Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Ohio-Based Organizations Highlighted at IEL's 2018 National Family and Community Engagement Conference

    WASHINGTON, DC, June 29, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) is convening over 1,000 leaders nationwide at its annual National Family and Community Engagement Conference; on July 11-13, 2018 at the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland, Ohio. IEL's National Family and Community Engagement Conference is one of the largest convenings in the country with a focus on engaging families for effective family-school-community partnerships as a strategy to improve student outcomes.

Over 50 years of research confirms that programs and special efforts to engage families make a difference and have a positive impact on student achievement. Unfortunately, many school districts and administrators lack the knowledge and/or tools needed to implement, evaluate, and sustain such programs. IEL's National Family and Community Engagement Conference fills this void. For five years, IEL has convened state and district leaders, school administrators and other educators, community-based partners, parent leaders and other stakeholders to interact with their peers, learn about the latest research, and examine how schools and communities around the country are realizing mutual goals, and garnering skills to maximize impact through developing productive family-school-community partnerships. Cleveland, OH was selected as the Conference's host city because of the robust family and community engagement work being done within the schools and its strategic partnerships with community-based organizations.

"No matter how phenomenal they are, teachers can't do it all by themselves. Student success is a team effort. Partnering with students' families leads to better educational outcomes for our students." — Tracy E. Hill, Executive Director of Cleveland Metropolitan School District's (CMSD) Family and Community Engagement Team and nationally recognized as an Education Week Leader to Learn From.

High school students from Cleveland and the first ring districts will participate in a ½ day Youth Summit. Led by their peers, they will have an honest discussion about the challenges they face that makes it difficult for them to be successful in school and how family, school, and community partnerships can better support them.

Conference attendees will attend pre-conference sessions to get an in-depth understanding of different aspects of family engagement, visit local Cleveland schools, and speak with staff to see how programs are being implemented, hear from local student, parent, and thought leaders via plenary sessions, and attend over 100 workshops. Workshops are categorized by multiple entry points and strands, including: Early Learning & Literacy; Relationship Building & Trust; Promote Inclusion, Ensure Equity & Create Opportunity; Research, Evaluation & Data Collection; Integrated, Systemic Approaches; and, Parent Leadership, Advocacy & Community Organizing.

Opening remarks will be given by Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson and CMSD CEO Eric S. Gordon. On Thursday, July 12, 2018 from 9:15-10:30AM, attendees will learn about the growth and transformational impact of Cleveland's family and community engagement work during The Cleveland Story. Moderated by Tracy Hill, Executive Director of CMSD's Office of Family & Community Engagement, panelist include:
• Jowan Smith, Parent Leader, Cleveland Metropolitan School District Alumni
• Stacey Smith, Teacher at Willow Elementary School, Cleveland Metropolitan School District
• Chenoa Miller, Student, Glenville High School, Cleveland Metropolitan School District
• Pamela DiPasquale, Education Director, Cleveland Play House
• Talisa L. Dixon, Superintendent, Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District

A limited number of media passes are available. Plenary sessions will be broadcasted from the Institute for Educational Leaderships Facebook page. On Twitter, follow @FCENetwork or #FCEConf18 for updates.

Since 1964, IEL has equipped leaders to work together across boundaries to build effective systems that prepare children, youth, and now adults for postsecondary education, careers, and citizenship.

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