NC Preschool Pyramid Model Leadership Team Summit January 9-10, 2019 Overcoming Barriers to Engaging Families on Preschool Pyramid Model Leadership Teams NC Preschool Pyramid Model Leadership Team Summit January 9-10, 2019 Sherri Britt Williams, NC Early Learning Network Amy Nicholas, ECTA Center

Welcome! Identify your LEA/Program Explain your response to the check-in chart question 2

Participants will: Receive information on frameworks, policies, and practices emphasizing the importance of family engagement Identify the difference between “technical” and “adaptive” challenges that might be limiting family involvement in PPM Leadership Team activities. Identify strategies for strengthening family engagement in PPM Leadership Team activities.

Definition of Family Engagement Family engagement refers to the systematic inclusion of families in activities and programs that promote children’s development, learning, and wellness, including in the planning, development, and evaluation of such activities, programs, and systems. Source: U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services/Dept. of Education’s, Policy Statement on Family Engagement in the Early Grades

DEC Recommended Practices: Family Practices 10 family engagement practices F10: Practitioners inform families about leadership and advocacy skill-building opportunities and encourage those who are interested to participate. Available at: http://www.dec-sped.org/dec-recommended-practices

U. S. Dept. of Health & Human Services/Dept U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services/Dept. of Education Policy Statement on Family Engagement in the Early Grades Provides recommendations to early childhood systems and programs

A System Framework for Building High-Quality Early Intervention and Preschool Special Education Programs Family engagement cuts across all components of high-quality systems. Governance Result Quality Standards Finance Implementation of Effective Practices Good outcomes for children with disabilities and their families Building High-Quality Systems Accountability & Quality Improvement Personnel / Workforce Data System Available at: ectacenter.org/sysframe

Find your parent center at: U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Parent Training & Information Centers Work with families of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities, birth to 26 Help parents participate effectively in their children’s education and development Partner with professionals and policymakers to improve outcomes for all children with disabilities Collaborate with early childhood TA centers Find your parent center at: https://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center/

Leading by Convening: A Theory of Action There are both informational and attitudinal barriers to important practice changes. Decision makers often lead change through technical strategies, such as information, training, and authority. Stakeholders impact the extent of change by exercising adaptive strategies, such as using their influence with other stakeholders (positively or negatively). Practice change requires both technical information and human approaches.

Leading by Convening Structure

Overcoming Barriers Technical challenge Requires strategies that information, knowledge, or tools Adaptive (Relationship) challenge Requires strategies that build understanding of behaviors and a willingness to make changes to behaviors Source: Heifetz & Linsky (2002), Leadership on the Line

A Family Leader’s Perspective: “Good luck with that.” 25

Activity As a small group, make a list of all the things that you think are limiting family participation on your PPM Leadership Team.

Problems Come Bundled Which of the items on your list are technical barriers? Which are adaptive barriers? Mark your list with “T” or “A.” Choose one technical (T) and one adaptive (A) barrier from your list. Select a strategy to overcome each of those barriers.

Preparing and Engaging Families Before Articulate purpose of the work/ decision/discussion Describe role of stakeholders Provide resources to build background knowledge on implementation and related data that will be discussed during meetings During Invite unique perspectives Provide a safe forum to ask questions, share information, and confirm understandings Use effective techniques for leading group discussion to ensure each voice is heard After Close the loop—communicate decision and provide rationale Identify areas of needed improvement and strategies for addressing those areas in a timely and effective manner

Takeaways & Next Steps What’s one important “aha” that you had today? What is one potential next step that you can take when you get back? What additional resources or technical assistance would be helpful to you in your role?

Resources Leading by Convening (for program leaders): https://ncsi.wested.org/resources/leading-by-convening/ Serving on Groups that Make Decisions (for stakeholders): www.servingongroups.org

Find Us Online NC ELN website: https://nceln.fpg.unc.edu/ ECTA website: http://ectacenter.org/ Facebook and Twitter @ECTACenter

Thank you! The contents of this presentation were developed under grant #H326P170001 from the U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer: Julia Martin Eile