The U.S. Department of Education will hold a National Policy Forum for Family, School & Community Engagement on Tuesday, Nov. 9 at the Holiday Inn Capitol in Washington, D.C. Several senior officials from the Department and other education stakeholders representing families, communities, government and philanthropy, will deliver remarks or participate in panel discussions focusing on the shared responsibility and best practices to support children's learning from cradle to career in the home, school and community.
"We want districts to think big about family engagement, to propose new strategies and determine best practices that raise student achievement," said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The Obama administration is proposing to double funding for parent and family engagement, from 1 to 2 percent of Title I dollars, or a total of $270 million. At the same time, in order to drive innovation, we will allow states to use another one percent of Title I dollars, about $145 million, for grant programs that support, incentivize and help expand district-level, evidence-based parental involvement practices.