates and leaders

  20. Examples of Progress from OHS • Family well-being. Parents and Families: • Have considered the benefits of participating in different program services and/or activities. • Developed relationships with staff that are helpful in supporting the goals they have established for themselves and their children. • Identified their individual family strengths to cope with difficulties and overcome adversity. • Gained confidence to address any family specific needs and/or interests related to safety, housing stability, health and mental health, employment and job skill development, budget and finances, and financial literacy. • Accessed resources and systems of support that meet family interests, needs and goals.

  21. Examples of Progress from OHS • Positive Parent-Child Relationships. Parents and families: • Gained knowledge and experience around expectant parenting and prenatal health, the developing role of young parents (for adolescents), and/or about their roles as new mothers and fathers. • Learned new ways to ensure the health and safety of their developing child. • Gained knowledge about their children’s social, emotional and cognitive development in the context of community and culture. • Learned new ways to understand and respond to their child’s behavior. • Used positive parenting practices – such as attachment and nurturing relationships – that complement the stages of their child’s development. • Reflected on parenting experiences, practices and new strategies.

  22. Examples of Progress from OHS • Families as Lifelong Educators. Parents and families: • Shared their knowledge of their children with program and teaching staff to inform teaching and learning. • Identified their talents and strengths as parents and educators of their children. • Enjoyed and celebrated their child’s learning and developmental accomplishments. • Learned more about the social-emotional development of their infants and toddlers. • Learned about the value of the primary language for children’s development and long-term academic success (for parents of dual language learners).

  23. Examples of Progress from OHS • Families as Lifelong Educators. Parents and families: • Partnered with teachers/assistant teachers and used different approaches in the program, home and/or community that supported the essential learning outlined in the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework. • Learned about options for acquiring services and supports for their child’s learning, developmental, or behavioral challenges. • Gained confidence and competence in voicing, acting on, and achieving lifelong learning goals for their children.

  24. Examples of Progress from OHS • Families as Learners. Parents and families: • Identified their strengths as learners, and reflected on their parenting, career and life interests. • Learned about experiences, training and educational opportunities that relate to their interests. • Set learning goals that aligned with their interests and career aspirations. • Enrolled in courses or training programs that led toward GED, certifications and/or other degrees. • Participated in learning experiences that supported their parenting, career or life goals. • Considered goals related to volunteer and employment options with Head Start and Early Head Start programs.

  25. Examples of Progress from OHS • Family Engagement in Transitions. Parents and families: • Gained understanding of the social and emotional impacts of transitions on children. • Learned about their role in creating continuity for children as they transition into kindergarten. • Learned about the culture, norms and opportunities of their child’s future early care and education settings. • Anticipated and recognized their child’s adaptive needs as changes and transitions occurred in early childhood educations and school settings.

  26. Examples of Progress from OHS • Family Engagement in Transitions. Parents and families: • Learned about how everyday interactions with preschool children are opportunities to promote school readiness as outline in the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework. • Learned about their rights under federal and state laws, such as their rights under IDEA. • Built upon their strengths as program/school advocates through participation in program supported transition activities. • Accessed information about existing local parent-to-parent organizations, family peer networks, and parent-initiated school-community efforts in order to continue engagement in new settings.

  27. Examples of Progress from OHS • Family Connections to Peers and Community. Parents and families: • Connected with other parents and families to exchange knowledge and resources. • Engaged in problem-solving and decision-making with staff, parents and families. • Experienced the personal value of relationships, connections and experiences in the program and community. • Developed a sense of self-efficacy through parent-to-parent experiences that support mothers, fathers, and other parenting caregivers in their relationships with one another. • Gained a sense of empowerment through the validation that come with peer-to-peer shared experiences. • Volunteered in the program or in other community-based organizations.

  28. Examples of Progress from OHS • Families as Advocated and Leaders. Parents and families: • Learned about their opportunities to engage in leadership and/or advocacy activities (e.g. policy council) • Built upon their strengths as leaders and/or advocates through parent initiated participation in program-supported activities such as advocacy and leadership trainings, parent committees, policy councils, etc. • Accessed information about existing parent-to-parent organizations, family peer networks and/or parent-initiated school-community efforts in order to continue to be leaders/advocates in the community and as their children transition into kindergarten.

  29. Are you helping the parents to be engaged in each of these areas? • Family well-being, • Parent-child relationships, • Families as lifelong educators, • Families as learners, • Family engagement in transitions, • Family connections with the community, and • Families as advocates and leaders

  30. What DATA do you have about how you help in each of these areas? • Family well-being, • Parent-child relationships, • Families as lifelong educators, • Families as learners, • Family engagement in transitions, • Family connections with the community, and • Families as advocates and leaders

  31. Each builds off of the areas below

  32. Important • This way of viewing parent/family engagement should not be something that it is added on. • It should be something that is built in to what is already occurring. • In other words, it should not be seen as a parent/family silo that FSWs are “doing”.

  33. Family Engagement Edition!

  34. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

  35. 1,000,000 500,000 300,000 5th Grade Leadership 5th Grade Goals Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? 175,000 100,000 4th Grade Whose Job? 4th Grade Partnership Agreements 50,000 3rd Grade Workshops 3rd Grade Impact 25,000 10,000 2nd Grade Invitations 2nd Grade Conferences 5,000 2,000 1st Grade Meetings 1st Grade Relationships 1,000

  36. 5th Grade Leadership • Who has the real oversight of your program?

  37. 5th Grade Leadership Answer • If parents merely are invited to give their approval over the decisions already made; then you are involving parents. • If staff makes accommodations based on meaningful input from the parents; then you are engaging them.

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  39. 5th Grade Goals Questions • When you are helping the parents to create goals, what is the timeframe for completing the goals?

  40. 5th Grade Goals Answer • If you are helping to set goals that only focus on what can be accomplished during the time that you have the parents, you are involving them. • If the goals include long-term goals for success beyond Head Start, you are engaging the parents.

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  42. 4th Grade Whose Job Question • Whose job is it to work with the parents?

  43. 4th Grade Whose Job Answer • If you are making sure that your staff’s workload doesn’t interfere with working with parents, then you could be involving the parents. • If you make sure that all staff (administrators included) understand and value the connection between improving engagement of parents and families and enhancing child development and school readiness, then you are engaging them.

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  45. 4th Grade Partnership Agreements Question • Who should take the lead in developing Family Partnership Agreements?

  46. 4th Grade Partnership Agreements Answer • If staff drives the conversation about family goals to complete the FPAs, then families are being involved. • If families take the lead in developing plans with the support of staff, then families are being engaged.

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  48. 3rd Grade Workshops Question • Why do you have workshops for parents?

  49. 3rd Grade Workshops Answer • If you have parent workshops because it is required in the Performance Standards or because you want to change the parents, then you are involving them. • If you have parent workshops because the parents ask for them in order to improve their ability to contribute to better outcomes for their family, then you are engaging them.

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