Policy 6020 - Parent Involvement

Parent Involvement

1. Support for schools and nonprofit organizations in providing professional development for district and school staff regarding parent/guardian and family engagement strategies, which may be provided jointly to teachers, principals, other school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, paraprofessionals, early childhood educators, and parents/guardians and family members
    
2. Support for programs that reach parents/guardians and family members at home, in the community, and at school
    
3. Dissemination of information on best practices focused on parent/guardian and family engagement, especially best practices for increasing the engagement of economically disadvantaged parents/guardians and family members
    
4. Collaboration, or the provision of subgrants to schools to enable collaboration, with community-based or other organizations or employers with a record of success in improving and increasing parent/guardian and family engagement
    
5. Any other activities and strategies that the district determines are appropriate and consistent with this policy

Rule 6020

District Strategies for Title I Schools

To ensure that parents/guardians of students participating in Title I programs are provided with opportunities to be involved in their children’s education, the Superintendent or designee shall:

1) Involve parents/guardians of participating students in the joint development of the Title I local educational agency (LEA) plan pursuant to 20 USC 6312 and the process of school review and improvement pursuant to 20 USC 6316.

• Establish a district-level committee including parent/guardian representatives from each school site to review and comment on the LEA plan in accordance with the review schedule established by the Governing Board.
• Invite input on the LEA plan from other district committees and school site councils.
• Communicate with parents/guardians through the district newsletter, web site, or other methods regarding the LEA plan and the opportunity to provide input.
• Ensure that there is an opportunity at a public Board meeting for public comment on the LEA plan prior to the Board’s approval of the plan or revisions of the plan.
• Ensure that school-level policies on parent involvement address the role of school site councils and other parents/guardians as appropriate in the development and review of school plans.

2) Provide coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist Title I schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement policies to improve student academic achievement and school performance.

• Assign person(s) in the district office to serve as a liaison to the schools regarding Title I parent involvement issues.
• Provide training for the principal or designee of each participating school regarding Title I requirements for parent involvement, leadership strategies, and communication skills to assist him/her in facilitating the planning and implementation of parent involvement activities.
• Provide information to schools about the indicators and assessment tools that will be used to monitor progress.

3) Build the capacity of schools and parents/guardians for strong parent involvement.

• Assist parents/guardians in understanding such topics as the state’s academic content standards and academic achievement standards, state and local academic assessments, the requirements of Title I, and how to monitor a children’s progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children;
• Provide materials and training to help parents/guardians work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parent involvement;
• Educate teachers, student services personnel, principals, and other staff, with the assistance of parents/guardians, in the value and utility of parent/guardian contributions and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents/guardians as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent/guardian programs, and build ties between parents/guardians and the schools;
• To the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parent involvement programs and activities with Head Start, First 5 San Joaquin, Parents and Teachers Program, public preschool, and other programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents/guardians in more fully participating in their children’s education;
• Ensure that information related to school and parent/guardian programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents/guardians of participating students in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents/ guardians can understand;
• Provide other such reasonable support for parent involvement activities as parents/guardians may request;
• Inform parents/guardians and parent organizations of the existence and purpose of parent information and resource centers in the state that provide training, information, and support to parents/guardians of participating students.

School-Level Policies for Title I Schools

At each school receiving Title I funds, a written policy on parent involvement shall be developed jointly with and agreed upon by parents/guardians of participating students. Such policy shall describe the means by which the school will:

1. Convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to which all parents/guardians of participating students shall be invited and encouraged to attend, in order to inform parents/guardians of their schools’ participation in Title I and to explain Title I requirements and the right of parents/guardians to be involved;
    
2. Offer a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening, for which related transportation, child care, and/or home visits may be provided as such services relate to parent involvement;
    
3. Involve parents/guardians in an organized, ongoing, and timely way in the planning, review, and improvement of Title I programs, including the planning, review, and improvement of the school’s parent involvement policy and, if applicable, the joint development of the plan for schoolwide programs pursuant to 20 USC 6314. The school may use an existing process for involving parents/guardians in the joint planning and design of the school’s programs provided that the process includes adequate representation of parents/guardians of participating students.
    
4. Provide the parents/guardians of participating students all of the following:
   1. Timely information about Title I programs;
   2. A description and explanation of the school’s curriculum, forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet;
   3. If requested by parents/guardians, opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions related to their children’s education, and, as soon as practicably possible, responses to the suggestions of parents/guardians.
       
5. If the school-wide program plan is not satisfactory to the parents/guardians of participating students, submit any parent/guardian comments when the school makes the plan available to the district.
    
6. Jointly develop with the parents/guardians of participating students a school-parent compact that outlines how parents/guardians, the entire school staff, and students will share responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents/guardians will build a partnership to help students achieve state standards.
   
   This compact shall address:
   1. The school’s responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables participating students to achieve the state’s student academic achievement standards;
   2. Ways in which parents/guardians will be responsible for supporting their children’s learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, and television viewing; volunteering in the classroom; and participating, as appropriate, in decisions related to their children’s education and the positive use of extracurricular time;
   3. The importance of communication between teachers and parents/guardians on an ongoing basis through, at a minimum:
      1. Parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools, at least annually, during which the compact shall be discussed as it relates to the student’s achievement;
      2. Frequent reports to parents/guardians on their children’s progress;
      3. Reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s classroom, and observation of classroom activities.
          
7. Build the capacity of the school and parents/guardians for strong parent involvement by implementing the activities described in items #3a-f in the section “District Strategies for Title I Schools” above
    
8. To the extent practicable, provide full opportunities for the participation of parents/ guardians with limited English proficiency, parents/guardians with disabilities, and parents/guardians of migrant children, including providing information and school reports required under 20 USC 6311(h) in a format and language such parents/guardians can understand.

If the school has a parent involvement policy that applies to all parents/guardians, it may amend that policy to meet the above requirements.

Each school’s parent involvement policy shall be made available to the local community and distributed to parents/guardians of participating students in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language the parents/guardians can understand.

Each school receiving Title I funds shall annually evaluate the effectiveness of its parent involvement policy. Such evaluation may be conducted during the process of reviewing the school’s single plan for student achievement in accordance with Education Code 64001.

The principal or designee, jointly with parents/guardians of participating students, shall periodically update the school’s policy to meet the changing needs of parents/guardians and the school.

District Strategies for Non-Title I Schools

For each school that does not receive federal Title I funds, the Superintendent or designee shall, at a minimum:

1. Engage parents/guardians positively in their children’s education by helping them develop skills to use at home that support their children’s academic efforts at school and their children’s development as responsible members of society The Superintendent or designee may:
   1. Provide or make referrals to literacy training and/or parent education programs designed to improve the skills of parents/guardians and enhance their ability to support their children’s education;
   2. Provide information, in parent handbooks and through other appropriate means, regarding academic expectations and resources to assist with the subject matter;
   3. Provide parents/guardians with information about students’ class assignments and homework assignments.
2. Inform parents/guardians that they can directly affect the success of their children’s learning, by providing them with techniques and strategies that they may use to improve their children’s academic success and to assist their children in learning at home The Superintendent or designee may:
   1. Provide parents/guardians with information regarding ways to create an effective study environment at home and to encourage good study habits;
   2. Encourage parents/guardians to monitor their children’s school attendance, homework completion, and television viewing;
   3. Encourage parents/guardians to volunteer in their children’s classroom and to participate in school advisory committees.
3. Build consistent and effective communication between the home and school so that parents/guardians may know when and how to assist their children in support of classroom learning activities The Superintendent or designee may:
   1. Ensure that teachers provide frequent reports to parents/guardians on their children’s progress and hold parent-teacher conferences at least once per year with parents/guardians of elementary school students;
   2. Provide opportunities for parents/guardians to observe classroom activities and to volunteer in their child’s classroom;
   3. c. Provide information about parent involvement opportunities through district, school, and/or class newsletters, the district’s web site, and other written or electronic communications;
   4. To the extent practicable, provide notices and information to parents/guardians in a format and language they can understand;
   5. Develop mechanisms to encourage parent/guardian input on district and school issues;
   6. Identify barriers to parent/guardian participation in school activities, including parents/guardians who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background;
   7. g. Encourage greater parent/guardian participation by adjusting meeting schedules to accommodate parent/guardian needs and, to the extent practicable, by providing translation or interpreter services, transportation, and/or child care.
4. Train teachers and administrators to communicate effectively with parents/ guardians The Superintendent or designee may:
   1. Provide staff development to assist staff in strengthening two-way communications with parents/guardians, including parents/guardians who have limited English proficiency or limited literacy.
5. Integrate parent involvement programs into school plans for academic accountability The Superintendent or designee may:
   1. Include parent involvement strategies in school reform or school improvement initiatives;
   2. Involve parents/guardians in school planning processes.