Post on 21-Dec-2015
The Early Childhood Family Engagement Framework: Maryland’s Vision for Engaging Families with Young Children
Chair: Margaret E. Williams, Maryland Family Network
MSDE Liaison and Project Officer: Linda Zang
MSDE Staff Specialists: Wendy Baysmore and Cynthia LaMarca-Lessner
Broad statewide membership (public and private):
Maryland Ready At Five CentroNia
Judy Center Partnerships Public Library Assoc.
UM School of Medicine PTA
MD Coalition of Families School Districts
American Association of Pediatrics Head Start
Maryland Child Care Assoc. MSDE
Dept. of Health and Mental Health Dept. of Human Resources
Why Develop the Family Engagement Initiative?
Proposed as Project 8 of Maryland’s RTT–ELC grant, it was developed to highlight the importance of family engagement as a core area of early childhood that promotes
school readiness The MD Family Engagement Coalition was formed to:
Bring together representatives of family and child serving agencies to oversee the Family Engagement Initiative
Better coordinate the state’s family engagement initiatives, and to create a set of common goals for the allocation of family engagement resources across the early childhood system
Support family and child serving agencies to improve how families are engaged in their child’s early care and education
Promote family engagement strategies at the program and provider level and to highlight available resources that support the implementation of those family engagement strategies
The Coalition started its work by examining national Family Engagement practices
Definition of Family Engagement
Definition of Family Engagement Family Engagement is:
A shared responsibility of families, schools, and communities
Continuous from birth into the school-age years Sustainable, operating with adequate resources to
ensure meaningful and effective strategies that have the power to impact student learning and achievement
Definition of Family Engagement Family Engagement Means:
Supporting family well-being, strong parent-child relationships, and the ongoing learning and development of parents and children alike
Family Engagement Encompasses: Beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and activities
Head Start Partnership (HS & DOE)
Head Start Framework
Department of Education
Alignment (DOE & HS)
Organization of the MD Framework
Organization of the Framework Articulates a common definition of family engagement Outlines common goals for family engagement
applicable to the state and to programs/providers Offers general strategies to support the goals Includes resources to support the implementation of the
strategies Provides examples of family engagement practices in
Maryland
See Next Slide
MD Framework Uses the 7 Goals of the Head Start Framework
The Framework Provides Strategies
Providing Strategies for the Framework
The document will outline several strategies organized by program foundation area and program impact area Program Foundation Area (How they are
affected)
Program Impact Area (Who was affected?)
Strategy- Program Foundation Leadership
Develop relationships with community members and community organizations that support families’ interests and needs
Professional Development Provide training on multicultural principles,
leadership development, and advocacy for staff and families
Strategy- Impact Area Environment
Include family-friendly spaces with pictures and materials that affirm and welcome all families
Teaching and Learning Consistently gather child information from families
and ask parents about their child to inform teaching Exchange information with parents about their
children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development, and talk about the importance of the home language
Next Steps
Implementation Use Framework to inform other parts of Maryland’s early childhood
system (e.g. EXCELS) Develop supporting strategies/materials to provide guidance on the
Framework to parents and various types of service providers (child care, Head Start, home visitors, etc.)
Develop a timeline: Outline to Final Develop training and technical assistance around key strategies Explore innovative uses of technology in communicating and
meeting goals (e.g., sharing assessment data)
The Early Childhood Family Engagement Framework: Maryland’s Vision for Engaging Families with Young Children
http://marylandpublicschools.org/msde.html
http://marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/divisions/child_care/challenge/engagement.html