Policy #4130
Section: Community Relations
Purpose
This policy prescribes the development and implementation of a parent and family engagement policy (plan) as part of school improvement and the Title I program.
Scope
This policy applies to the Superintendent, administrators, Title I/Learning Assistance Program (LAP) director, staff, students, parents or guardians and the community.
Policy
- The Valley School District Board of Directors recognizes that parent and family engagement contributes to the achievement of academic standards by students participating in the district’s Title I and other programs. The Board views the education of students as a cooperative effort among schools, parents or guardians and the community.
- To promote parent and family engagement, the district and its Title I school(s) will encourage parents and guardians (“parents”) to:
(a) Play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning.
(b) Be actively involved in their child’s education and related activities at school.
(c) Be full partners in their child’s education and be included, as appropriate, in decision-
making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child.
3. DISTRICT-WIDE PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT
3.1 To ensure a meaningful and cooperative partnership and continuing engagement between families and schools concerning the development and implementation of the district’s Title I programs, the district will:
3.1.1. Involve parents and family members in jointly developing the district’s Title I plan. This involvement will include opportunities for participation in committee meetings, surveys, school-based informational activities and other endeavors promoting meaningful communication and consultation with parents of participating children about the content and effectiveness of the plan.
3.1.2. Provide the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist and build the capacity of all participating schools within the district in the planning and implementing of effective parent and family involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance.
3.1.3. Conduct an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this plan to improve the academic quality of Title I schools, and use the findings to design evidenced-based strategies for more effective parental involvement, and further revise the plan accordingly.
3.1.4. Involve parents of Title I students in decisions about how Title I funds reserved for parent and family engagement are spent.
3.2 To support a partnership among schools, parents and the community to improve academic achievement, the district will:
3.2.1. Provide assistance to parents, as appropriate, in understanding the following topics:
(a) Washington’s academic standards.
(b) State and local academic assessments, including alternate assessments.
(c) Requirements of Title I.
(d) How to monitor their child’s progress.
(e) How to work with educators to improve the achievement of their
children.
3.2.2. 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.
3.2.3. Educate teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, principals and other school leaders, and other staff with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents and how to do the following:
(a) Reach out, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners.
(b) Implement and coordinate parent programs.
(c) Build ties between parents and the school.
3.2.4. Coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement strategies, to the extent feasible and appropriate, with similar strategies used under other programs, such as Head Start, Even Start, Learning Assistance Program, special education and state-operated preschool programs.
3.2.5. Ensure that information related to the school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities, is sent to the parents of participating children. The information will be provided in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.
4. SCHOOL-BASED PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT POLICY (“PLAN”)
4.1 Each school offering Title I services will have a separate parent and family engagement plan, which will be developed with parents and family members of Title I students. Parents and family members will receive notice of their school’s parent and family engagement plan in an understandable and uniform formant and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.
4.2 Each school-based plan will describe how the school will do the following:
4.2.1. Convene an annual meeting at a convenient time, to which all parents of Title I students will be invited and encouraged to attend, to inform parents of their schools’ participation under Title I, to explain the requirements of Title I, and to explain the rights that parents have under Title I.
4.2.2. Offer a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening.
4.2.3. Involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way in the planning, reviewing, and improving of Title I programs.
4.2.4. Provide parents of Title I students the following:
(a) Timely information about Title I programs.
(b) A description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the achievement levels of the challenging state academic standards.
(c) If requested by parents, opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children, and respond to any suggestions as soon as practicably possible.
4.3 Each school-based policy will include a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school 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 state standards. The compact must do the following:
4.3.1. 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 Washington’s challenging academic standards.
4.3.2. Describe the ways in which each parent will be responsible for supporting their children’s learning, volunteering in their child’s classroom, and participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children, including the positive use of extracurricular time.
4.3.3. Address the importance of communication between teachers and parents on an ongoing basis through the following:
(a) Annual parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools, during which the compact will be discussed as the compact relates to the individual child’s achievements.
(b) Frequent reports to parent’s on their children’s progress.
(c) Reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class, and observation of classroom activities.
(d) Ensuring regular two-way, meaningful communication between family members and school staff, and, to the extent practicable, in a language that family members can understand.
Related Procedures
2161P1-Special Education and Related Services for Eligible Students
4130P1-Title I Parental Involvement
Policy Cross References
2004-Accountability Goals
Policy Legal References
20 USC § 6311 State plans (“Every Student Succeeds Act”)
20 USC § 6312 Local educational agency plans
20 USC § 6318 Parent and family engagement
Management Resources
Policy & Legal News, February 2018 – ESSA Unpacked
Policy News, October 2008 – Family Involvement Policy
Policy News, June 2005 – Title I Parental Involvement Policy
Policy News, August 2003 – No Child Left Behind Update
Policy History
Approved by the Board August 18, 2010
Revised October 15, 2014
Revised May 16, 2018
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