Florence, SC

2020 Virtual Summer Institute Series

For many years, the Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of Poverty (COE) at Francis Marion University conducted a popular Summer Institute to help educators in South Carolina to understand the effects of poverty on students and families, create curriculum to improve teaching classes for these students, and strengthen programs of family and community engagement to include and welcome families with low incomes.  When COVID-19 closed schools, limited travel, and prohibited large group meetings, COE turned its Summer Institute into a large virtual conference for educators in South Carolina and beyond.

COE leaders organized, scheduled, and recorded 17   keynote speakers from prior years’ Summer Institutes who updated their presentations about teaching students and engaging families with low incomes. Speakers discussed how to turn high-poverty schools into high-performing schools; increase student leadership for student learning; reopen schools after COVID; improve programs of school, family, and community partnerships; and other topics. The series was offered for two weeks at no cost to attendees, and extended by COE for a small registration fee throughout the summer.

Over 3000 educators (administrators, teachers, media specialists, guidance counselors, and others from all school levels) from South Carolina, other states, and other countries attended the Virtual Summit. Attendees evaluated each presentation on an e-mail survey or chat box review.  They reported that they gained many research-based strategies to improve their teaching and their outreach to engage parents who often were hard-to-reach.

COE learned important and surprising lessons in conducting a large Virtual Institute.  It may be that an online conference is the best way to share new ideas and new knowledge with more educators across the state and nation.

See more about 2020 Virtual Summer Institute Series in Promising Partnership Practices 2020.