Our GOAL
To build family-educator partnerships to support student well-being and achievement.
Visit our parent site at www.MAEC.org
To build family-educator partnerships to support student well-being and achievement.
Join us at the Corner CAFE, an interstate Community of Practice for MD and PA that brings together practitioners dedicated to bolstering Family Engagement practices in our districts, schools, and communities. We will meet monthly over the course of eight months to tackle challenges educators face around family engagement and to promote best practices and resources. Our next session is Fostering Positive, Respectful and Empathetic Relationships on February 13, 2023 at 1:00 pm (ET).
CAFE is the Statewide Family Engagement Center for the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. We help build sustainable infrastructure to support healthy family, student, and community engagement. CAFE serves all educators – from state agencies to school districts to school staff and early care providers – and families by developing resources, co-designing learning opportunities, and fostering dialogue designed to help families connect with local schools and support their children’s development and learning.
CAFE implements a co-constructed approach, working alongside our clients, to ensure the effectiveness of our work. Below are examples of the services we offer:
State Education Agencies
- Develop and implement a seamless birth to 21 family engagement framework.
- Establish an advisory committee in each state.
LEAs, Local school systems, Learning communities, Community-based organizations, Educators
- Create partnerships with families, schools, and communities.
- Facilitate parent academies.
- Convene communities of practice.
Families
- Provide opportunities for leadership development.
- Support for literacy skills development.
- Create resources to promote school readiness and academic achievement.
MAEC and the National Center for Family Learning (NCFL) partner with a school to implement two-generational literacy programs for low-income families, predominantly immigrants and English learners, in Queen Anne's County, MD. This program expands parents' role in their children's education, connects families with free WiFi, and supports positive community relationships.
MAEC and Academic Parent Teacher Teams facilitate strong relationships between families and teachers in Indiana County, PA. Through team and individual meetings, teachers and parents practice activities to improve their students' continuum of learning from school to home, leading to student success in key concepts.
Family engagement needs to be more than a series of random acts. It requires a systemic, integrated, and comprehensive approach to working with families in support of children’s learning.
Susan Shaffer,
President, MAEC
© 2023 Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
