U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. will deliver remarks at the Department of Education’s and National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE)’s “The Impact of Family Engagement on African American Student Achievement” Wednesday at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. King will provide closing remarks at the event to be held at the Barnard Auditorium in the Education Department’s Lyndon B. Johnson headquarters building.
Strong family engagement at all ages, but especially in early learning systems, according to a joint letter in August from the Education Department and Department of Health and Human Services, is “central – not supplemental – to promoting children’s healthy intellectual, physical, and social-emotional development; preparing children for success in school; and supporting academic achievement in elementary school and beyond.” In May, both departments issued a joint Policy Statement on Family Engagement which aims to support and encourage states, districts, schools and public and private early childhood programs, including child care and Head Start, to take action to develop effective family engagement policies and practices.
NAFSCE, founded in September 2014, is the first membership association focused solely on advancing family, school, and community engagement. It strives to advance high-impact policies and practices for family, school, and community engagement to promote child development and improve student achievement.