Implementing the Framework: An Invitation to Partners
What do the three initiating partners plan to do to make this a reality?
Connecticut State Department of Education will integrate Connecticut’s Definition and Framework for Family Engagement in the agency’s policy and programmatic efforts by:
- presenting the definition and framework to the Connecticut State Board of Education;
- engaging the Commissioner’s Roundtable for Family and Community Engagement in promoting strategies for implementation;
- sharing across the CSDE and endorsing use of the definition in funded programs; and
- partnering the OEC and the ECFC to engage stakeholders in implementation,continuous improvement and feedback.
"There needs to be honest and open conversation about the challenges and impacts of transferring power to parents." Symposium Participants, December 2017
The CT Office of Early Childhood will continue work on multiple efforts related to engaging families as full partners in the work of the agency and in the early care and education programs the OEC supports by:
- continuing to create policy that elevates the role of families in decision-making;
- building tools and resources to support early care and education programs in partnering with families to understand their child’s learning and development and guide program improvement efforts;
- educating OEC staff and funded programs on Connecticut’s Definition and Framework for Family Engagement to promote the infusion of these principles into all OEC work; and
- continuing to advance the Commissioner’s two-generation work to support both families and children through innovative programs
- Connecticut Early Childhood Funder Collaborative will continue to expand strategies funders can employ to support high quality family engagement by:
- connecting to national funders to advance best practice;
- exploring the development of a funder self-assessment tool to improve the effectiveness of philanthropic support for family engagement;
- sharing the statement with other funders and encouraging the use of the definition in philanthropic investments and initiatives; and
- partnering with CSDE and OEC to align investments and share models of effective family and community engagement.
Invitation
The initiating partners invite family leadership groups, schools, community-based organizations and agencies, philanthropic organizations, and others who are interested in promoting full, equal and equitable partnerships with families to join in implementing Connecticut’s Definition and Framework for Family Engagement.
We invite everyone who is interested in promoting meaningful partnerships with families to join the partners who have signed on to the Statement of Definition and Guiding Principles.