The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Program, seeks to identify strategies that are inclusive, encouraging, and effective in initiating and sustaining positive school-family partnerships. By establishing partnerships with other state agencies, school improvement councils, institutions of higher education, civic organizations, and churches throughout the state, the SCDE will increase its efforts in connecting community resources to support schools in engaging families. The FACE program provide access to parent resources, post links to professional development seminars, explore research, and share best practices to engage families in the success of their students meeting the Profile and becoming ready for college, careers, and citizenship.
Family and Community Engagement
(FACE) is a critical part of helping our students achieve academic success. The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) has long recognized the value of family and community engagement. The South Carolina Family Engagement K-12 Framework is a tool to guide shared understanding and implementation of effective engagement practices. It is intended to influence thinking and suggest action steps necessary to implement family engagement policies and practices at the state, district, and school levels. The Framework brings together research, best practices, and a resource for evaluating family engagement practices that directly improve student outcomes.
The SCDE developed the (2019) with the assistance of the Council of Chief State School Officers. Its mission is to support partnerships between community organizations, families, and schools to coordinate access of resources for all students in South Carolina. Stakeholders from across the stated were tasked with identifying core strategies for success that could serve as the foundation for the framework. They identified: Building Relationships, Communication, Linking Families to Learning Outcomes, Collaborative Practices, and Community Partnerships.
South Carolina’s Definition of Family Engagement
The SCDE defines family engagement as when, “families are actively involved in the learning and development of all students to become college- and career-ready.”
Family Engagement K-12
Framework and Rationale for Success
The purpose of the Framework is to influence thinking and suggest action steps necessary to implement family engagement policies and practices at the state, district, and school levels. The Framework provides a structure for educators who promote family-friendly schools where all stakeholders are equipped with the necessary tools to support student success as outlined by the Profile. This document, in accordance with state statute, provides additional guidance to districts on developing family engagement action plans, and identifies resources to implement the strategies of the Framework that promote positive outcomes for all students in South Carolina. With the assistance of the Council of Chief State School Officers and numerous stakeholders, the SCDE has thoughtfully developed the Framework.
Framework Strategies for Success
Stakeholders were engaged across multiple career and expertise sectors, and tasked with identifying core strategies that should serve as a foundational structure for a family engagement framework. Identified foundational strategies include:
- Building Relationships
- Communication
- Linking Families to Learning Outcomes
- Collaborative Practices
- Community Partnerships
The strategies identified are not stand-alone strategies but are interlinked to show relational significance. The strategies of the Framework, as illustrated and explained more fully below, aim to provide districts and schools with additional knowledge and resources to incorporate in a local school, family, and community engagement action plan.
Building Relationships
The foundation for building relationships begins with mutual respect, trust, and valuing diversity. Relationships should encompass the ability to communicate with the purpose of listening and learning, as well as apprising all partners and advocates of a student’s social-emotional and academic development.
Communication
Effective communication is the ability to convey and receive information from families and advocates thus, establishing a two-way communication system using multiple approaches and methods. Clear and ongoing communication contributes to the efforts of building relationships between schools, families, and communities.
Linking Families to Learning Outcomes
Families need to be informed of how they play a pivotal role in the success of their students. Connecting families to learning outcomes supports the cultivation of their buy-in for their student’s overall attainment of the Profile. Families are presented with numerous obstacles that may hinder their ability to be involved at their students’ schools; however, according to research, “the strongest and most consistent predictors of parents’ involvement at school and at home are the specific school programs and teachers’ practices that encourage and guide parent involvement. Regardless of parent education, family size, student ability, or school level…parents are more likely to become partners in their children’s education if they perceive that the schools have strong practices to involve parents at school” (Epstein and Dauber,1991, p. 297).
Collaborative Practices
Initiatives should strive to bring families and staff together so that they can learn from and with each other. Collaborative practices signify that relationships between families and practitioners are reciprocal and build upon the strengths of both parties. Everyone is viewed through an asset-based lens: teachers, families, community members, and the students (Mapp, Carver, and Lander, 2017). Collaborative practices allow for the sharing of information and working together to deliver outcomes that are not easily or effectively achieved by working in silos.
Community Partnerships
Community partnerships are mutual commitments and an ongoing practice in which community organizations and schools engage families in relevant and culturally suitable ways. School-community partnerships can take a variety of forms. The most common linkages are partnerships with businesses, which can differ significantly in focus, scope, and content. Other school-community linkages involve universities, other educational institutions, government and military agencies, health care organizations, faith-based organizations, national service and volunteer organizations, senior citizen organizations, cultural and recreational institutions, other community-based organizations, and community volunteers who may provide resources and social support to youth and schools. Partnership activities also may have multiple foci; activities may be student, family, school, or community centered (Epstein and Associates, 2009).
Please see the Appendices for useful resources (Appendix C), Family Engagement Toolkit and Quick Self-Assessment Tools (Appendix D).
Here are examples of promising partnership practices in several South Carolina Schools:
- North Charleston Elementary School
Title l Parent & Family Engagement, Recipient of the 2022 National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) School Partnership Award
Charleston County School District
- C.E. Williams Middle School (North Campus)
Title l Parent & Family Engagement, Recipient of the 2022 National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) School Partnership Award
Charleston County School District
- Morningside Middle School
Title l Parent & Family Engagement, Recipient of the 2022 National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) School Partnership Award
Charleston County School District
SC Family and Community Engagement FACE Summit
2023 Family and Community Engagement Summit - Memo & Summit - Memo PDF (123 KB)
2022 Family and Community Engagement Summit - Memo & Summit - Memo PDF (277 KB)
2021 Family and Community Engagement Summit - Memo PDF (142 KB)
Spring SC Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Webinar Series for Educators
2023 Spring Family and Community Engagement Webinar Series for Educators - Memo PDF (535 KB)
Contact: Regina Thurmond, rthurmond@ed.sc.gov
SCDE Parent Community Engagement LISTSERV
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FACE Virtual Statewide Professional Learning Opportunities
FACE offers a variety of professional learning opportunities training and resources.
District Leaders Parent and Family Engagement Roundtables
Fall 2023
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Spring 2024
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
This virtual professional learning community for district level parent- family- community engagement professionals in South Carolina convenes during the fall and spring of the school year. It is an opportunity to share experiences and to learn how participants can build partnerships with all families in our Pre-K -12
Contact: Regina Thurmond, rthurmond@ed.sc.gov
School-Level Parent and Family Engagement Roundtables
Fall 2023
Thursday, August 31, 2023
11:00 AM – 12:30 AM
Spring 2024
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
11:00 AM – 12:30 AM
These virtual sessions are designed to strengthen and connect across the state parent and family engagement liaisons and other related cross-service educators engagement efforts to improve student’s learning and development through home-school-community connections and partnerships.
Contact: Regina Thurmond, rthurmond@ed.sc.gov
Quick Resources & Publications
Parenting Services
