Staff Writer, R. Patrick Chapman
Government / Parental Rights ________________________________
PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy statement is to provide recommendations from the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education (ED) on systematically engaging families in their children’s development, learning, and wellness, across early childhood and elementary education settings.
Families are children’s first and most important teachers, advocates, and nurturers. Strong family engagement is central- not supplemental-- to promoting children’s healthy development and wellness, including social-emotional and behavioral development; preparing children for school; seamlessly transitioning them to kindergarten; and supporting academic achievement in elementary school and beyond. Research indicates that families’ engagement in children’s learning and development can impact lifelong health, developmental, and academic outcomes. When families and the institutions where children learn partner in meaningful ways, children have more positive attitudes toward school, stay in school longer, have better attendance, and experience more school success.
Both Departments recognize the critical role of family engagement in children’s success in the early and elementary education systems. As such, both agencies have developed research-based family engagement frameworks to guide the development of effective family engagement policies and practices: HHS’ Head Start Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Framework and ED’s Dual Capacity Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships. This policy statement identifies common principles from the frameworks that drive effective family engagement across the prenatal to age eight continuum, and inform recommendations to local and State early childhood and elementary education systems.
It is the position of the Departments that all early childhood programs and schools recognize families as equal partners in improving children’s development, learning and wellness across all settings, and over the course of their children’s developmental and educational experiences. This joint HHS-ED statement aims to advance this goal by:
1. Reviewing the research base that supports effective family engagement in children’s learning, development, and wellness;
2. Identifying core principles of effective family engagement practices from HHS’ and ED’s frameworks to drive successful policy and program development;
3. Providing recommendations to States, LEAs, schools, and community-based early childhood programs to implement effective family engagement; and
______________________________________________________________________________4. Highlighting resources for States, LEAs, schools, and early childhood programs to build capacity to effectively partner with families.
1 The term “family” is used to include all the people who play a role in a child’s life and interact with a child’s early childhood program or school. This may include fathers, mothers, grandparents, foster parents, formal and informal guardians, and siblings, among others.
Among others? Do you mean government interference in the raising of someone's child? Identifying core principles is an Agenda 21 principle. So what types of "effective family engagement practices from HHS’ and ED’s frameworks to drive successful policy and program development" are we discussing here?
The agenda to confuse children about their gender and sexuality? Teach kids to masturbate at the age of 9? Or, how about getting the next generation to hate vehicles, carbon, and humans?
Inquiring minds would like to know.
Be sure to read the draft in its entirety.
Source: DHHS, Dept of Education
617-355-6000