Parent and family engagement is an important component in a student’s success in school. The board encourages parents and families to become involved in their child’s education to ensure the child’s academic success. In order to facilitate parent and family involvement, it is the goal of the district to conduct outreach and implement programs, activities and procedures to further involve parents and families with the academic success of their students.
1. The district will involve parents and families in the development of the Title I plan, the process for school review of the plan and the process for improvement. This jointly developed and agreed upon written policy is distributed to parents and family members of participating Title I children through the Parent Handbook. In school wide buildings, this will include all parents. (ESSA Section 1116(a)(2))
2. The district will provide technical assistance and support to schools in planning and implementing effective parent and family engagement activities to improve academic achievement and school performance through professional development regarding parent and family engagements. The district will partner with community groups as a means to engage families more creatively and successfully. (ESSA Section 1116 (a)(2)(B))
3. The district will work, to the extent feasible, cooperatively with other relevant Federal, State, and local laws and programs. The Title 1 program will work with local public preschool programs, Headstart programs, local library programs, and special education programs (IDEA). Our homeless education program coordinates with the local backpack program to offer support to students that are food insecure, especially over the weekends. (ESSA Section 1116(a)(2)(C))
4. The district conducts an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness for the Parent and Family Engagement Policy in improving the academic quality of the school served.
a. The evaluation includes parents in a meaningful manner. In addition to surveys, the district uses open discussion groups for this evaluation. The evaluation tools and methods to identify the type and frequency of school-home interactions and the needs of parents and families to better support and assist their children in learning. The evaluations will target at least three key areas: barriers to greater participation by parents in Title I activities (with particular attention to low-income parents, Limited English Proficient (LEP) parents, parents of any racial or ethnic minority, parents with disabilities and parents with limited literacy); needs of parents and families to assist in their child’s learning; and strategies to support successful school and family interactions. (ESSA Section1116 (a)(2)(D)(i-iii)
b. Annual notification will be given to inform parents and family members of the school’s participation in the Title I program, explaining the requirements of the program and their right to be involved. Communication will run through Spirit Lake Elementary Schools and be posted on the district website and included in the annual handbook. (ESSA Section 1116 (c)(1))
c. Parent and family meetings, including parent teacher conferences, will be held at different times during the day and Title I funds may be used to pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parent family and engagement activities, including transportation, childcare, or home visit expenses to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions. (ESSA Section 1116(c)(2))
d. Parents and family members of participating children are given assistance in understanding the Title I program, with timely information about the Title I program. Through annual notification and parent-teacher conferences, the school will provide parents and family members of participating children with a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet. Parents and family members receive an explanation of the school’s performance profile, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the expected proficiency levels in the annual progress report distributed to all stakeholders in the spring of the year, through individual reports given to parents at conference time, and through report cards. (ESSA Section 1116(c)(4)(A) & (B)
e. In a schoolwide program plan, parents are asked to be involved in the joint development of the building’s schoolwide plan through in-person meetings, surveys and electronic feedback as appropriate. This applies only to Title I schools operating a Schoolwide Program (ESSA Sections 1116 (c)(3) and 1114)
f. If requested by parents, the school will provide 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 such suggestions as soon as practicably possible. (ESSA Section 1116(c)(4)(C))
5. Use the findings of the annual evaluation to design strategies for more effective parent and family involvement and to revise, as necessary, the parent and family involvement policies.
a. If the schoolwide plan under Section 1114(b) is not satisfactory, parents of participating students may comment. Comments may be made in writing to the school principal. (ESSA Section 1116(c)(5))
b. A jointly developed school/parent contract outlines how parents and family members, the entire school staff, and students all share responsibility for improved school achievement. The contract also describes the means by which the school and parents build and develop a partnership to help children achieve our local standards. It is distributed to parents and reviewed annually. (ESSA Section 1116(d))
c. Parents will be notified of this policy in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language the parents can understand. The policy will be provided in English and Spanish and will be free of educational jargon. (ESSA Section 1116(b)(1))
6. The district will involve parents and families in Title I activities.
a. The district uses the annual evaluation to design evidence-based strategies for more effective parent and family engagement. The evaluation results help uncover best practices that are working and adapt those ideas to the district and individual school needs. (ESSA Section 1116 (a)(2)(E))
b. The district will involve parents in the planning, review and improvement of the school’s Title I program through participation in discussion groups and in-person meetings where parents give input and feedback. (ESSA Section 1116(c)(3)).
c. In order 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 shall:
-i. Provide assistance to parents in understanding challenging State 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;
-ii. 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;
-iii. 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 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.
-iv. 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.
-v. 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; and
-vi. Provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under this section as parents may request. (ESSA Section 1116(e)(1-14))
d. The school, to the extent practicable, will provide opportunities for the informed participation of parents and family members (including parents and family members who have limited English proficiency, parents and family members with disabilities, and parents and family members of migratory children) by providing information and school reports required under Section 1111 in a format and language the parties can understand. (ESSA Section 11116(f))
e. The district involves parents and family members in activities of the school. The district has established a committee with a sufficient number and representative group of parents or family members to adequately represent the needs to the population, revise, and review the Parent and Family Engagement Policy. (ESSA Section 116(a)(2)(F))
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Approved: 2/12/24 Reviewed: Revised: