The National Center for Families Learning will present the 2019 Families Learning Conference Nov. 4-6 in Louisville, KY. This year’s Conference will be one for the books, as NCFL celebrates 30 years of empowering families through education solutions.

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We will officially begin our exciting time together Monday morning with Dr. Karen L. Mapp at our Opening Session. For more than 20 years, Dr. Mapp has focused her research and practice on the cultivation of partnerships among families, community members, and educators that support student achievement and school improvement. Her discussion with Conference attendees will cover the Dual Capacity Framework for Family-School Partnerships. Dr. Mapp’s extensive knowledge and research allowed her to push for change in legislative verbiage from ‘parental involvement’ to ‘family engagement’ during her time as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Education in 2013 as the Every Student Succeeds Act was being crafted. Attendees will learn more about how schools and families can work together to ensure student success.

Following her keynote, Dr. Mapp will be signing her latest book, Powerful Partnerships: A Teacher’s Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success. Books may be purchased during the book signing and at Registration during open hours.

On Tuesday, Nov. 5, our general session will feature Dr. Debbie Reese, who is tribally enrolled at Nambe’ Pueblo and the founder and publisher of American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL), an online resource that is widely used in the creation, publication, review, and teaching of children’s and young adult books. Dr. Reese is a longtime advocate for Native representation and has used her position and experience to uplift and educate the American Indian student. She will deliver her keynote titled “Fact and Fiction in Children’s Books about American Indians.” Dr. Reese will discuss the importance of truth in stories about the Native people and their fight for their rights as the original peoples of this land.

Tuesday’s Conference Banquet will be emceed by Co-Anchor of ABC’s Nightline Byron Pitts, who has an extraordinary life story of being illiterate until age 12, but through determination and perseverance, became an award-winning journalist and author. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to hear from our special guest speaker Shigeru Hayakawa, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for Toyota Motor Corporation, who will speak about the impactful 28-year partnership between NCFL and Toyota and present the 2019 Toyota Family Teacher of the Year Awards.

Rounding out the full three days of learning and networking opportunities will be Marcus Shingles, our Closing Brunch speaker on Wednesday. Shingles is an innovative thought leader and social-impact minded executive. His work with disruptive innovation has allowed him to lead multiple Fortune 200 organizations into technological preparedness and success. He has worked with the Los Angeles and Boston public school systems to bring ‘exponential entrepreneurial’ training to high school students, teaching them about robotics, drones, 3D printing, bitcoin, artificial intelligence, and biotech while incorporating current business practices. Shingles will share his experiences and expertise with us, discussing how he has used his knowledge to share with students across the globe.

Join NCFL along with these and hundreds of other presenters and attendees to gain exposure to a network of peers and funders, industry knowledge, and new teaching methods at the 2019 Families Learning Conference in Louisville, KY.

Register today!