Family and Parental Involvement

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

2. Statewide Title I Network Provides base level services to Title I districts and schools for free or reduced cost in five service areas: 1. Title I Implementation 2. Title I Coordinator Leadership 3. Title I Related Professional Development 4. Assistance to Districts and Schools Identified for Improvement 5. Resources and Collaboration A collaboration between the Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESA) and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI)

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

4. Objectives: • To present the foundational research that supports Parent/Family Involvement in schools • To provide the required components of Parent/Family/Community Involvement in Title I • To share ideas and resources to help 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 Task: Form small groups. Select a recorder and a reporter. Share and record the following information on chart paper: • List successful family/parent/community involvement activities that your school conducts to involve these stakeholders. • Identify one challenge your school faces in implementing effective activities. • In your small group, brainstorm possible solutions. • Reporter shares one activity and one challenge/solution with the whole group.

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

8. Parent/Family Involvement is required because it has a positive impact on student achievement. Students with involved families, regardless of income or background, are more likely to: • Earn high grades and test scores • 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. Supporting Research: • 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 student 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) • When they are comprehensive and well-planned, school/home partnerships result in higher levels of student achievement. (Henderson & Berla, 1995)

10. Joyce Epstein’s “Big Six”: 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”: 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 of Parent Involvement • Parent involvement means the participation of parents in 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 • parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school • 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 (ESEA Section 1118 & Wisconsin Title I Guidelines)

13. Title IA Requirements: • Perform a needs assessment involving parents • Prepare written parent involvement policies • District • School • Create and sign School-Parent Compacts • Follow public and parents’ “right to know” reporting requirements • Convene an annual Title I parent informational meeting • Build parent capacity through training, information and coordination activities • Perform annual assessment of the 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/parental involvement programs • evaluation of ESEA funded programs (DPI Monitoring Guidance Document, 12/10/10)

15. Needs Assessment Requires Parent Participation & Involvement • Activities & Possible Documentation Include: • Surveys (survey copies, results) • Planning meetings (agendas, sign-in sheets) • Focus groups/school improvement committees/strategic planning teams (agendas, sign-in sheets, minutes, outcomes) * How does your district include parents in planning, implementing and evaluating Title I Programs? *** Think! Pair! Share!

16. District and School Policies Require Parent Involvement • 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. Documentation of Parental Involvement • Copy of a district parental involvement policy • Sample Title I school parental involvement policy • Sample of a school/parent compact • Evidence of parental involvement representing both public and private school Title I students • Description of the district’s annual assessment process utilized to determine degree of effectiveness • Summary of the assessment results and how they were used in planning or modifying activities

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

19. Parental Involvement Policies Quick Comprehension Check

20. Parental Involvement Policy fact? • A school hires a consulting firm to conduct a needs assessment on reaching out to parents for school improvement purposes. • The school 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?

21. Parental Involvement Policy fact 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.

22. 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 Title I Schoolwide Programs must be invited to participate • All parents of Title I Targeted Assistance students must be invited to participate

23. 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

24. 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)

25. Evaluating School-Parent Compacts • 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?

26. School-Parent Compact Quick Comprehension Check

27. School-Parent Compact fact? A school-parent compact must include concrete details about what parents should do to help their children succeed academically.

28. School-Parent Compact fact It will help make the compact understandable to parents and measurable to reviewers if you include specific actions.

29. School-Parent Compact fact? Once you create a school-parent compact, you just need to prove you kept it on file and available for parents to review.

30. School-Parent Compact fact 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.

31. 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 (targeted assistance) • 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

32. Required Parent Notification and “Right to Know” • Schools are 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. • How does your district fulfill the public reporting and parents’ “right to know” requirements? • Turn and Talk. . .

33. Title I Annual Meeting • Schedule a meeting to explain Title I requirements and parent involvement rights • Targeted Assistance—invite parents of identified children • Schoolwide—invite all parents • Be sure to include parents of all served public, private, ELL and homeless students “In order to keep parents informed, schools must invite to this meeting all parents of children participating in 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)

34. Annual Meeting Requirements • Parent information must include: • 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 • Keep Documentation: • Invitations, agendas, sign-in sheets • Curriculum guides, brochures, websites • Assessment matrix for parents • Classroom communications

35. Annual Meeting Reflection • Take a few moments to reflect on your annual meeting and think about the following: • What topics have you covered? • What topics have emerged from your needs assessment? • What activities have you used?

36. Annual Meeting Exchange of Ideas • Record ideas on an organizer and/or chart paper • Share with the whole group • Optional: Draft an annual meeting agenda

37. Building Parent Capacity for Involvement • Build parent capacity through training, information and coordination activities • Conduct a survey to collect parent perspectives/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 with other programs (Head Start, afterschool, etc.) • Homework

38. “Twelve Promising Practices Schools CAN DO to Engage Parents” Here are 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 the whole school (From DPI Community Learning and Partnerships Team, 2001)

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

40. Appropriate Use of Title I Funds • Districts can reach out to preschoolfamilies (ages 0-5) living within the school boundaries of a schoolwide building • Examples: “Book & Bib” to newborns • Promote Wisconsin’s Model Early Learning Standards (WMELS) • Other outreach as needed

41. Appropriate Use of Title I 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.

42. Appropriate Use of Family/Parent Involvement Funds Quick Comprehension Check

43. Appropriate Use of Family/Parent Involvement Funds fact? 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 appropriate use of Title I funds?

44. 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.

45. Wisconsin Resources • Wisconsin Partnership E-Brief newsletter • DPI Partnership Action Team Toolkit • DPI Community Learning & Partnerships page • Wisconsin PTA

46. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Your Program How does your school/district measure up?

47. Annual Assessment of Effectiveness of Family/Parent Involvement • Spring meeting, survey data, feedback, other? • Sample: Parent Involvement Evaluation - Title I Program • Where do we go next?

48. If You Are Just Getting Started… 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.)

49. If You Are Well On Your Way… • Review your current policies, programs, practices and other documents. • What other questions might you ask to evaluate the goals? Is there other information to gather? • Record any plan(s) for improvement.

50. ABC’s of Parental Involvement • What have you learned about parental involvement in this workshop? • Record key ideas, words, phrases, tools, and resources on the ABC Chart. • How many items can you record on the chart in 10 minutes? • Highlight or mark any items you might want to focus on to improve your current parental involvement practices.