The Maryland State Department of Education today announced over 2,000 parents, superintendents, teachers, providers, program coordinators, administrators, and other representatives from family-serving organizations joined the conversation virtually to discuss “Birth-12 Equitable Family, School, Community Engagement” during the annual Family Engagement Summit. The 2020 Maryland Family Engagement Summit Webinar Series included five engaging virtual events on the second Thursday of every month until December 2020.

Each webinar featured national and local experts who shared research-based strategies designed to meet the educational needs of diverse student populations, their families and communities. This year’s theme, “Small Changes for Big Results: Understanding Equity and Implicit Bias when Engaging Families,” highlighted the need for educators to be more sensitive, knowledgeable and responsive to families’ cultural, ethnic and socioeconomic diversity. Last year, registration for the annual Family Engagement Summit closed in 20 minutes.

“Every year, the Summit is very popular among families, educators, and administrators who recognize the importance of family engagement and seek a supportive atmosphere where they can exchange ideas,” said Ready At Five Executive Director Keri Hyde and Carroll County Public Library Director for Community Engagement Dorothy Stoltz, Co-chairs for the Maryland Family Engagement Coalition. “This year, we are pleased to offer this forum virtually to discuss strategies and find solutions to address equity in education.”

In its fifth year, the annual Family Engagement Summit offered innovative approaches to meeting the needs of parents and families while providing resources that support implementation strategies for early care and education providers. The 2020 Maryland Family Engagement Summit Webinar Series was a collaboration between the Maryland State Department of Education, the Maryland Family Engagement Coalition and MAEC.

• Watch the December 10 webinar: Dr. Aaliyah Samuel’s, the Executive Vice President for Government Affairs & Partnerships at NWEA, presentation on equity.
• Watch the November 12 webinar: Dr. Lieny Jeon’s, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Education’s Department of Advanced Studies in Education, presentation on teacher well-being.
• Watch the September 10 webinar: Dr. Howard Stevenson’s, the Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education, Professor of Africana Studies, in the Human Development and Quantitative Methods Division of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, presentation on Mental Health and Trauma.
• Watch the August 13 kick-off webinar: keynote Dr. Walter Gilliam’s, the Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology at the Yale University Child Study Center and Director of The Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy, presentation on Small Changes for Big Results: Understanding Equity and Implicit Bias when Engaging Families.