Family and Community Partnership

 

Strengthening Family-School Partnerships

 

Colorado Statewide Family Engagement Center (CO SFEC) unites the leading expertise of families, schools, and communities to collectively address Colorado’s COVID-19 learning response and recovery.

Over the next five years, CO SFEC and partnering school districts will implement practices and systems that foster student development and family wellbeing.

About the CO SFEC

Colorado joins 20 other states across the country that operate an SFEC to focus on building the capacity of families, practitioners, and communities to work together to improve student outcomes through technical assistance, professional learning, and high-impact activities for families.

CO SFEC priorities are aligned to the 2020 Colorado School District Community Needs Inventory, including the identified needs of K-3 education reading loss, student mental health, disengagement of high school students, and adult education.

CO SFEC will provide free training to districts across the state to support families and school staff in strengthening family partnership in their communities.

Partner Organizations

CO SFEC is a partnership of five organizations that span focus areas and communities served:

National Center for Families Learning (NCFL)
NCFL is a national nonprofit that supports family success and well-being through education. We believe education is a shared responsibility and collaboration among families, schools, and community members that leads to powerful learning experiences. Partnering with educators, literacy advocates, and communities, NCFL has worked for over 30 years to eradicate poverty through education solutions for families.


CO SFEC Contact
Maureen Rudy
Colorado Director, National Center for Families Learning
Contact Maureen

 

Colorado Education Initiative (CEI)
CEI is a statewide nonprofit that cultivates systems improvement and equity in Colorado’s public education system. CEI has been a primary state education partner to the Governor’s Office and CDE in Colorado’s COVID-19 emergency response leadership and support, making them uniquely positioned to partner with NCFL in leading this effort for Colorado.


CO SFEC Contact
Laura Harney
Director, Family and Community Partnership, Colorado Education Initiative
Contact Laura

 

Colorado Department of Education (CDE)
The CDE provides leadership, resources, support, and accountability to the state’s 178 school districts, 1,888 schools, over 53,000 teachers and over 3,200 administrators to help them build capacity to meet the needs of the state’s approximately 905,000 public school students. CDE’s Office of Family–School–Community Partnerships sits within the Accountability and Continuous Improvement Office at CDE and was created in response to Colorado Senate Bill 13-193 increasing parent involvement in public schools.

Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition (CSPC)
CSPC has been promoting equity in education for over forty years. Established by a group of parents who wanted better for their children, CSPC teaches others about their rights as parents and effective ways to support their children’s early development and education. CSPC offers programs, courses, and other community resources that support schools, parents, students, and childcare providers throughout Colorado.

Black Parent Network (BPN) Website Coming Soon
The purpose of BPN is to create a network of parents advocating collaboratively for Black children in schools, school districts, and other civic and state arenas to positively impact Black students through advocacy, information, and active community engagement. BPN is focused on developing Black Excellence plans modeled after work in Denver Public Schools to assist schools in being inclusive and ensuring educational equity for Black students.

Partner School Districts

CO SFEC supports five partnering school districts that represent the diversity of the state and are leaders in family partnerships:

Each school district will create a family-focused task force and will collectively establish a Statewide Family Engagement Advisory Council. The task forces will elevate the role of caregivers in decision-making and inform the offerings and expansion of family partnership across Colorado.

Work Approach

CC SFEC Theory of Change

Project Timeline

Year 1

The CO SFEC consortium will:

  • Establish a strong governing council that builds the infrastructure for the successful implementation of the SFEC deliverables.
  • Establish a family- and practitioner-facing digital presence.
  • Conduct a policy landscape analysis by engaging parent leaders.
  • Administer a statewide family survey to determine needs.
  • Launch Family Partnership Task Forces in five selected school districts.

Years 2-5

The CO SFEC consortium will:

  • Implement Family Literacy programs in five Title I schools.
  • Identify regional training hubs to scale professional learning and family engagement activities.
  • Highlight innovation and excellence through the Colorado Hub to scale effective family engagement practices in the state and elevate practices among the national network of family engagement centers.
  • Re-administer family survey in year four to identify impact and areas of growth.
  • Establish a sustainability plan to ensure continued innovation in Colorado’s Family Learning systems.

 

“[Related to] family and community partnership – The time, funding, and space to think and create as a team along with other districts has helped us to grow, implement our plans faster than anticipated an provided thought partners with colleagues from other districts. The networking opportunities afforded us the opportunity to visit and learn form other districts while onboarding our new Family Engagement Coordinator. Our Family Center is now open to our community.”

– Alamosa School District Partner

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