Best Practices for Family Engagement (Even During a Pandemic!)

Tuesday February 9, 2021
1:00 - 2:30 PM
Workshop 1

Learn about the principles that guide the Parent Education and Consultation Program, PECP, of the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Since 2016, over two thousand families of At-Promise students in Juvenile Halls, Camp Detention Schools and County Community Schools participate in our workshops, classes and numerous learning opportunities. These tenets have proven to be effective even during a pandemic! Hundreds of parents responded to our outreach efforts, defying the long-standing beliefs of the barriers that prevent parent participation in school activities, and moved to the virtual world to stay engaged in their children's learning. Experience a shortened parenting lesson written by parents and for parents, and witness the positive outcomes of asset-based practices in family engagement.

Presenters
Rami Christophi

Rami Christophi serves as Title I Director for the Los Angeles County Office of Education. After a conscientious review of practices, effectiveness and costs, he participated in the design a program that built infrastructure for sustained parental engagement, met the learning needs of families, and provided them with hope, information and resources, while applying research-based strategies. LACOE's Title I Parent Education and Consultation program, in less than a year, involved over 800 families of incarcerated youth, homeless and foster students, and hosted the First Parent Conference (http://www.lacoe.edu/Home/NewsAnnouncements/tabid/177/ID/2972/Parents-of-at-risk-youth-join-to-overcome-adversity.aspx). As a teacher, principal, administrator and director, Rami has worked all his professional life to improve academic outcomes for at-risk students in Los Angeles
Jael Ovalle

Jael Ovalle currently manages the Parent Education and Consultation Program (PECP) of the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE). She worked to design and implemented PECP; an overhaul of LACOEs’ models for parental engagement. The program is the first and only in the nation to reach out to the families of incarcerated youth, homeless students and foster children. Jael has participated in extensive training on Dr. Joyce Epstein’s Typology for Parental Engagement, conducted by Dr. Epstein’s herself, and possess extensive knowledge of the Parent Action Teams model by the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University and the research that guides school district's practices for parental engagement in the nation. She worked with community partners, bargaining units, district officials, families and students to support the passage of the historic Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education Resolution “Parents As Equal Partners” in 2010. She also collaborated in the creation of the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which guides parent involvement work in school districts, charter schools and community-based organizations that advocate for parental engagement in education in Los Angeles.
type:
Workshop
theme:
instruction
audience:
district leaders
tags:
evidence based practices