Title I » District Title 1 Parent and Family Engagement Policy

District Title 1 Parent and Family Engagement Policy


Book

Policy Manual

Section

100 Programs

Title

Parent and Family Engagement Policy (Title I)

Code

130

Status

Active

Adopted

September 18, 2006

Last Revised

February 15, 2021

Last Reviewed

December 4, 2023

Prior Revised Dates

1/16/2007




Purpose

 

The Norwin School District agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:

  • The school district will put into operation programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents in all of its schools 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, the school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level parent and family engagement policies meet the requirements of section 1118(b) of the ESEA, and each include, as a component, a school-parent component consistent with section 1118(d) of the ESEA.
     
  • The school district will incorporate this district wide parent and family engagement policy into its LEA plan developed under section 1112 of the ESEA.
     
  • In carrying out the Title 1, Part A parent and family engagement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school district and its schools will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports required under section 1111 of the ESEA in an understandable and uniform format and, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.
     
  • If the LEA plan for Title I, Part A, developed under section 1112 of the ESEA, is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submits the plan to the State Department of Education.
     
  • The school district will involve the parents of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the Title I, Part A funds reserved for parent and family engagement is spent.
     
  • The school district will be governed by the following statutory definition of parent and family engagement, and expects that its Title I schools will carry out programs, activities and procedures in accordance with this definition:

    Parent and family engagement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring that the opportunity is provided for the following.
     
    1. that parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;
    2. that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;
    3. that parents are full partners in their child’s education and are included, as appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory committees to in the education of their child;
    4. the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 1118 of the ESEA.
       
  • The School District will inform Title I parents of the purpose and existence of the Parental Information and Resource Center.

Implementation

  1. The Norwin School District will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its district wide parent and family engagement plan under section 1112 of the ESEA through providing opportunities for input at parent meetings and through written communication.
     
  2. The Norwin School District will involve parents in the process of school review and improvement by publishing state assessment results in District publications and conducting an annual LEA Review in conjunction with the Parent Advisory Councils at the school level in Title 1 buildings.
     
  3. The Norwin School District will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parent and family engagement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance by offering parents the following opportunities: e.g. meetings, and workshops. Teachers are encouraged to provide parents with individual achievement information and specific ways to improve student achievement. Some examples include: parent conferences, email, and written communication.
     
  4. The Norwin School District will coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement strategies in Part A with Head Start through the Pre-School Transition Team.
     
  5. The Norwin School District will conduct an annual Parent Survey to evaluate the content and effectiveness of this parent and family engagement policy in improving the quality of its Title I, Part A schools. The Title I Coordinator will distribute to students or email the surveys to Title I parents to complete on paper or online and return to the Title I Office. The results of the survey will be summarized for each school and presented to parents. At this time, parents will also have the opportunity to provide input concerning the need for revisions to the policy if necessary.
     
  6. The Norwin School District will build the schools’ and parent’s capacity for strong parent and family engagement, 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:
     
    1. The School District will, with the assistance of its Title I, Part A schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the School District or school, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following, by undertaking the actions described.
       
      • The State’s academic content standards, student academic achievement standards, and the PSSA will be described to parents annually and also during Parent Advisory Council meetings.
      • The local Benchmark Reading assessments will be described to parents at the Title I District-wide meeting, parent conferences and the LEA Review.
      • The requirements of Title I Part A will be described to parents and the community at the Title I District-wide meeting.
      • Parents will be provided with information concerning monitoring their child’s progress through parent conferences, parent meetings and Title I progress reports.
      • Parents will be provided with information concerning how to work with educators through parent conference preparation forms and with informal conversations with parents.
         
    2. The school district will, with the assistance of its schools, 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 by:
      • Materials (e.g. books, packets of practice materials, book marks with reading/writing strategies, lists of appropriate websites, etc.) will be sent home by teachers.
      • Title I parents are able to borrow materials from the Title I parent resource library.
      • Teachers train parents on literacy strategies at school Parent Advisory Council meetings.
         
    3. The school district will educate its teachers, principals and other staff, in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents by including this topic in discussion with appropriate staff in professional development and staff meetings.
       
    4. The School District will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with Head Start, and other preschool programs by involvement in the Transition Team.
       
    5. The School 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:
      • Phone calls.
      • Teachers use special home-school communication folders (e.g. Special Delivery envelopes, Take Home Folders, Take Home Tuesday)
      • District website.
      • District email.

Adoption

 

The District-wide Parent and Family Engagement Policy has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs, as evidenced by the Superintendent of Schools. This policy will be in effect until required changes in Section 1118 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act are in effect.

 

The District will distribute this policy to all parents of participating Title I, Part A children at the beginning of each school year.


School-Parent and Family Compact

 

Each school in the district receiving Title I funds shall jointly develop with parents and family members a School-Parent and Family Compact outlining the manner in which parents and family members, the entire school staff and students will share responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents and family members will build and develop partnerships to help children achieve the state’s academic standards. The compact shall:

 

  1. Describe the school's responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment, enabling students in Title I programs to meet the academic standards.
     
  2. Describe the ways in which parents and family members will be responsible for supporting their child's learning; volunteering in the classroom; and participating, as appropriate, in decisions related to their child's education and positive use of extracurricular time.
     
  3. Address the importance of ongoing two-way, meaningful communication between parents/family members and teachers through, at a minimum, annual parent-teacher conferences at the elementary level, frequent reports to parents and family members on their child's progress, reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child's class, and observation of classroom activities.

Legal

Policy 916 - Volunteers

20 U.S.C. 6318

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