Descriptor Term:
PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION TITLE I PROGRAMS Descriptor:
LAA Issued:
06/22/2010
BOARD POLICY
1. The Tupelo Public School District will work with parents of Title I students to ensure that the District’s goals relative to parental involvement in Title I programs and activities are developed and made available to all interested parties. The goals are as follows:
1.1. To involve parents in the joint development of a parental involvement plan.
1.2. To involve parents in the process of school review and improvement.
1.3. To provide the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist participating schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement.
1.4. To build the capacity for strong parental involvement in the school and parents.
1.5. To coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies with other agencies.
1.6. To conduct an annual evaluation of the effectiveness of the parental involvement policy.
1.7. To use the results of the annual evaluation to design strategies for school improvement, and if necessary, for revising the policies.
1.8. To help parents to understand the National Education Goals, state content and performance standards, state and local assessments, Title I requirements, how to monitor progress while participating in their children’s education, and how to work with educators toward children’s improved performance.
1.9. To provide materials and facilities to train parents, teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and staff to work with each other and work with parents as equal partners.
1.10. To educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and staff with assistance from parents on how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners.
1.11. To develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses and to encourage partnerships between elementary, middle, and secondary schools.
1.12. To conduct other activities, as appropriate and feasible, such as parent resource centers and opportunities for parents to learn about child development and rearing from birth of child, designed to help parents become full partners in the education of their children.
1.13. To ensure, to the extent possible, that information sent home is in an understandable language and form for parents.
1.14. To provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities as parents may request.
2. The District shall implement the following statutory requirements:
• Put into operation programs, activities, and procedures for the involvement of parents with Title I, Part A programs, consistent with section 1118 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Those programs, activities, and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.
• Consistent with section 1118, work to ensure that the required parental involvement policies meet the requirements of section 1118(b) of the ESEA and that each includes, as a component, a school-parent-student compact consistent with section 1118(b) of the ESEA.
3. The plan developed will follow guidelines under section 1112 of the ESEA.
• In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the District will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, to include providing information and school reports required under section 1111 of the ESEA in an understandable and uniform format and, including alternative formats upon request, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.
• If the District plan for Title I, Part A, developed under section 1112 of the ESEA, is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the District will submit any parent comments with the plan when the District submits the plan to the State Department of Education.
• The District will involve the parents of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the 1 percent of Title I, Part A funds reserved for parental involvement is spent, and will ensure that not less than 95 percent of the one percent reserved goes directly to the schools required for Title I Part A funds of $500,000 or greater.
• The District will be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement, and expects that its Title I schools will carry out programs, activities, and procedures in accordance with this definition:
“Parental involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring—
(A) that parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;
(B) that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;
(C) that parents 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;
(D) the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 11118 of the ESEA.”
This Parental Involvement Policy has been reviewed and developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs.
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE
1. The District will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its parental involvement plan under section 1112 of the ESEA:
• Annual Parent Title I Meetings to inform parents of their participation in Title I, The Title I involvement requirements and their rights to be involved
• Need for the School-Parent-Student Compact
• Provide all parents with copy of parent involvement policy each year
• Include survey with policy to obtain feedback from parents
• Meet with School Advisory team (SAT) to discuss survey results
• Hold parent meeting to discuss and implement any policy changes
2. The District will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of development of the Schoolwide/Targeted Assistance Program Plan under Section 1114:
• Assist Title I schools in meeting with School Advisory Teams to review draft of Schoolwide/Targeted Assistance Program Plan.
• Hold meeting of District Parent Committee to solicit comments and recommendations regarding District Parental Involvement Policy and Schoolwide/Targeted Assistance Program Plans.
• Complete review process annually with District Parent Committee
3. The District will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance:
• Work with existing School Advisory Teams (SAT);
• Hold a meeting each semester of District Parent Committee, with the following District representation: Federal Program Director, Special Education Coordinator, two (2) Building Administrators, two (2) Counselors, and two parents from each of the four (4) title I schools to ensure district is providing necessary learning tools and educational programs in accordance with guidelines of Title I Part A and “No Child Left Behind” legislation.
• Through input from SATs and school/district administrators, determine professional development needs and training to provide most effective teaching strategies to increase student achievement. Discussion to include local assessment data and results.
• Hold parent meetings and parent conferences at different times during the day.
• Through District Parent Committee format, plan needed topics/training during Parent Involvement sessions/seminars
4. The District, to the extent feasible, will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the following other programs: Head Start, private and faith-based pre-school programs.
• Invite program members to participate in parent night meetings held during the school year.
• Invite program members to participate in professional development activities.
• Organize and participate in joint transition-related training of school staff, Head Start staff and other early childhood development programs.
5. The District will take the following actions to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parental involvement policy in improving the quality of its Title I, Part A schools. The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in parental involvement activities (with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background). The District will use the findings of the evaluation about its parental involvement policy and activities to design strategies for more effective parental involvement and to revise, if necessary (and with the involvement of parents), its parental involvement policies:
• The District Planning Committee, working with existing School Advisory Teams, will ensure the District is providing the necessary learning tools and educational programs in accordance with guidelines of Title I Part A and “No Child Left Behind.”
• The Curriculum Development Team will facilitate the alignment of current curriculum with developed Title I programs. The catalyst for integration will be innovative technology to assist the needs of all students;
• Title I programs/services will be evaluated initially by the School Advisory Team (SAT) on meeting the needs of all students with concentrations in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics.
• Program/policy evaluation findings will be shared with parents via meetings, surveys, and other means of communication, including the District website, to work collectively to update and improve policies as needed.
• This policy will be reviewed annually, at a minimum, by the School Advisory Team and the District Parent Committee.
6. The District will build the schools’ and parents’ capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, through the following activities specifically described below:
6.1 The District will, with the assistance of its Title I, Part A schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the District or school, as appropriate in understanding topics such as the following, by undertaking the actions described in this paragraph:
• Provide assistance to Title I parents as appropriate in understanding standards, state, and local assessments, the requirements of Part A, monitoring a child’s programs and working with educators by conducting workshops at local school, enlistment of the Family Resource Center services/programs;
• Inform parents of the Mississippi Department of Education website and District website with its “Parent Resources” link to provide them information specific to academic standards, assessments, “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB), and Title I Part A.
• Parent meetings to discuss academic standards, types of assessments, NCLB, Title I, after-school and extended-school year tutoring programs.
• Parent meetings and training seminars/workshops held at different times during the day to accommodate parents’ needs.
6.2 The District will provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s academic achievement, such as literacy training, and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement:
• Provide basic computer literacy classes to parents;
• Annually provide a Parent Information Packet that informs them that will help them become educational partners with their child’s school;
• Provide parent involvement brochures/pamphlets to include, but not limited to topics, such as helping with homework, becoming reading buddies, parents as the first and most important teacher, involvement activities/strategies, etc.
• Provide extended day and extended year when funding is available
6.3 The District will, with the assistance of its schools and parents, educate its teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff, in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and schools, by:
• Conducting annual parent Title I meetings to inform parents of their participation in Title I, the Title I involvement requirements, and their rights to be involved;
• Hold additional meetings devoted specifically to addressing an understanding of academic standards, assessment, enrichment and remediation for parents to support their children
• Communicating to parents updates and changes to federal and state policies, assessments, and mandates of NCLB.
• Jointly with parents, reviewing school-parent-student compacts outlining how parents, the entire school staff and students share in the responsibility for improved student achievement.
6.4 The District will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with Head Start and daycare programs that encourage and support parents to more fully participate in the education of their children by:
• Inviting program members to participate in parent night meetings held during the school year.
• Inviting program members to participate in professional development activities;
• Organizing and participating in joint transition-related training of school staff, Head Start staff and other early childhood development programs;
• Conducting meetings involving parents and programs participants to discuss development and assessment needs of individual children.
6.5. The District will take the following actions to ensure that information related to the school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents of participating children in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand:
• Mailings
• Random Phone call reminders
• Emails
• Postings on District website
• Newsletters
TUPELO BOARD OF TRUSTEES
