ICHABOD CRANE 1900
PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT
The Board of Education believes that positive parent and family engagement is essential to student achievement, and thus encourages such involvement in school educational planning and operations. Parent and family engagement may take place either in the classroom or during extra-curricular activities. However, the Board also encourages parent and family engagement at home (e.g., planned home reading time, informal learning activities, and/or homework “contracts” between parents, family members and children). The Board directs the Superintendent of Schools to develop a home-school communications program in an effort to encourage all forms of parent and family engagement.
Title I Parent and Family Engagement- District Level Policy
Consistent with the parent and family engagement goals of Title I, Part A of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and its reauthorization in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the Board of Education will develop and implement programs, activities and procedures that encourage and support the participation of parents and family members of students eligible
for Title I services in all aspects of their child’s education. The Board also will ensure that all of its schools receiving Title I, Part A funds develop and implement school level parent and family engagement procedures, as further required by federal law.
For purposes of this policy, parental involvement refers to the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication, involving student academic learning and other school activities.
At a minimum, parent and family engagement programs, activities and procedures at both the district and individual school level must ensure that parents and family members:
∙ Play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;
∙ Are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school; and ∙ Are full partners in their child’s education and are included, as appropriate, in decision making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child.
The federal definition of the term “parents” refers to a natural parent, legal guardian or other person standing in loco parentis (such as a grandparent or stepparent with whom the child lives, or a person who is legally responsible for the child’s welfare).
District and school level Title I parent and family engagement programs, activities and procedures will provide opportunities for the informed participation of parents and family members (including those who have limited English proficiency, parents and family members with disabilities, and parents and family members of migratory children.
As further required by federal law, parents and family members of students eligible for Title I services will be provided an opportunity to participate in the development of the district’s Title I plan, and to submit comments regarding any aspect of the plan that is not satisfactory to them. Their comments will be forwarded with the plan to the State Education Department.
Parents and family members also will participate in the process for developing either a comprehensive or targeted “support and school improvement plan” when the school their child attends is identified by the State as needing this plan.
Parent and family member participation in development of district wide Title I plan
The Board, along with its superintendent of schools and other appropriate district staff will undertake the following actions to ensure parent and family member involvement in the development of the district wide Title I plan:
∙ Create a K-8 Parent and Family Engagement Committee inclusive of Title I parents, to convene at regular intervals, to review, and evaluate the district’s Title I plan; ∙ Share district information outlining the district’s reasons, objectives, and methodology of its Title I program
∙ Provide opportunities for parents to meet with Title I teachers and administration to discuss Title I plans and provide training opportunities for parents of Title I students to work with their children
∙ Convene and annual informational meeting for parents of participating students ∙ Provide all parent notifications and correspondence in the language that is understood by parents
∙ Information will be shared via emails, newsletters, plans published on the district website, in-person meetings and remote meetings when necessary.
Development of school level parent and family engagement approaches
The superintendent of schools will ensure that all district schools receiving federal financial assistance under Title I, Part A are provided coordination, technical assistance and all other support necessary to assist them in planning and implementing effective parent and family engagement programs and activities that improve student achievement and school performance.
As appropriate to meet individual local needs, the superintendent will encourage building level administrators and Title I teachers to provide opportunities for assisting parents on understanding such topics as the state’s academic content and student achievement standards, state and local assessments, Title I requirements, how to monitor their child’s progress and how to work with educators to improve the achievement of their child.
These initiatives will be achieved in the following ways:
∙ Individual building level parent/family information evenings held in conjunction with open houses at each grade level
∙ AIS teacher newsletters, emails, pamphlets to families explaining Title I guidelines and program protocol and regulations
∙ Parent conferences during which progress monitoring information will be shared as well as techniques for parents to help their student(s) at home
∙ Building level handbooks outlining AIS Title I plans
∙ Parent surveys requesting information on family and student needs to better assist the students and families at school and at home
∙ Use of online communication tolls (Remind, Simply Circle, SeeSaw, etc.) to keep the parents informed of what is happening at school and to provide input to their child’s teachers
Building capacity for parental involvement
To build parent capacity for strong parental involvement to improve their child’s academic achievement, the district and its Title I, Part A schools will, at a minimum:
- Assist parents in understanding such topics as the state’s academic content challenging academic standards, state and local academic assessments, Title I requirements, how to monitor their child’s progress and how to work with educators to improve the achievement of their child. To achieve this objective, the district and its Title I schools will:
∙ Provide building level information in the form of newsletter, emails, conferences and workshops to explain and provide assistance to families in understanding topics related to academic content
∙ Provide parents with information about summer reading programs offered by the public libraries
∙ As practicable, offer a summer program for students not meeting specific criteria ∙ As practicable, offer ELA and math information nights to assist parents to better understand the learning standards and the way in which they are assessed.
- Provide materials and training to help parents work to improve their child’s academic achievement such as literacy training and using technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy).
To achieve this objective, the district and its Title I schools will:
∙ Provide contact information for parents to request materials for at home instruction ∙ Provide short workshops for parents to attend that will provide practical strategies for helping their children at home
∙ Post videos on the district website that provide parents with tutorials which will help them navigate the types of technology that their children use at school and/or remotely ∙ Share online resources for students to use at home that promote literacy (district approved literary subscriptions)
- Educate its teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, principals and other school leaders, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in understanding the value and utility of a parent’s contributions and on how to:
∙ reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners; ∙ implement and coordinate parent programs; and
∙ build ties between parents and the schools.
To achieve this objective, the district and its Title I schools will:
∙ Engage in professional development training focusing on making academic content accessible to all students
∙ Engage in professional development centered on meeting the diverse needs of learners and families
∙ Participate in PTA meetings
∙ Establish building level parent/community committees to discuss the needs of each building in regard to parent involvement and the needs of the students
- Ensure that information related to school and parent-related programs, meetings and other activities is sent to the parents of children participating in Title I programs in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats, upon request, and to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.
Review of district wide parent and family engagement policy
The Board, along with its superintendent of schools and other appropriate staff will conduct, with the meaningful involvement of parents and family members, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parent and family engagement policy in improving the academic quality of Title I schools, including the identification of barriers to greater participation by parents in activities under this policy, and the revision of parent and family engagement policies necessary for more effective involvement.
To facilitate this review, the district will conduct the following activities:
∙ The district will hold an annual policy review meeting with the Parent and Family Engagement Committee, the dates of which will be published on the school calendar on the district website, during which the LEA Parent Involvement Policy (Form A) checklist will be discussed. If any required sections are missing, the policy will be revised. Parents of the Title I students will be welcome to attend and translators will be provided if necessary. (see attached Form A)
Cross-ref: 4010, Equivalence in Instruction
Ref: 20 USC §§6318(a)(2); 7801(38), Every Student Succeeds Act (§1116 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act)
U.S. Department of Education, Parental Involvement, Title I, Part A, Non-Regulatory Guidance, April 23, 2004
Effective Date: November 3, 2020