Goals 2006-2011 For 21st Century Learners And Teachers

Parental Involvement Policy for Title I Students

Series 6400 Instruction In accordance with Section 1118 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (“NCLB”), Public Act 107-110, it is the policy of the Sprague Board of Education to provide parents of students participating in the district’s Title I programs substantial and meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children within these programs.  To facilitate parental participation, the Board encourages parents of Title I eligible students to be involved in regular meetings, communications, and activities that will inform them about the district’s Title I programs, to participate in the improvement of such programs and to help improve their child’s progress within these programs. This policy has been developed jointly with, and agreed upon by, parents of children participating in Title I programs.   The district shall distribute this written parental involvement policy to parents of participating students in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.  The policy shall be made available to the public and updated periodically, as necessary to carry out the requirements of parental involvement under Section 1118 of NCLB. The Board shall, with the involvement of Title I parents, conduct an annual evaluation of this policy in order to assess its effectiveness in involving parents in the improvement of the Title I programs and to identify barriers to greater parent participation in Title I program activities. Each year, the Board shall also conduct a meeting, at a convenient time, to involve parents in the planning, review and improvement of programs funded by Title I.  All parents of participating children must be invited and encouraged to attend.  At this meeting, parents shall be given a description and explanation of the Title I programs, the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used, the proficiency levels students are expected to meet and information regarding the importance of parental involvement. In addition to the required annual meeting, and if requested by parents, the Board shall offer opportunities for regular meetings at flexible times of the day in order to allow parents to formulate suggestions for the Board’s Title I programs and their application to their child (ren)’s programs; and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions related to the education of their children.  Parents will be given opportunities to participate in the joint development of the district’s Title I plan, as required by Section 1112 of NCLB, and in the process of any school review and improvement should a school fail to make adequate annual progress as required by Section 1116 of NCLB.  At any time, if a parent is dissatisfied with a school’s Title I program, he/she shall have the opportunity to submit comments for review at the district level. The Board will provide the coordination, technical assistance and other support necessary to assist Title I schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement.  Parental involvement in Title I programs shall be coordinated with parental involvement strategies under other district programs. In order to build the schools’ and parents’ capacity for strong parental involvement, the Board shall:
1.	provide assistance to parents of students participating in Title I programs in understanding topics related to their child’s progress, such as explanation of state academic standards and assessment tools, the requirements under Title I, and how to monitor their child’s progress;
2.	provide materials and training to help parents to work with their children, such as literacy training and using technology;
3.	educate teachers, staff and administrators about how to better communicate and work with parents;
4.	ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings and other activities is sent to participating parents in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand;
5.	provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities as parents may request; and
6.	inform parents and parental organizations of the existence and purpose of parent resource centers within the State.
School-Parent Compact This policy further requires that each school involved in Title I programs shall jointly develop with parents of participating children a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the State’s high standards.  The school-parent compact shall:
1.	describe the school’s responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables Title I students to meet the State’s student academic achievement standards;
2.	indicate the ways in which each parent will be responsible for supporting their child’s learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, and television watching; volunteering in their child’s classroom; and participating, as appropriate, in decisions related their child’s education and positive use of extra-curricular time;
3.	stress the importance of ongoing teacher-parent communication through parent-teacher conferences, frequent reports to parents, reasonable access to school staff, and opportunities to volunteer, participate in and observe their child’s classroom activities.
The Board authorizes the Superintendent, or his/her designee, to develop a school-parent compact and other procedures such as those relating to meetings, parent communication and parental involvement activities, as he/she deems necessary in order to ensure compliance with this policy. Legal Reference:             20 U.S.C. 6318. Parental Involvement             20 U.S.C. 7801 Adopted:   May 2006
Parent-School Compact Parents, students and staff involved in Title I programs within the Sprague School District agree to share responsibility for improving student academic achievement.  In furtherance of this agreement, these parties agree to the following: The Sprague school district shall be responsible for:
	providing high-quality curriculum and instruction in  supportive and effective learning environment that enables students in the [name of school] Title I program to meet state academic achievement standards
	communicating with parents regarding their child’s progress and providing timely information about Title I programs and assessment tools;
	encouraging ongoing communication between teachers and parents;
	educating staff about the importance of parental involvement;
	providing, at minimum, annual parent-teacher conferences during which the school-parent compact will be discussed as it related to the individual child’s achievement;
	providing frequent reports to parents on their child’s progress;
	providing reasonable access to school staff;
	providing opportunities for parents to volunteer, participate in and observe their child’s classroom activities.
Teachers participating in Title I programs shall be responsible for:
	communicating with parents on an ongoing basis;
	participating in parent-teacher conferences, at least annually, during which the school-parent compact will be discussed as it relates to the individual child’s achievement;
	providing frequent reports to parents on their child’s progress;
	providing opportunities for parents to volunteer, participate and observe their child’s classroom activities.
	providing parents with results of evaluation; how they are scored, where they should be at that grade level.
	providing an explanation of the breakdown of the evaluation results.
	providing the parent with suggestions to help the child at home.
Parents shall be responsible for supporting their child’s learning in the following ways:
	monitoring their child’s attendance;
	monitoring their child’s homework completion and television watching
	volunteering in their child’s classroom;
	encouraging positive use of their child’s extracurricular time; and
	participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to their child’s education.