Professional Development for Educators on Family Engagement
The U.S. Department of Education awarded Ohio State’s Center on Education and Training for Employment a 5-year Title IV grant (2018-2023). This $4.2 million Innovation and Improvement grant was used to create and sustain the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center. The Center, one of only 12 selected for this prestigious grant, is directed by Dr. Barbara Boone, and partners with the Ohio Department of Education to empower teachers and parents/caregivers to create strong relationships with one another to support the educational success of K-12 students.
A state-level advisory council was created in 2019 to guide the efforts of the Statewide Family Engagement Center and includes parents and caregivers, community organization representatives, and school leaders from around Ohio. The council provides families and organizations serving families with a voice in how these federal funds are used to support family engagement in education in Ohio.
The Center selected one evidence-based family engagement model to implement and evaluate in 96 schools within 48 school districts between 2020-2022, called the National Network of Partnership Schools Model. The goal of implementing and researching this model is to build the nation’s strong evidence-base of best practices.
The Statewide Family Engagement Center provides training and technical assistance for educators and organizations about how to engage in family-school partnerships, and parent/caregiver education opportunities. The Ohio Department of Education’s 16 State Support Teams already in place in each Ohio region are key partners in helping to share the Center’s resources and tools with schools and families, and to provide coaching in select districts.
Partners include The Ohio Department of Education, the National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins University, the National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement, the Melissa Becce for evaluation services, and many other state and regional partners.
Funded by Ohio Department of Education Office for Exceptional Children
Project Contact Barbara Boone
“Out of all the projects I’ve worked on, you guys are the only ones who provide what I need to be a good coach.”
“I wish I’d had this tool when I was a school principal!”