Family Engagement and Digital Equity
June 24, 2021
Speakers:
- David Valade, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
- Dr. Diane Rodriguez, Fordham University
- Francesca Di Silvio, Center for Applied Linguistics
- Dr. Shondel Nero, Center for Applied Linguistics
Description:
Last year, the mantra “meet students & families where they are” was upended at the onset of the pandemic, challenging educators to find new, innovative, or even “old-fashioned” ways of communicating with parents of bilingual students. Challenges to equitable parent-teacher engagement existed prior to COVID-19 –how to best communicate multilingual families? for example–. Despite the digital divide, educators are finding ways to empower families to be involved in their students’ education.
In this 30-minute webinar, CAL’s Francesca Di Silvio and Shondel Nero interview two educators in the field to understand these new challenges, what tools educators and parents are currently using to stay connected, and resources for parents and teachers to use. Our special guests, Dr. Diane Rodriguez of Fordham University and David Valade, M.Ed. of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will share resources with the audience and discuss local and international projects that have shown promising results in enhancing parent engagement through the lens of digital equity. Finally, they will share their thoughts on specific policy recommendations at the local and national level.
