Educators Gather at the White House to Rethink School Discipline

Volume VIII, Issue 7

August 2015

FEATURE to advance the national conversation about reducing the overuse of unnecessary out of Educators Gather at the White school suspensions and expulsions House to Rethink School and replacing these practices with Discipline positive alternatives that keep students in school and engaged in U.S. Department of Education learning. Announced New Tools to Help Schools Rethink According to data from the Civil Discipline Rights Data Collection (CRDC), the number of students losing On July 23, the U.S. Departments critical learning time due to out of of Education and Justice hosted school suspensions and expulsions teams of superintendents, is staggering. Over 3 million principals, and teachers from students are suspended or across the country for “Rethink expelled every year. Discipline,” a day-long White House conference on creating To help educators and positive school climates and communities understand the implementing effective discipline extent of this practice, the practices. The conference sought Department of Education released new maps at the event based on checklist July 17 with questions the CRDC data illustrating out-of- and resources that parents and school suspensions across the caregivers can use to help ensure country. their children are getting the education they deserve. The For more information about the checklist suggests key questions, Administration’s work on school tips for educational success and climate and discipline and the resources for more information. conference, go to http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/gu The checklist follows a “set of id/school-discipline/index.html. rights” the Department recently released outlining what families should be able to expect for their children's education. The checklist and the “set of rights” build on the Education Department’s work to reach out to parents—from tools to help families and students select the U.S. Department of Education best colleges for their needsto Joins Key Partners to support of Parent Training and Release Parent Checklist to Information Centers and Help Children Thrive at Resource Centers. For more School information and resources for parents visit the Department’s As America’s 54 million students Family and Community prepare to return to school this Engagement page at fall, the U.S. Department of http://www.ed.gov/family-and- Education, America Achieves, community-engagement. National Council of La Raza (NCLR), National PTA and the Combined Federal United Negro College Fund Programs Summer Meeting (UNCF) released a parent The Office of Special Education holding back agencies, and look and Rehabilitative Services for school climate and leadership (OSERS) and the Office of effectiveness. Elementary and Secondary There were over 600 participants, Education (OESE) held a joint and it was an all-digital convening. summer meeting in Washington, D. Coordinated by the National Title C., on July 29-31. The meeting I Association, this was an with the theme, All in: Achieving excellent opportunity to work Results Together was for Title I, collaboratively with other federal Title II, Title III, School programs. Full details about the Turnaround (SIG) and IDEA meeting are available on the coordinators and state directors. Collaborative Federal Programs The conference opened with a Meeting webpages panel discussion, Equity for all http://www.titlei.org/federaleduc Students. Moderated by John ationprogram/main. King, Delegated Deputy Secretary, the panelists, EFFECTIVE Secretary Arne Duncan, Anne Whelan, Acting Senior Advisor PRACTICE Delegated the Duties of Assistant 21st Century Community Learning Secretary of OESE, Michael Centers (CCLC) Yudin, Assistant Secretary of The U.S. Department of OSERS, Marcus Cheeks, Education’s Office of Elementary Mississippi Director of Federal and Secondary Education provides Programs, and Debbie Gay, nation-wide family engagement Georgia State Director of Special support to State Education Education Services and Support, st Agencies (SEAs) and their 21 provided the attendees with Century Community Learning strong take aways: share best Centers (CCLC) through the practices, look for equity in terms implementation of the Family of results, breakdown silos at Engagement Resource Providers state and district levels, look for (FERP) Project. The Manhattan civil rights-where is racism Strategy Group, program administers of the FERP Project, oversee FERPs in 10 regions, including Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and other U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean. CONTINUE THE NATIONAL LITERACY ACTION Family engagement experts #READWHEREYOUARE develop relationships and The White House and the U.S. st collaborate with SEAs and 21 Department of Education CCLC grantees to provide high- launched a day of action to raise quality technical assistance. awareness about the importance FERPS offer effective ways to of reading where you are over the engage families and strengthen remaining days and weeks of partnerships between families, summer before school starts. 21st CCLC OST (out-of-school time) programs, schools, and Reading over the summer makes a communities. These partnerships difference during the school year. ultimately support the academic When students are able to keep enrichment of students who reading, they can keep learning, st attend 21 CCLC programs. For catch up, stay sharp and are more more information about FERP prepared when the new school contact Sally M. Wade, FERP year begins. Project Director, at [email protected] or These last few weeks of summer 202-904-2880. are the perfect time to help all young people, from the earliest readers, to high school students, to strive to read more - wherever they are. Read at home, on the bus, at a park, at camp, in the ANNOUNCEMENTS woods, on the beach, at the barbershop, on the train, and of course at the library! Keeping young minds sharp and ready for back to school can happen anywhere. To learn more about #ReadWhereYouAre, visit Talk, Read, and Sing Together www.ed.gov/readwhereyouare. Every Day! Tip Sheets for Families, Caregivers and Early Learning Educators Research has found that providing children from birth to five with consistent, language-rich experiences –talking, reading, and singing – can have important benefits on their brain Veterans and Military Families’ development and future school Web Page success. The U. S. Department of Education’s Veterans and Military The U.S. Departments of Families’ web page will soon Education and Health and Human feature a new look and be found Services, in partnership with Too under a new link. For more Small to Fail, have created the information, please contact "Talk, Read, and Sing Together Maureen Dowling of the Military Every Day" tip sheets. These Affairs Team at resources can help enrich a [email protected]. child's early language experiences by providing research-based tips for talking, reading, and singing with young children every day beginning from birth. All tip sheets are available in English and Spanish, and can be downloaded for free. To learn more and see the list of Tools for Students resources, click here. With the start of another school year just around the corner, ParentCamp Family, School, and Community The U. S. Department of Engagement will feature a new Education plans to host its first item just for children - Kids.gov. ParentCamp in October 2015. Each month a specific feature of ParentCamp has topics created by the web site shall be highlighted. parents for parents. Parents are Kids.gov is the U.S. government's encouraged to have discussions official web portal for kids, where and hands-on sessions. children may learn and play in a safe place. For the month of ParentCamp is built on the principles of connecting and August the 3 Branches of participating while learning. Government shall be highlighted. Click here to learn about the ParentCamp strives to bring three branches of government. parents together to talk about Teachers click here for a lesson the things that matter most to plan on the topic. To order them. Educators are welcomed to specific publications from this come as well. More details about the Parent Camp will follow in the site click here. months ahead. Please go to the website http://www.ed.gov/family-and- community-engagement for more information.

RESOURCES Take Your Kids to a Park To help engage and create the Partnerships directly at 202- next generation of park visitors, 453-6340. several federal agencies have partnered to make sure every child across the country has the opportunity to experience America's public lands and waters Looping EOP Planning into in person throughout the 2015- Summer and Fall 2016 school year. A ccess an Every Professional Development Kid in a Park pass to get free Activities access to national parks, national Planning staff professional forests, national wildlife refuges, development opportunities for and more. summer and early fall? Consider the REMS TA Center's FREE Trainings by Request (TBRs) for Education Matters developing or enhancing your The Center for Faith-based and school's Emergency Operations Neighborhood Partnerships has a Plan (EOP). REMS TA Center monthly bulletin called Education offers a variety of trainings for Matters. Education Matters delivery on-site at your school, highlights key information and school district, or institution of issues around education. The higher education (IHE). The information shared contributes to REMS TA Center will provide creating a culture of education training materials, as well as one excellence in various or more expert trainers and communities. It can be accessed REMS TA Center staff support at: for the event hosted at your site. http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/fbnp/ All of these services are provided resources/ under the ‘Resource’ at no cost to the school, school tab. For any questions or follow- district, or IHE. up, contact the Center for Faith- based and Neighborhood REMS TA Center’s Train-the- Educator (TtE) and Train-the- Trainer (TtT) TBR formats There are many ways for Parents provide opportunities to refresh and Families of Head Start your skills, increase staff children to become involved and preparedness, and train future stay engaged in your children’s trainers who will serve on your education and future. Read more school's emergency planning team. here. REMS TA Center’s staff is available to provide on-site TIP OF THE training on several topics. For a list and to learn more visit MONTH Trainings by Request web page.

Plan Now to Make Summer a Healthy Time in Your Community Women's Equality Day At the beginning of March — Women's Equality Day National Nutrition Month — our commemorates the 19th partner agency, the U.S. Amendment to the Constitution, Department of granting women the right to vote. Agriculture, announced an Created by a Joint Resolution of ambitious goal of serving 200 Congress in 1971, August 26 of million meals to children and each year was designated as teens in low-income communities Women's Equality Day. This day this summer through their Food was selected to commemorate the and Nutrition Service program. passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution on August 26, 1920. This amendment granted women the right to vote. This was Be Engaged, Get Involved! the culmination of decades of effort by women suffragettes and other groups. Their efforts and towards equality for dated back to first women’s women. rights convention in 1848 at  Continue to be involved in Seneca Falls, New York. pursuing full and equal rights Celebrate this day in a number of for women in all areas and in ways: all issues.  Celebrate the  Exercise the right to vote. accomplishments made in  Stay informed about issues gaining the right to vote, and candidates. Family Engagement Outreach Team The Office of Communications and Outreach contacts work with state and local education agencies to empower parents with the information to help them be full partners in the education and academic progress of their children.

Jacquelyn Pitta Jonava Johnson Diana Huffman Region II Region IV Region VIII (NJ, NY, PR, VI) (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN) (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY) Financial Square 61 Forsyth St. S.W., 1244 Speer Blvd. Suite 615 32 Old Slip, 25th Floor Suite 18T15 Denver, CO 80204-3582 New York, NY 10005 Atlanta, GA 30303 303-844-3544 646-428-3906 404-974-9450 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Helen Littlejohn Taylor Ramsey Shirley Jones Region VIII Region II Region V (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY) (NJ, NY, PR, VI) (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI) 1244 Speer Blvd. Suite 615 Financial Square 500 W. Madison St. Denver, CO 80204-3582 32 Old Slip, 25th Floor Suite 1427 303-844-3546 New York, NY 10005 Chicago, IL 60661 [email protected] 646-428-3899 312-730-1706 [email protected] [email protected] Linda Pauley Region X Elizabeth Williamson Elaine Venard (WA, OR, ID, AK) Region III Region VII 915 Second Ave., Room 3362 (DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, WV) (IA, KS, MO, NE) Seattle, WA 98174 100 Penn Square East 8930 Ward Parkway, Suite 2043 206-607-1655 Suite 513 Kansas City, MO 64114-3302 [email protected] Philadelphia, PA 19107 816-268-0404 215-656-6015 [email protected] Carrie Jasper [email protected] Headquarters 400 Maryland Avenue S.W. Room 5E310 Washington D.C. 20202 202-401-1524 [email protected] ______Contributors: Anna Leach. Laurie Calvert, and Steven Hicks Advisors: Vicki Myers and Libby Doggett Family, School, and Community Engagement is edited by Carrie Jasper and designed by Barbara Julius of the U.S. Department of Education. To subscribe, unsubscribe or comment on this newsletter, please contact [email protected]. Family, School and Community Engagement can be found online at http://www2.ed.gov/news/newsletters/engagingfamilies/index.html. ______Note: This document contains information about and from public and private entities and organizations for the reader’s information. Inclusion does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any entity or organization or the products or services offered or views expressed. This publication also contains hyperlinks and URLs created and maintained by outside organizations. They are provided for the reader’s convenience; however, the Department is not responsible for the accuracy of this information.