Linking Family Engagement to Your Parent Involvement Policy & School –Parent Compact

1. Linking Family Engagement to Your Parent Involvement Policy & School –Parent Compact Title I September Coordinators’ Meeting PIP and School-Parent Compact Presenters: Violeta Ruiz, Parent Educator Coach Compiled by Violeta Ruiz

2. Objectives • Title I Coordinators will: • Be aware of the major deadlines in the fall semester • Know the Parent Educator Coach assigned to their school • Understand the link between creating a welcoming environment to facilitating the revision of the Parent Involvement Policy and Parent-School Compact. • Be provided with a tool that will facilitate the revision of the school-parent compact wit the active participation of all stakeholders.

3. Overview • Information Sheets • 5 Goals for Parent Engagement • Welcoming Environment • Parent Involvement Policy • School-Parent Compact • Next Steps

4. Information Sheets • ISIC Parent Educator Coach Assignments • Important Fall 2013 Dates • Parent Involvement Policy • School PIP Template • School-Parent Compact Handbook • School-Parent Compact Checklist • School-Parent Compact Template • Welcoming School Environment Handouts

5. Strategies to Increase Parental Involvement

6. PARKING LOT! • Write down the questions you may have during the presentation and post in the parking lot. • Make sure to include your name, school name, and email address so we can email you an answer.

7. 5 School Goals for Parent Engagement • Provide a welcoming environment for families ad invite them to participate as equal partner in the education of their children. • Provide parents opportunities to acquire necessary information, knowledge, and skills to support their children’s education at home and at school. • Engage parents in the school’s volunteer programso they can participate in supporting school-wide, classroom, and parent involvement activities. • Respond to parent concerns and/or complaintsto ensure child’s educational needs are met. • Comply with all LAUSD, State, and Federal requirements regarding parent involvement.

8. Goal #1:Welcoming Environment • Provide a welcoming environment for families and invite them to participate as equal partners in their children’s education

9. Objectives • Identify the benefits and components of a welcoming environment • Learn how to assess a school’s environment and develop a plan

10. Benefits of a Welcoming Environment • It creates a positive, student-centered school climate. • Parents become stronger partners and are involved both at the school and helping their children at home. • Parents and community have a sense of belonging and become loyal members of the school community. • Trusting relationships among staff and families lead to improved student outcomes.

11. Key Components of a Welcoming Environment • Physical Environment • Welcoming School Staff • Communication • School-Wide Practices

12. Welcoming Environment Walkthrough • The Walkthrough is a tour that a team of staff and/or parents and community takes to assess the key components of a welcoming environment at the school. • A checklist is used by each team member to record their findings to provide input for recommendations on enhancing the school’s environment.

13. Walkthrough Process • Conduct Welcoming Environment Training • Create Welcoming Environment Team • Conduct Welcoming Environment Walkthrough • Each team member completes the Welcoming Environment Checklist • Team debriefs and collaborates to complete the Welcoming Environment Recommendation Form • School develops and implements Welcoming Environment Plan • Reevaluate school’s Welcoming Environment at the beginning of each semester

14. Welcoming Environment: Parent Involvement Policy

15. Title 1: Parent Involvement Policy District Level Title 1 Policy School Level Title 1 Policy (mem. 5838) Building Capacity Home-School Compact Accessibility Parent Involvement

16. 2013-2014 LAUSD Goals • 100% Graduation • Proficiency for all • 100% Attendance • Parent and Community Engagement • School Safety

17. PCSB Goals • Welcoming Environment • Support of Instruction at Home • Volunteers • Respond to Complaints • Comply with District, State, and Federal Parent Involvement

18. Research The involvement of parents in their children’s education is more predictive of students’ school success than the families’ socioeconomic status, race, or cultural background. W.H. Jeynes (2005), “A Meta-Analysis of the Relation of Parental Involvement to Urban Elementary School Student Achievement.”

19. Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

20. Regardless of family income, education, or cultural background, children whose parents are involved in their education are more likely to… higher grades, test scores & graduation rates, better school attendance, increased motivation, higher self esteem suspensions, drugs, alcohol, violent behavior

21. Increasing academically focused family and community engagement. • Developing and implementing a family and community engagement plan which provides information and data on a formal and frequent basis to all district stakeholders and community collaborators. 2013-2014 LAUSD Goal #4- Provide ongoing mechanisms for family and community engagement:

22. How Can Schools Engage Families? Five Focus Areas: • Create a welcoming environment • Provide parents opportunities to learn and support instruction at home • Implement a volunteer program • Respond to parents’ concerns • Comply with federal, state, and district requirements

23. Title I SWP andParent Involvement 23

24. What is Parent Involvement? NCLB Definition: “The term parent involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities.” Federal and State Education Programs Branch 24

25. District Title I Parent Involvement Policy LAUSD adopted a district-wide Title I Parent Involvement Policy for parents on December 11, 2012. This policy is annually distributed to parents and is required for Title I schools. The policy describes how the District will: - Involve parents in the LEA Plan - Provide coordination and technical assistance to schools for parent involvement - Build parent & school capacity - Annually evaluate the policy - Involve parents in Title I school activities The District’s annual Parent Student Handbook also provides parents with information on parental involvement and NCLB mandates. Federal and State Education Programs Branch 25

26. District Parent Involvement Policy 26

27. School Parent Involvement Policy In addition to the District Parent Involvement Policy, each Title I school must develop, jointly with parents of children receiving Title I services, a written school parent involvement policy that describes how the school will carry out the parental involvement requirements in No Child Left Behind, Section 1118. Federal and State Education Programs Branch 27

28. School Parent Involvement Policy Requirements • School-level policies must: • Be jointly developed & distributed to parents • Describe how school will carry out • requirements • Provided to parents in an understandable • language • “Periodically” updated 28 Federal and State Education Programs Branch

29. Parent Involvement Policy: Required Sections • Section I: Involvement of Parents in the Title 1 Program • Section II: School-Parent Compact • Section III: Building Capacity for Involvement • Section IV: Accessibility

30. Write down 3 ideas as to how you will engage parents in revising your school’s Parent Involvement Policy.

31. Your turn! • Look at your school’s PIP. • List the different sections included. Are the strategies explained specifically? • What might your revise this year? • When will you schedule the dates for the revision?

32. School-Parent Compact

33. Prior Knowledge… • Write down at least 5 things you know about the School-Parent Compact. • Write down 3 questions you might have about the School-Parent Compact.

34. SCHOOL-PARENT COMPACT • developed jointly • approved by Title I parents • disseminated in a parent-friendly manner

35. SCHOOL-PARENT COMPACT • written agreement of shared responsibility • catalyst for collaboration • better communication • translates goals for achievement into • shared action statements

36. SCHOOL-PARENT COMPACT How will families and school staff work together this year to achieve the goals of the school improvement plan?

37. SCHOOL-PARENT COMPACT

38. Myths of the Compact • must be signed by teachers and parents • is a good place to teach parenting • is the place to correct student behavior

39. What’s In a Compact? Essential Elements 1. What Teachers Should Do 2. What Parents Should Do 3. What Students Should Do 4. Communication About Student Progress 5. Activities to Develop Partnerships 6. Jointly Developed with Parents 7. Friendly Format and Language

40. Pointers • Link actions to goals in SPSA and to school data • Connect activities for families to what students are learning and doing in class • Include contact information to support parents and students • Describe how students will be responsible for their learning • Consult with parents on communication strategies that work best for them • Translate into families’ home languages and non-teacher specific language

41. It's All About the Conversations!

42. Timeline for Revision • August • Identify Participants • Schedule meeting times • Identify goals and possible grouping options • October • Obtain input from: Parents, student, and staff.

43. Timeline for Revision • October • Align compact with Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) • Identify school / community resources to meet compact goals • November • Create a draft form of the compact • Distribute to stakeholders who participated in the revision process • Approve by Title I parents • Translate the compact • School-wide distribution of final draft

44. Timeline for Revision • December • Review, revise, celebrate and repeat cycle • Continuous • Distribute the compact to all stakeholders (August)

45. School-Parent Compact: Reflect on your own compact • Take out the most updated School-Parent Compact available at your school • When was it last revised? Is there a date on it? How can you find this information? • Highlight the major sections of the document. • Questions to keep in mind: • Is any information missing? • Does any information need to be explained in a clearer way? • Are there any changes that need to be included in your compact?

46. Next Steps • Take a moment to reflect on what next steps need to be taken to ensure that your school will successfully revise both the Parent Involvement Policy and School-Parent Compact. • On a Post-It, write down three things that you learned during our session today. • Bring your school’s current Parent Involvement Policy and School-Parent Compact to the next meeting.

48. 2013-2014 School-Parent Compact Due to your PACE Office by:November15, 2013

49. We are here to support you . . . Parent and Community Engagement – ISIC Dr. Kevin Baker- kevin.baker@lausd.net Enriqueta Cabrera- exc9058@lausd.net EstevanLeyva- exl3118@lausd.net Rosa Prado- rosa.prado@lausd.net Violeta Ruiz- violeta.ruiz@lausd.net Additional Resources: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/pf/pf/ http://schoolparentcompact.org/