Family Engagement

Building a Partnership with Families & Community Oct 2021

Families and schools working together, because our students are worth it

Family engagement promotes equitable partnerships among schools, families, and communities to actively advance student achievement through shared commitment, decision making and responsibility.

It takes effort and purposeful planning to build effective and meaningful family engagement with the families of our students and within the community. Often, it means new ways of thinking, responding, approaching, and including families, across the daily spectrum of activities, decisions, and information sharing that our school promotes. It can be doing something in a different way, or several methods, or changing a bias, or thinking outside the box. But, it is always worth it! Engaging families in our school system promotes real benefits for students in academics, behavior, transition, and their future. It also can help staff and faculty enjoy better results, gain a sense of partnership, and enjoy their jobs more, while building a sense of community - inside and outside the walls of the school.

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PaTTAN Family Engagement Website Page

Visit the PaTTAN Family Engagement Webpage for resources, event information, and publications to help you reach your families and community.

Upcoming Family Engagement Events

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Engaging Families in Transition Planning

This series will provide families, students, and educators with information and insights to enhance family members’ participation within the transition process of the IEP. Interviews with families and students, sharing their experiences with transition planning, will be used to guide discussions and learning. Participants will experience how to be active members in transition planning - before the IEP, during the IEP, and after the IEP. Sessions will be Oct 26, 2021, Jan 25, 2022, and April 26, 2022.

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Enhancing Family Engagement Team Training Series

The purpose of the training series is to promote effective family engagement practices that will assist Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in the development/enhancement of trusting, collaborative, and productive relationships among school staff, families, and community members to yield positive results for all students. This series is designed to engage school leaders and their staffs in the assessment of their current family engagement practices, and the implementation of research and evidence-based strategies to support family engagement. Schools that are chosen for the grant will be announced in November.

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High Expectations for Students with Low Incidence Disabilities

Registration is open for the hybrid 2021 HELIX Conference! This year brings an exciting, live conference at The Penn Stater, as well as a virtual option for those unable to join us in State College. Our in-person sessions will bring together teachers, administrators, families, and other school professionals to discuss current research and practice and engage with colleagues from across the state, as well as national experts. Online HELIX will give you the opportunity to join many of the same sessions, but from the convenience of home! There is a strand dedicated to Families. Sessions are November 8-10, 2021.

Enhancing Family Engagement Training Modules

Students achieve greater success when their families take an active role in their education. Six training modules have been developed by PaTTAN to assist with the planning and implementation of a successful program to enhance family engagement in your school. These updated training units, reflecting current research, resources, best practices, and activities, are designed for educators; however, families, related service providers, community members, and others interested in bolstering student achievement by family-school-community partnerships are encouraged to view them.

The modules are flexible and may be used as professional development, individual enrichment, team capacity building, or a combination of applications. Each module contains content notes and one or more activities that may be utilized with the unit or independently, and activities may be interchangeable amongst modules, depending on your needs. Further capacity building may be achieved by exploring the references and resources found at the end of each module.

The modules are ADA accessible, and citations to research are included. While we encourage you to adapt the trainings to meet your LEA’s needs, we respectfully request that you do not edit the research or legal content.