Building Capacity Requirements

2017-18

Public Law 114-95 Section 1116 (e)

•• To ensure effective involvement of parents and to

support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, each school and local educational agency (LEA) receiving Title I, Part A funds

Public Law 114-95 Section 1116 (e)(1) https://tinyurl.com/yb7a6fdh

• provide assistance to parents of children served by the school or LEA, as appropriate, in understanding such topics as the State’s academic standards, State and local academic assessments, the requirements of this part, and how to monitor a child’s progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children.

SHALL = MUST

Building Capacity 1 – STRATEGIES

• Explain standards and assessments at parent-teacher conferences

• Gather feedback from parents and families to assess their understanding of standards and assessments and to determine resources and materials schools need to provide

• Train staff to effectively share information with parents about student progress

• Provide parent-friendly materials that will help parents understand how to check homework and monitor a child’s progress

• provide materials and training to help parents to work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy), as appropriate, to foster parental involvement.

Building Capacity 2 - STRATEGIES

• Offer classes for parents in literacy development or use of technology to help them work with their children

• Provide training that parent and child attend together with information that will continue learning at home

• Establish accessible and convenient parent resource centers

• Coordinate with community organizations to provide practical classes for parents

• educate teachers, specialized instruction support personnel, principals, and other school leaders, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between parents and the school.

Building Capacity 3 - STRATEGIES

• Train staff to hone skills as effective communicators with parents

• Train staff in a systematic and on-going manner

• Invite parents to talk to school staff about the importance of communication and home-school partnerships

• Urge staff to do community field trips to view neighborhoods and conduct home visits

• , to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parent involvement programs and activities with other Federal, State, and local programs, including public preschool programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children.

Building Capacity 4 - STRATEGIES

• Provide information and resources to parents to assist in a successful transition to school

• Provide a school orientation and guided tour for parents to provide a smooth transition to school

• Allow pre-school programs to have parent meetings in available space at an elementary school

• Deliver educational materials to parents to prepare students and parents for the upcoming academic expectations

• ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents of participating children in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.

Building Capacity 5 - STRATEGIES

• Identify people in the school and community that are skilled to translate print materials and/or interpret oral language

• Circulate a questionnaire to families to determine language needs and address potential language barriers

• Involve parents in the development of materials to ensure communication is provided in an understandable format

• MAY involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training.

MAY = Best Practice

• Invite and encourage parents to share ideas and topics that would be relevant in staff training

• Collaborate with parents to develop training programs and materials

• Occasionally utilize staff/faculty meetings to invite parents or community members to share information and updates

• MAY provide necessary literacy training from funds received under this part if the LEA has exhausted all other reasonably available resources of funding for such training.

• Evaluate the need for literacy training through surveys and other types of feedback to include in the needs assessment

• Provide practical resources for parents to help them assist their child

• Partner with local businesses, work with local colleges, and collaborate with community groups to secure resources and provide literacy training to parents

• MAY pay reasonable and necessary expensesassociated with local parental involvement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions.

• Develop a district policy to reimburse expenses that are reasonable and necessary for transportation and child care

• Coordinate with a community group to provide child care

• Work with the LEA transportation department to provide transportation to meetings at the school

• Arrange meetings at a convenient time and location like a community center or place of worship

• MAY train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents.

• Train parents who in turn become trainers of parents and be sure to provide necessary materials and resources

• Publicly recognize parents that have completed LEA parent training

• Collaborate with parents to develop, schedule, and present parent training classes

• MAY arrange school meetings at a variety of times, or conduct in-home conferences between teachers or other educators, who work directly with participating children, with parents who are unable to attend such conferences at school, in order to maximize parental involvement and participation.

• Conduct home visits to share academic information with parents

• Meet in a location other than the school that is convenient for families

• Meet at a time that is convenient for families, perhaps during a lunch hour or on a Saturday morning

• Repeat important meetings at a different time and a different venue

• Some parent-teacher conferences can be a small group setting rather than an individualized meeting

• MAY adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental involvement.

• Identify best practices based upon research or evidence of success

• Implement some best practice strategies -monitor the “success” with frequent feedback from parents and adjust strategies as needed

• Introduce best practice strategies at staff meetings and provide training at staff professional development

• MAY establish a districtwide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in programs supported under this section.

• Develop a procedure or process to establish a districtwide parent advisory council, or a school advisory council

• Ensure that the council represents the demographic of the district, or school

• Meet regularly at a convenient time and location

• Report to school staff and parents about recommendations and actions of the advisory council

• MAY develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parent involvement activities.

• Identify district and/or school needs

• Reach out to community groups – invite them to visit the school, share with them specific needs and how a partnership can strengthen the educational environment, and encourage them to invest their talents in the children

• Recognize and participate in appropriate community events

• provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under this section as parents may request.

• Conduct surveys and solicit feedback from parents through group conversations and anecdotal information

• Identify and prioritize needs, and develop strategies to address identified needs

• Report to school staff and parents ideas to enhance parental involvement

• Celebrate what works, and revise what falls short

RESOURCES

• Visit us at www.esc16.net• Scroll down and click on Title I Statewide

Initiative icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . • Click on topic of interest

• Title I, Part A Parent and Family Engagement Handbook (see Section 6) https://tinyurl.com/y9bcm4qr

• Building Capacity one-page Tip Sheet https://tinyurl.com/ycwgygu4

At Region 16 Education Service CenterFunded by Texas Education Agency

Statewide School Parent and Family Engagement Initiative

Terri Stafford: terri.stafford@esc16.netSkip Forsyth skip.forsyth@esc16.net