Session Descriptions - Monday

The involvement of parents and families in their children's education has a life-long impact on learning and achievement. While this connection is critical, varying perspectives of parental involvement limit creative ways in which culturally diverse communities understand, encourage, and benefit from meaningful school-home-community relationships. In this interactive session, participants will engage in a safe space by building trust, inspiring creativity, and establishing successful school-family partnerships with a musical vibe.

As an Autism Father and professional, it's important to speak out about our perspectives, and/or challenges.

Recent research regarding types of Family Engagement, factors that impact Family Engagement, and practical strategies for administrators and teachers to increase Family Engagement opportunities will be presented. A focus on families from low socio-economic backgrounds and how different family structures impact engagement will highlight the importance of understanding potential barriers faced by many families.

The Welcome to Real World program is a training for professionals serving youth grades 8-12 or parents/caregivers interested in helping their child learn more about careers and money management. Participants are guided through lessons to help youth explore career plans and opportunities, manage their finances, balance a budget, and make consumer choices for future independent living. The learning activities are designed to culminate in a simulation experience where youth choose a career path and must make real-world decisions like those adults face daily.

This session will build capacity among school leaders, parents and other stakeholders to recognize the critical role of compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and the impact of not meeting the requirements of IDEA on their students with disabilities. The IDEA requires the U.S. Secretary of Education to make an annual determination as to whether each state is meeting the requirements of the Act. In addition to the federal-to-state determination requirements, IDEA also mandates that states make annual determinations of the status of every Local Education Agency (LEA) in the state. To this end, local reviews of student outcomes as well as compliance data is utilized in evaluating LEA performance. In addition, IDEA requires every state to develop a State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR) which requires public reporting. States must report annually to the public on the state's progress or slippage in meeting the measurable and rigorous targets of the SPP/APR and the performance of each school district, charter school, and preschool early intervention program in the Commonwealth on meeting targets. The presenters will facilitate a more meaningful and substantial understanding of the SPP/APR and its relationship to LEA's special education programs.

Join us as we explore recognizing trauma and understating Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in children and families as well as helping to build skills that foster resilience in children and families. Families are resilient when they are able to access their inner strengths to proactively meet challenges, manage adversities, heal the effects of trauma and thrive given the unique characteristics and circumstances of their family.
We will discuss methods for increasing families' self-efficacy so they are able to face challenges in order to enhance the positive effects on family relationships.

Learn about the FAMILIES TO THE MAX Pennsylvania Statewide Family Network and our guiding principles of presuming competence, fostering high expectations, access to the general education curriculum, leading change, collaborating with school teams, and empowering families.
FAMILIES TO THE MAX has attracted national attention as a model of deep family engagement that has moved into being family-led and focuses on helping both professionals and family members work to resolve conflict at the lowest levels through collaborative problem-solving partnerships.
This session is targeted to those who are interested in Special Education, collaborative practices, and/or a model of true Family Leadership.

Family Engagement starts with creating a welcoming environment, but how do we truly do that? This workshop explores how creating a welcoming environment for students and families starts with us, the school staff. We will explore the concept of mental models/implicit bias, what this means, and how it impacts our engagement with families from the moment we meet them. We will also learn how to recognize our own implicit bias and learn the difference between responding vs. reacting. Finally, we will discuss resources for compassion fatigue and promoting resilience.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify the difference between engagement and involvement
• Understand how family engagement is a key component of student success
• Understand the concept of mental models and how this impacts engagement
• Review the Hierarchy of Needs in relation to meeting families where they are.
• Understand the Ladder of Inference as it relates to decision making;
• Discuss the difference between Reacting vs. Responding.
• Receive resources to combat compassion fatigue and promote resilience.

COVID had an immediate and dramatic effect on education. This presentation focuses on the impact COVID has had specifically on special education students and students from marginalized communities. This includes; an overview of special education, the services provided, a break down of demographics and the detriment of over qualification.

Join Dr. Sheila Jackson, in this interactive and strategy-filled session based on her 30+ years of daily family-facing work in PGCPS, Maryland. She will demonstrate and provide tools that highlight how she and her team have spearheaded and led the development, coaching and support of these powerful data driven "Servant Leaders" who skillfully, compassionately and with an eye towards equity do this work everyday!

In this session, stakeholders will learn how to access school-wide data for their child's school and gain insights into making data understandable and parent-friendly. Participants will explore practical strategies for sharing data in ways that engage families and discover how parents can partner with schools to use this information to support student success. This session is designed to bridge the gap between educators and families, ensuring a collaborative approach to data-driven student growth.

Family Engagement starts with creating a welcoming environment, but how do we truly do that? This workshop explores how creating a welcoming environment for students and families starts with us, the school staff. We will explore the concept of mental models/implicit bias, what this means, and how it impacts our engagement with families from the moment we meet them. We will also learn how to recognize our own implicit bias and learn the difference between responding vs. reacting. Finally, we will discuss resources for compassion fatigue and promoting resilience.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify the difference between engagement and involvement
• Understand how family engagement is a key component of student success
• Understand the concept of mental models and how this impacts engagement
• Review the Hierarchy of Needs in relation to meeting families where they are.
• Understand the Ladder of Inference as it relates to decision making;
• Discuss the difference between Reacting vs. Responding.
• Receive resources to combat compassion fatigue and promote resilience.