Family Engagement
Family Engagement Foundational Services will help build the capacity of school and district teams in developing effective partnerships with families linked to learning and healthy development. The Illinois State Board of Education’s Family Engagement Framework provides the core content for the trainings.
Family Engagement Training: (Full day of training)
- Participants, working in teams, will increase their capacity to build effective partnerships with families that are aligned to their Continuous Improvement Plan. As a result of this training, teams will have clear expectations and a commitment to moving the work forward. These materials were developed to be a one-day training, but could be broken up and delivered over time (in the order listed below) if that is preferred.
Making the Case for Family Engagement: (Optional two hours in length– for teams needing extra support increasing stakeholder investment)
- Participants will build awareness and increase stakeholder involvement in developing meaningful partnerships with families that is linked to learning and healthy development. The training provides a review of key research findings on the impact of family engagement on student achievement and school improvement outcomes as well as a summary of the legislative mandates that require parental involvement.
Building Cultural Competency: (Optional two hours in length):
- Participants, attending in teams, will increase their ability to engage families from diverse backgrounds in meaningful and effective ways that are linked to student achievement and school improvement planning. This training is designed to promote personal development, improve communications, interpersonal relationships, group dynamics, team development, and inter-group relationships so that team can work effectively in cross-cultural situations.
Family Engagement Framework Overview Training: (Two hours in length)
- Participants will build awareness and capacity to use the Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) Family Engagement (FE) Framework. The training provides a complete review of ISBE’s FE Framework and its various components. Participants will use this tool in developing and expanding school-family partnerships to support student learning and healthy development.
Collaborative Approach Training: (Two hours in length)
- Participants will be introduced to a collaborative approach to engaging families in order to jointly support student learning and healthy development. Paramount to this work is the ability to include parents in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of family engagement efforts. This training will specifically focus on how to establish and maintain an effective team in which all members, including family representatives, have a shared commitment to improving family engagement and student outcomes.
Assessment and Action Planning Tool: (Two hours in length)
- Participants, attending in teams, will build their capacity to assess and plan for meaningful family engagement using the self-assessment and action planning tools.
Networking for FS Family Engagement:
Participants will engage in discussion around shared experiences and expertise related to implementation of meaningful family engagement. Each gathering is initiated for a deeper look into a topic included in the currently approved materials.
