Family and Parental Involvement

1. Family and Parental Involvement Lisa Arneson, CESA 5 Nancy Forseth, CESA 10 Yvonne Harness, CESA 7

2. About the Title I Network

3. What you will need for this workshop: • Toolkit Handouts - Walk-Through materials • Your School/District Parent Involvement Policies (if available) • Your School-Parent Compacts (if available) • Kit boxes – highlighters, post-it notes, markers • Chart paper

4. Objectives • To present the foundational research which supports Parent/Family Involvement in schools • To provide the required components of Parent/Family/Community Involvement for compliance with Title I Guidelines • To share ideas and resources to help schools increase Family Involvement opportunities that recognize parents and caretakers as equal partners

5. Whose Child is This? "Whose child is this?" I asked one day Seeing a little one out at play. "Mine", said the parent with a tender smile "Mine to keep a little while. To bathe his hands and comb his hair, To tell him what he is to wear, To prepare him that he may always be good, And each day do the things he should". "Whose child is this?" I asked once more, Just as the little one entered the door "Whose child is this?" I asked again, "Ours", said the parent and the teacher as they smiled As the door opened and someone came in. And each took the hand of the little child "Mine", said the teacher with the same tender smile. "Ours to love and train together. "Mine, to keep just for a little while. Ours this blessed task forever.“ To teach him how to be gentle and kind, ~Author Unknown To train and direct his dear little mind, To help him live by every rule, And get the best he can from school"....

6. Workshop Warm-Up (20 minutes) Task: Form small groups. Select a RECORDER and REPORTER. Share and record the following information on chart paper. • List SUCCESSFUL FAMILY/PARENT/COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT ACTIVITIES that your school conducts to involve parents and community members. • Identify ONE CHALLENGE your school faces in implementing effective activities. • As a group, brainstorm POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS. • Share ONE activity and ONE challenge/solution with the whole group.

7. Workshop Warm-Up: Record Responses on Chart Paper

8. Family/Parent Involvement is Required • Students with involved families, no matter what their income or background, are more likely to: • Earn high grades and test scores, and enroll in higher-level programs • Improve their behavior and attitude • Pass their classes, earn credits and be promoted • Attend school regularly • Graduate and go on to post-secondary education

9. Research: Why are partnerships important? • Regardless of family income or background, students whose parents are involved in their schooling are more likely to have higher grades and test scores, attend school regularly, have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school. (Henderson & Mapp, 2002) • The most accurate predictors of students achievement in school are not family income or social status, but the extent to which the family creates a home environment that encourages learning, communicates high yet reasonable expectations for the child’s achievement, and becomes involved in the child’s education at school. (National PTA, 2000) • When parents are involved at school, the performance of all the children at school, not just their own, tends to improve. (Henderson & Berla, 1993) • Comprehensive and well-planned partnerships between school and home, result in higher levels of student achievement. (Henderson & Berla, 1995)

10. Joyce Epstein’s “Big Six”: Types of Family-School-Community Partnerships • Parenting. Help families build on their strengths and parenting skills. Identify resources and support to help families nurture children. • Communicating. Plan and conduct workable methods of two-way communication focused on child’s learning. • Learning at Home. Provide ways for families and school staff to develop learning goals and continue children’s learning at home and in the community to meet the goals.

11. Joyce Epstein’s “Big Six”: Types of Family-School-Community Partnerships • Volunteering. Recruit and organize volunteer help from families and the community. • Decision making. Include parents in school decisions to develop leaders and represent all families in the school. • Collaborating with the Community. Identify and connect community resources to strengthen families, school programs, and student learning.

12. ESEA Definition • Parent involvement means “the participation of parents in a regular, two-way, meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities ensuring-- • That parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning • That parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school • 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. (Wisconsin Title I Guidelines)

13. Title I Requirements • Needs assessment involving parents and planning • Written Parent Involvement policies • District • School • School - Parent Compacts • Public reporting and parents’ right to know • Annual Title I Parent Informational meeting • Building parent capacity through training, information and coordination activities • Annual assessment of effectiveness of parent involvement

14. Needs Assessment • The district engages in significant and meaningful involvement with public and private school parents and the community in: • the assessment of needs • program & curricular planning • program & curricular implementation • evaluation of family/parent involvement programs • evaluation of ESEA funded programs (DPI Monitoring Guidance Document, 12/10/10)

15. Evidence of Family/Parent/Community Participation and Involvement • Activities & Possible Evidence includes: • Surveys (copies of survey, results) • Planning meetings (agendas, rosters) • Focus groups/school improvement committees/strategic planning teams (agendas, rosters, outcomes) • How does your district include parents in planning Title I programs, implementation and evaluation? • Turn and Talk. . .

16. District and School Parent Involvement Policies • Parent involvement policies must include a board approved district policy and a school policy • Policies should not be identical • District policies broadly address the needs of students and families across the district • School policies should be fluid and responsive to the current needs of children and families within the school • Parents must be involved in the creation and evaluation of these policies • The law requires all Title I parents to have access to these policies (website, newsletter, annual meeting, etc)

17. Required Evidence for Title I Monitoring: • Copy of district parental involvement policy • Sample Title I school parental involvement policy • Sample of a school/parent compact • Description of the district’s annual assessment process utilized to determine degree of effectiveness • Evidence that parents of public and private school participating children were involved • Summary results of the assessment and information how findings were used in planning or modifying activities

18. District and School Parent Involvement Policies • Group Activity (15 minutes) • Examine your district/school policy (or sample Parent Involvement Policy templates) and compare it to the checklist provided. • Question: What work needs to be done on this policy in your district?

19. Questions for Quiz About… Parent Involvement Policy

20. Pause for a Quiz • These questions are based on Federal Requirements for parental involvement policies. • After each scenario is described, answer true or false.

21. A school hires a consulting firm to conduct a needs assessment on how to reach out to parents for school improvement purposes. It uses the report to write a policy with strategies that the consulting firm recommended and sends the policy home to parents at the beginning of the year. The school meets its parental involvement policy requirements. True or false?

22. FALSE! The school cannot set a policy on its own. Parents have to be consulted in developing and reviewing the parent involvement policy and must agree on the strategies to be used even if a consulting firm is hired to conduct the needs assessment.

23. School-Parent Compacts • Required by all Title I schools • Must be developed jointly with parents of all students served by Title I • All parents in schoolwide programs must be invited to participate • All parents of Title I students served in targeted assistance programs are invited

24. School-Parent Compacts • Compacts must address: • How parents, staff and students share responsibility for improved student achievement • School’s responsibility to provide high quality instruction to meet standards • Ways in which parents will support their child’s learning at home • Importance of communication between teachers and parents on an ongoing basis • Importance of communication between school and home • Targeted Assistance vs. Schoolwide • Elementary vs. Secondary

25. School-Parent Compacts • At a minimum, communication between teacher and parent must occur: • Annually at parent-teacher conferences to discuss the compact • Through frequent reports on child’s progress • Through reasonable accessibility to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class (Wisconsin Title I Guidelines)

26. Investigating School-Parent Compacts Activity (15 min.) • Review your school-parent compact OR sample compact included in resources. • Use the Title I School/Parent Compact Checklist and evaluate your compact or sample. • Discuss: • How does your school-parent compact describe the respective responsibilities of the school staff, parents and students in striving to raise student achievement?

27. Questions for Quiz About… School-Parent Compacts

28. Pause for a Quiz A compact must include concrete details about what parents should do to help their children succeed academically. True or false?

29. True. It will help make the compact understandable to parents and measurable to reviewers if you include specific actions.

30. Let’s try one more… Once you create a school-parent compact, you just need to prove you kept it on file and available for parents to review. True or false?

31. False. Remember that the compact is meant to be used. It should be reviewed and discussed with parents as it relates to their child’s progress.

32. Required Parent Notification and “Right to Know” • Required notifications include: • Annual report card on student achievement • Qualifications of teachers (“highly qualified”) • Paraprofessional support/qualifications; • Identification for participation in Title I • Participation in an ELL program • Must include reasons child was placed in a language program • Level of English proficiency and how it was assessed • Status of child’s academic achievement

33. Required Parent Notification and “Right to Know” • If a child is attending a school identified for improvement (SIFI) parents must be notified of the following • What being a SIFI school means • Why the school is SIFI and what the school/district is doing to address the problem • How parents can be involved in addressing the academic issues of the school • The parent option of public school transfer (transportation provided) or supplemental educational services

34. Required Parent Notifications and Parents’ Right to Know • Schools required to notify parents in a language parents’ understand • Bilingual communication (newsletters, websites, etc) • Parent friendly language (readability) • Activity: Review resources provided for Parent Notifications and Parents’ Right to Know. (10 min.) • How does your district fulfill the public reporting and parents’ right to know requirements? • Turn and Talk. . .

35. Title I Annual Meeting • Schedule meeting to explain Title I requirements and parents rights to be involved • Targeted Assistance—invite families/parents of identified children • Schoolwide—invite all parents “In order to keep parents informed, schools must invite to this meeting all parents of children participating in a Title I and encourage them to attend. Schools must offer a flexible number of additional parental involvement meetings, such as in the morning or evening so that as many parents as possible are able to attend.” (Wisconsin Title I Guidelines)

36. Annual Meeting Requirements • Provide this information to parents • A description and explanation of the school’s curriculum • A description of the academic assessments used to measure student progress • Information on the proficiency levels students are expected to meet • Evidence: • Invitation, agenda, roster • Curriculum guide, brochure, or website • Assessment matrix for parents • Classroom communications

37. Annual Meeting Activity (10 min.) • Task: • Share topics you have covered, topics that have emerged from your needs assessment, and activities you have used at your annual meeting • Record ideas on organizer and/or chart paper • Share whole group • OPTIONAL: Draft annual meeting agenda

38. Building Capacity for Parent Involvement • Build parent capacity through training, information and coordination activities • Conduct survey to collect parent perspective/needs: • Examples of topics for parents: • Their right to know • Common Core State Standards • State & local assessments • How to monitor their child’s progress • Literacy and math strategies • Volunteer opportunities • Coordination w/ other programs (Head Start, afterschool, etc) • Homework

39. Other Important Considerations • Include ALL Parents • Public • Private • ELL • Homeless

40. Use of Funds • Academic activities connected to goals/policy • NOT purely social events • Communication • Home visits • Child Care • Transportation • Food • Light snacks—not full meals (“reasonable & necessary to advance goals”)

41. Use of Funds • Districts can reach out to PRESCHOOL families (ages 0-5) living within the school boundaries of Schoolwide building • Examples: “Book & Bib” to new babies • Promote Wisconsin’s Model Early Learning Standards (WMELS) • Other outreach, as needed

42. Use of Funds • Conduct a BOOK STUDY! • Professional book studies among staff to increase knowledge and awareness of pertinent issues related to their students and families. • Non-professional book clubs in which parents could participate—just for fun.

43. Questions for Quiz About… Use of Family/Parent Involvement Funds

44. Pause for a Quiz The school principal has suggested using Title I parent involvement funds to provide sandwiches and soft drinks for parents as a way of encouraging more families to come. Is this OK?

45. Probably. Remember, the ED has stated that “light refreshments are allowable if the cost can be justified as “reasonable and necessary” to advance the goals of the parent involvement program.

46. Twelve Promising Practices Schools CAN DO to Engage Parents (resources) Here’s just a few… • The formation of an Action Team for Parent-Community Involvement • Multiple opportunities to meet with parents throughout the year at different times and locations • Set up a “buddy” system for parents • Teachers make positive phone calls home • Create a service project that involves whole school (From DPI Community Learning and Partnerships Team, 2001)

47. Wisconsin Resources • Wisconsin Partnership E-Brief newsletterhttp://www.dpi.wi.gov/fscp/fscphome.html • DPI Partnership Action Team Toolkit http://www.dpi.wi.gov/fscp/action-team.html • DPI Community Learning & Partnerships page http://www.dpi.wi.gov/fscp/index.html • Parents Plus (Wisconsin’s Parental Information & Resource Center http://www.parentspluswi.org • Wisconsin PTA www/wisconsinpta.org

48. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Policies, Programs and Practices… How do YOU measure up?

49. Annual Assessment of Effectiveness of Family/Parent Involvement • Survey data, Feedback, Spring meeting, other? • Sample: Measuring Your Family-School-Community Partnerships—A Tool for Schools http://www.dpi.wi.gov/fscp/pdf/fchklst.pdf • Where do we go next?

50. If You Are Just Getting Started… • Measure of School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Self-Assessment • Reflect upon Epstein’s Six Types of Family & Community Involvement and rate your school in each of the areas. Guiding Questions for Discussion: What are your areas of strength? What are your limitations? What goal(s) might you set to bring about the greatest improvement in parental involvement in your school? (J.L. Epstein et al. (2002). School, Family, and Community Partnerships, Corwin Press, Inc.)