Family Engagement Lab
  • FASTalk
    • What We Do
    • FASTalk
    • Professional Learning
  • Impact
    • Impact
    • Families
  • Districts and States
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Funding Sources
    • Learning Series
  • About
    • About Us
    • Team
    • Supporters
    • Press
    • Events
    • Jobs
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Connect with Us
  • Donate

Blog

FAMILY ENGAGEMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD: building a Foundation for Long-Lasting Parent-Teacher Partnerships

12/5/2021

 
While family engagement plays a critical role in supporting positive learning outcomes for children across their educational journeys, family engagement in early childhood offers unique potential and opportunity for children, families, and educators. By setting the expectation that parents are key partners in supporting learning from their first interactions with the educational system, early childhood educators can lay the foundation for long-lasting, meaningful parent-teacher partnerships. Further, engaging families in their children’s early learning and development helps initiate patterns of parental behaviors that can endure to promote long-term, positive student outcomes. Children are best positioned to develop the key early learning skills needed to be successful learners when their teachers and families work collaboratively to support their needs. 

This month, we’re shining a spotlight on the exciting recent work that our Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) partners are doing to advance high-impact, equitable family engagement starting in early childhood. Our interview with LDOE’s Amanda Colon, Manager of Family Support and Coordinated Enrollment for Louisiana’s Office of Early Childhood, provides an up close look at the development of Louisiana's new Be Engaged Birth-12 Framework and the importance of a comprehensive family engagement framework for Louisiana families and children from birth through high school.

As Amanda notes, the field of early childhood education has always been “whole family” focused, recognizing that to effectively foster children’s learning and development, families must be engaged as the valuable partners they are. This asset-based lens acknowledges the many strengths of families — a critical perspective that drives our work at Family Engagement Lab and that is essential in early childhood and beyond. Read our interview below to learn more!
Amanda Colon
How was the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) Early Childhood Family Engagement Framework created?
When the LDOE undertook the development of a birth-grade 12 framework, Amanda immediately thought about an early childhood version. To supplement the work of the recently created LDOE parent council, Amanda organized a workgroup of community members to participate in the process of developing a framework targeted for early childhood. Members of this workgroup included those from Department of Health and its Behavioral, Family and Public Health units, Department of Children and Family Services as well as the City of New Orleans Parent Leadership Training Institute and families who had been served through LDOE’s Child Care Assistance Program. Amanda secured support from over 40 volunteers who formed an active working group for the state’s framework.

As work began, Amanda and her working group reviewed two existing frameworks that offered effective, strong models: the state of Kansas' family engagement framework based on the National PTA Standards and the Head Start Parent, Family and Community Engagement Framework. While the Kansas framework ultimately was adopted for Louisiana, grades K-12, the working group felt that its early childhood model didn't fully reflect the demographics and communities in Louisiana. The Head Start model did resonate and the working group collaboratively determined the 7 Early Childhood Goals that map to the LDOE's K-12 Be Engaged Standards.

Amanda shared, “We’re creating a framework that is more than just a welcome sign, it will prepare all families for their child’s learning journey.”

Picture
What are the anchors in the framework and how might these differ from those in K-12? 
​
The working group realized that in early childhood, the focus needed to be on the “whole family,” and not just the “whole child.” Amanda explained that in thinking about the whole child, what really can help the youngest learners is to think about what a parent can do and how our educational system can work with families and not just for them. By working alongside and with families, Louisiana aims to build stronger, more trusted relationships that can support child learning. Amanda noted, “It doesn’t have to be a “big event,” we can do regular, easy things, like sharing a small daily victory to build that crucial trust we need.”

​What are some of the ways this framework can help reach those families most in need of support?
The Louisiana’s Be Engaged B-12 Framework is organized under the umbrella of six themes for parent, family, and community engagement that are universal to early childhood and K-12. These themes serve as an alignment illustrating how Louisiana’s educational communities provide consistent family engagement opportunities throughout a child’s progression from early childhood to formalized school settings. Because the framework focuses on action, educators can identify barriers earlier in a child’s education journey and put a plan in place to address them. Amanda shares that, “...family engagement can be tricky because it’s a personal space. We don’t want to ever infringe on parenting rights or skills. It’s our goal with this framework to support our educators in working with families.” She noted that their communications approach to parents and the community is a key strategy and that resources from the National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement have been very helpful.

Picture
What are you excited/hopeful about most coming out of this process? 
Amanda concluded, “I am super excited that the Louisiana Department of Education and the Division of Early Childhood is putting a strong focus on supporting families. I am most excited to help elevate the message that families and children have unique strengths and including family contributions will impact meaningful change for children. Engaging families is a long game; it's about the journey and not the destination.”


Comments are closed.

    Archives

    December 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019

    Categories

    All
    Anti-Racism Resources
    Early Childhood
    English Learners
    Equity
    Family Engagement
    Family Spotlight
    Social And Emotional Learning
    Supporting Families

WHAT WE OFFER
What We Do
​​FASTalk
Professional Learning​
Impact
Districts and States
Families
ABOUT
About Us
Team
Supporters
Press
Events
Jobs

RESOURCES
Blog
Funding Sources
Learning Series
CONTACT
Contact Us
Meet with Us
DONATE 
PayPal
​
AmazonSmile
548 Market Street #42210 San Francisco, CA 94104
​© 2023, Family Engagement Lab  |  Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
  • FASTalk
    • What We Do
    • FASTalk
    • Professional Learning
  • Impact
    • Impact
    • Families
  • Districts and States
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Funding Sources
    • Learning Series
  • About
    • About Us
    • Team
    • Supporters
    • Press
    • Events
    • Jobs
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Connect with Us
  • Donate