The NSW Department of Education has recently released a new community engagement resource that we think is a valuable addition to the suite of NSW resources. To preview go to:
http://www.lowsesschools.nsw.edu.au/section/126,315-leading-learning/professional-learning.aspx
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Have we aligned 21st Century schooling goals with parent and community engagement?
While schools are striving to prepare our students for the 21st century, many are doing so without aligned parent and community engagement practices. What can we do to tackle this challenge?
A recent US Department of Education forum discussed this issue by looking at a range of related questions:
1. What does the future of family and community engagement look like?
2. How can federal, state, and local policies work together to create systemic family engagement?
3. How can student performance data be used to connect families and schools in a significant way?
4. What roles can families play in transforming low-performing schools?
Discussed at length were the policy levers that can be tapped to encourage and sustain meaningful partnerships with parents and communities to support student learning. These levers included: training and professional development for school staff; capacity building to help entities develop, implement, and evaluate initiatives; encouraging the blending of resources in creative ways; sharing best practices via learning communities; scaling effective practices; and using the federal government’s leadership role to develop a common family engagement framework and accountability system to ensure that state and local family engagement goals are being met.
See full blog post here:
http://www.ed.gov/blog/2010/11/national-policy-forum-for-family-school-and-community-engagement-event-recap/
A recent US Department of Education forum discussed this issue by looking at a range of related questions:
1. What does the future of family and community engagement look like?
2. How can federal, state, and local policies work together to create systemic family engagement?
3. How can student performance data be used to connect families and schools in a significant way?
4. What roles can families play in transforming low-performing schools?
Discussed at length were the policy levers that can be tapped to encourage and sustain meaningful partnerships with parents and communities to support student learning. These levers included: training and professional development for school staff; capacity building to help entities develop, implement, and evaluate initiatives; encouraging the blending of resources in creative ways; sharing best practices via learning communities; scaling effective practices; and using the federal government’s leadership role to develop a common family engagement framework and accountability system to ensure that state and local family engagement goals are being met.
See full blog post here:
http://www.ed.gov/blog/2010/11/national-policy-forum-for-family-school-and-community-engagement-event-recap/
Parent-School Engagement in NSW Project- a Chance for parents to be involved
This exciting study is being conducted by the Australian Catholic University on behalf of the Council of Catholic School Parents and the other peak parent associations in NSW. The study will seek views from parents and caregivers of children in primary and secondary schools across the range of public, independent and Catholic school sectors in NSW. We need your help in participating in focus groups. For details on how to participate read below:
Dear Parents and Caregivers
Over the coming months, parents and caregivers of primary and secondary school children in NSW will be invited to participate in focus group interviews for a research project entitled Parent-School Engagement in NSW. This study aims to learn more about the factors that influence parent-school engagement.
The study will seek views from parents and caregivers of children in primary and secondary schools across the range of public, independent and Catholic school sectors in NSW. This research is being conducted by Dr. Sue Saltmarsh, Associate Professor of Educational Studies at the Australian Catholic University. The study is sponsored by the NSW Parents’ Council, NSW & ACT Council of Catholic Schools Parents, and the NSW Federation of Parents’ and Citizens’ Associations, who have commissioned Dr. Saltmarsh to develop teacher professional development programs and pre-service teacher education materials that will be used to prepare educators for engaging effectively with parents, caregivers and families.
If you would like to know more about this research, or would like to consider participating in a focus group interview, please contact the project Research Officer, Dr. Jenny Barr, at jenny.barr@acu.edu.au for further details.
Sincerely,
Danielle Cronin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)