Orange County Public Schools

Title I Federal Programs

 

School Parent Involvement Policy

In addition to an Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) parent involvement policy, each Part A participating school must jointly develop with, and distribute to, parents of participating children a written Title I parental involvement policy, agreed upon by these parents, that describes the means for carrying out school-level policy, sharing responsibility for high student performance, building the capacity of school staff and parents for involvement, and increasing accessibility for participation of parents with limited English proficiency or with disabilities. This School Parent Involvement Policy was created by representatives of Title I schools at a Parental Involvement Technical Assistance Meeting in March, 2004.  The Orange County Public Schools Parental Involvement District Advisory Council (PIDAC) decided to conduct a quick review annually, and a detailed review would be conducted biennially.  The School Parent Involvement Policy was distributed to all Title I schools for the purpose of:

                       1.  Obtaining feed back regarding changes, additions, deletions, etc. and,

                       2.  Deciding whether to adopt this policy at their school or create a new one.

 

It is important to understand that the involvement of families in their children's education is not limited solely to attendance at PTA meetings or volunteering at school. What parents do at home with their children is even more important to the total educational effort, and schools need to let parents know that they value both their contributions at school and their participation at home.

 

The law indicates that if a school has a parental involvement policy that applies to all parents, it may amend that policy, if necessary, to meet the Part A parental involvement requirements.

 

I.   POLICY INVOLVEMENT

A school's written policy should describe specifically enough for parents and school system personnel to readily understand how each participating Part A school will do the following:

 

·        Convene an annual meeting to inform parents of their school's participation in Part A,

      to explain Part A's requirements, and their right to be involved. In preparation for this     meeting, efforts should be made to determine the most convenient time for parents of   participating children to attend and to determine the most reliable method for ensuring             that parents receive notice.

·        Offer a flexible number of meetings, such as in the morning or evening, and provide, if necessary, with Part A funds transportation, child care, or home visits as these services relate to parental involvement.

·        Involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of Part A programs, including the school parental involvement policy and the joint development of the school wide program plan, if any. If a school has in place a process for involving parents in the joint planning and design of its general education programs, the school may use that process as long as there is adequate representation of parents of participating children, and it conforms to, and is effective in implementing, the parental involvement requirements of Part A.

 

·        Provide parents of participating children—

a)      timely information about Part A programs;

 

b)      school performance profiles required under section 1116(a)(3), where the LEA must assess annually the progress of each participating school;

 

c)      their child's individual student assessment results, including an interpretation of such results;

 

d)      a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of assessment used to measure student progress and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet;

 

e)      opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions, share experiences with other parents, and participate as appropriate in decisions relating to the education of their children if parents express an interest in doing this; and

 

f)        timely responses to the suggestions made by parents that have been offered in   meetings such as those described in (e) above; and

 

 

 

·        If the school wide program plan is not satisfactory to parents, the school will submit any parent comments on the plan when the school makes the plan available to the LEA.

 

In addition to determining the most convenient time for parents to attend meetings and the most reliable method for ensuring that parents receive notice of them, school staff may want to consider holding some meetings in locations other than schools.

 

II.   SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HIGH STUDENT PERFORMANCE

 

School-Parent Compacts

 

This subsection corresponds to a major theme and new emphasis of the ESEA to link schools, parents, and communities in order to meet the educational needs of the children with whom they are involved. It builds on the belief that school-community links are critical to creating environments where all children can reach high standards. These links are encouraged by the school-parent compact--designed to increase the sharing of responsibility between families and schools for the high performance of students. As a component of the school-level parental involvement policy, all Part A schools are required to develop jointly with the parents of participating children a school-parent compact. If the school-level policy includes a school-parent compact already, the existing compact may be used to meet this requirement as long as it meets the Part A compact provisions explained in subsequent paragraphs, and includes Part A parents.

 

Since Part A serves as the catalyst to strengthen and improve the entire instructional program in school wide program schools, school-parent compacts must be developed with all parents of the students enrolled. In targeted assistance schools, school-parent compacts must be developed jointly with the parents of participating Part A students. Although compacts are a good idea for all families and schools, in targeted assistance schools, they are required only for participating Part A families. (An LEA and school should make it clear to families that obtaining parental signature for such learning compacts is strongly encouraged.)

 

 

What is a school-parent compact?

 

A compact is a written agreement of shared responsibility that—

 

·        Defines the goals and expectations of schools and parents as partners in the effort to improve student achievement.

·        Outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students will work together and build a partnership to help students achieve high academic standards.

·        Translates the policies and goals of parents and schools into "action" statements. (i.e., What will administrators, teachers, and parents do to make policies and goals a reality?)

·        Serves as a catalyst for collaboration and a guide for ongoing, better communication, interactions and exchanges between school staff and parents.

 

Why A Compact?

 

A compact provides the opportunity for developing strong school-family partnerships that will connect families and schools, as well as the broader community, and promote shared responsibility for the high performance of students. These partnerships can—

 

·        improve school programs and the school climate;

·        increase the skills and leadership abilities of parents;

·        ensure the provision of family services and support;

·        sustain long-term improvement in student academic achievement; and

·        help teachers, parents, and schools to be more effective.

 

However, the main reason for a compact and school-family partnership is to help students succeed in meeting the challenging academic standards that all students are expected to master.

 

What a School-Parent Compact Must Include

 

There is no required format or standard way to write a compact. A school-parent compact, however, is required to—

 

1. Describe a school's responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables participating students to meet the State's challenging student performance standards;
2. Describe the ways in which parents will be responsible for supporting their children's learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, volunteering in their children's classroom, participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education          of their children, and encouraging the positive use of extracurricular time; and
3. Address the importance of establishing ongoing, good communication between teachers and parents through, at a minimum

1)      annual parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools to discuss individual student achievement as it relates to provisions of the compact,

2)      frequent progress reports to families on student academic progress, and

3)      reasonable access to staff and opportunities to volunteer, observe, and participate in classroom activities.

                                     

 

 

BUILDING CAPACITY FOR INVOLVEMENT IN

Title I ORANGE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

 

To support partnerships among schools, parents, and communities that will improve student achievement, the parents in Title I are required to collaborate with other parents and school staff for strong parental involvement by—

 

·        providing assistance to participating parents in understanding the National Education Goals, State content and performance standards, State and local assessments, and Title I, Part A requirements; monitoring their children's progress, working with educators to improve the performance of their children; and providing information on how parents can participate in decisions relating to the education of their children.

·        providing materials and training, such as needed literacy training, not otherwise available, and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children's achievement.

·        educating teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and staff, with the assistance of parents, on how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, coordinate and implement parent programs, and build ties between home and school.

·        coordinating and integrating parental involvement programs/activities with Head Start, Even Start, and Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters, Parents as Teachers Program, public preschool programs, and other programs, to the extent feasible and appropriate.

·        developing appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses and encouraging partnerships between elementary, middle, and secondary schools.

·        conducting other activities, as appropriate and feasible, such as parent resource centers and opportunities for parents to learn about child development and child rearing (beginning at the birth of a child), that are designed to help parents become full partners in the education of their children.

·        ensuring, to the extent possible, that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the home of participating children in the language parents can understand.

·        To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school, parents, and the community to improve student achievement, each school and local educational agency may--

·        involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training in improving instruction and services to participating children.

·        provide necessary literacy training if the LEA has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funds.

·        pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with local parental involvement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school meetings and training sessions.

·        train and support parents to enhance the involvement of other parents.

·        maximize opportunities for parents to participate in school-related activities by arranging meetings at a variety of times, such as in the mornings and evenings.

·        arrange for teachers or other educators to conduct in-home conferences with parents who are unable to attend such conferences at school.

·        adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental involvement, such as Even Start.

 

 

To ensure effective parental involvement and to support a school-parent-community partnership, each school and local educational agency shall—

 

·        provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under Part A as parents may request.

 

Strategies for Low-Literacy Families

 

To help parents who would like to read and write better, Title I guidelines suggest working cooperatively with other programs such as Even Start, Head Start, and the school system's adult literacy program.

 

Organizational Hints

 

·        Give parents a chance to practice any major activity in a low-risk setting. Support their efforts to make changes. Some parents may feel more relaxed practicing an activity in a meeting that includes their own child; in other words, explain an activity and then give parents an opportunity to try it out with their child. Others may prefer to practice new activities with a sympathetic adult first, before trying them out with their child at home.

·        Consider meeting a church or community center or public library--wherever parents feel comfortable-rather than at school.