For nearly 15 years, the Parent Organization Network (PON) has worked on issues related to family and community engagement as one constructive approach to improve academic outcomes and support quality education. This work has included efforts to improve the initial training of new teachers to ensure that they are well-prepared to teach the students because of the tremendous influence teachers have on student achievement.

NAFSCE is well-known for advancing high-impact policies and practices for family, school, and community engagement to promote child development and improve student achievement. NAFSCE is re-framing the conversation around family engagement at the national level and is hosting a consortium that will help prepare teachers to be more effective.*

In December, NAFSCE announced that San Diego State University is one of six teams from different states to be part of this consortium. Each team is represented by two members and Ms. Simeón joins Dr. Shulamit Ritblatt, Director of the Center for Family, School and Community Engagement in the College of Education, on the team that will represent the state of California in the consortium. They will combine forces and add their voices and ideas on how to make the teachers of tomorrow the best they can be when entrusted with our most valuable human asset, our children.

The six state teams will study and develop a pre-service framework for culturally responsive family engagement that will include recommendations for coursework, mentoring and supervision, and field experiences. The completed framework is intended for implementation and subsequent evaluation within the teacher/administrator credential programs of colleges of education.

The first meeting of the consortium is scheduled for the end of January 2020 in Arlington, VA.