Ohio's educational landscape is set to receive a boost with the upcoming Ohio Family Engagement Leadership Summit. Scheduled for Sept. 18-19, this virtual gathering will unite families and educators to focus on student engagement strategies. The event comes courtesy of the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center at The Ohio State University and features a variety of panels and keynotes designed to strengthen the partnership between schools, families, and communities.
According to a release from Ohio State News, the summit promises a panel of parents sharing their journey into leadership roles within their children's educational institutions and another focused on cross-collaboration to aid students in career planning. Barbara Boone, director of the center, underscored the summit's commitment to learning how both families and schools can work in tandem for the betterment of the learning process.
One interesting addition to this year's agenda includes exploring the role of generative artificial intelligence in education. Jasmine Hood Miller of Common Sense Media will deliver a keynote on this emerging technology and its implications for the learning sphere. "A big global conversation that’s going on with AI is does it help learning? Does it hinder learning?" Boone told Ohio State News while discussing the relevance of the topic.
Improving student attendance is yet another critical subject at the summit, with a panel moderated by Susan Bodary of the Stay in the Game! Attendance Network. Leaders from Ohio school districts will share practical ideas on engaging families to support attendance. This builds on collaborations with organizations such as the Cleveland Browns Foundation and Harvard’s Proving Ground program.
Additionally, attendees will hear from Rebecca Winthrop, Brookings Institution’s Director of the Center for Universal Education, on student engagement. Her keynote will draw on themes from her book, "The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better." "In that book, she recognizes the research around what families do at home that supports their child’s engagement and learning," Boone explained in her statement to Ohio State News.
For those interested in participating in the summit and delving deeper into these topics, registration is available on the event's website. Tracy Hill of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, whose participation has previously borne fruit in terms of tailored engagement strategies, emphasized the unique contributions of every family. She told Ohio State News, "You can … look at the ways that you communicate with families – thinking about families who might not be proficient on the computer or families who don’t speak English as their first language."
