PARENT AND FAMILY MEMBER PARTICIPATION IN TITLE I PROGRAMS

PARENT AND FAMILY MEMBER PARTICIPATION IN TITLE I PROGRAMS

po2261.01Adopted June 26, 2006Revised September 16, 2024

2261.01 - PARENT AND FAMILY MEMBER PARTICIPATION IN TITLE I PROGRAMS

In accordance with the requirement of Section 1118 of Title I, as amended by Section 1010 of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), programs supported by Title I funds must be designed and implemented in consultation with parents and family members of the students being served.

The Superintendent shall require that the Title I plan contain a written statement of guidelines which has been developed with, approved by, and distributed to parents and family members of participating students. The guidelines shall describe:

  1. the School Corporation’s expectations and objectives for meaningful parent and family involvement in the program, including their participation in jointly developing the Corporation Title I plan and any State-mandated comprehensive support and improvement plans;

  2. how the Corporation will provide coordination, technical assistance and other support necessary to assist and build the capacity of all participating schools within the Corporation in planning and implementing effective parent and family involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance, which may include meaningful consultation with employers, business leaders, and philanthropic organizations or individuals with expertise in effectively engaging parents and family members in education;

  3. an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parent and family engagement policy in improving the academic quality of all Title I schools to be conducted with meaningful involvement of parents and family members that include:

    1. identifying any barriers to greater parental involvement (such as limited English proficiency, limited literacy, economic disadvantage, disability, racial or ethnic minority background, etc.);

    2. determining the needs of parents and family members to assist with the learning of their children, including engaging with school personnel and teachers; and

    3. devising strategies to support successful school and family interactions.

  4. how the Corporation will coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement strategies under Title I with parent and family engagement strategies, to the extent feasible and appropriate, under other Federal, State, and local laws and programs;

  5. use of the findings of the annual evaluation referenced above to:

    1. design evidence-based strategies for more effective parental/family member involvement; and

    2. revise the parent and family engagement guidelines, if necessary;

  6. involvement of parents and family members in the activities of Title I schools, which may include establishing a parent and family member advisory council comprised of a sufficient number and representative group of parents or family members served by the Corporation to adequately represent the needs of the population served by the Corporation for purposes of developing, revising and reviewing the parent and family engagement guidelines;

  7. provide opportunities for the informed participation of parents and family members (including parents and family members who have limited English proficiency and/or disabilities, and parents and family members of migratory children), including providing information and school reports in a format, and to the extent practicable in a language, such parents can understand;

  8. conduct meetings with parents and family members, including provisions for flexible scheduling and assistance to parents and family members to better assure their attendance at meetings;

  9. develop agendas for parent/family member meetings to include review and explanation of the curriculum, means of assessments, and the proficiency levels students are expected to achieve and maintain;

  10. provide opportunities for parents and family members to formulate suggestions, interact and share experiences with other parents/family members, and participate appropriately in the decision-making about the program and revisions in the plan;

  11. involve parents and family members in the planning, review, and improvement of the Title I program;

  12. communicate information concerning school performance profiles and their child’s individual performance to parents and family members;

  13. assist parents and family members in helping their children in achieving the objectives of the program by such means as ensuring regular attendance, monitoring television-watching, providing adequate time and the proper environment for homework, guiding nutritional and health practices, and the like;

  14. provide timely responses to parental/family member questions, concerns, and recommendations;

  15. coordinate and provide technical assistance and other support necessary to assist Title I schools to develop effective parent and family member participation activities to improve academic achievement;

  16. conduct other activities as appropriate to the Title I plan and State and Federal requirements;

  17. other activities to be conducted as appropriate to the plan and State or Federal requirements.

The School Board will reserve the requisite percent of its allocation of Federal Title I funds to carry out the above-described activities. Parents and family members of children receiving Title I services shall be involved in the decisions regarding how the reserved funds are allotted for parent and family member involvement activities. Reserved funds shall be used to carry out activities and strategies consistent with the Board’s parent and family engagement policy (Policy 2281), including at least one (1) of the following:

  1. Supporting schools and nonprofit organizations in providing professional development for the Corporation and school personnel regarding parent and family engagement strategies, which may be provided jointly to teachers, principals, other school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, paraprofessionals, early childhood educators, and parents and family members.
  2. Supporting programs that reach parents and family members at home, in the community, and at school.
  3. Disseminating information on best practices focused on parent and family engagement, especially best practices for increasing the engagement of economically disadvantaged parents and family members.
  4. Collaborating, or providing sub-grants to schools to enable such schools to collaborate, with community-based or other organizations or employers with a record of success in improving and increasing parent and family engagement.
  5. Engaging in any other activities and strategies that the Board determines are appropriate and consistent with its parent and family engagement policy.

The Superintendent also shall require that each Title I participating school develops a specific plan, with parent and family engagement, to:

  1. convene an annual meeting at a convenient time to which parents and families of low-income students are invited and encouraged to attend, to inform the parents/family members that the school receives Title I funds, receipt of these funds subjects the school to certain requirements, and the parents/family members have a right to be involved;

  2. offer a flexible number of engagement meetings at convenient times for families and describe assistance to encourage parental/family member involvement, such as child care, transportation, home visits, or similar aid;

  3. involve parents and family members in an organized, ongoing and timely way in the development, review and improvement of parent/family member involvement activities, including the planning, review and improvement of the school parent and family engagement policy, and the joint development of the schoolwide program plan, if appropriate;

  4. provide parents and families with:

    1. timely information about Title I program and the school's parent and family engagement policy;

    2. an explanation of the curriculum and achievement levels the school uses;

    3. opportunities for regular meetings, upon request, to participate in decisions relating to their student’s education and receive responses regarding the parents' and family members' suggestions about their student's education as soon as practicably possible;

  5. submit any parents' and family members' comments to the Superintendent when a written plan is not satisfactory to the parents/family members of participating children;

  6. develop jointly with parents and family members of low-income students a school-parent agreement which outlines the responsibilities of families, the school, staff, and students for improved student academic achievement and develop a partnership to help students achieve the State's high standards, including:

    1. a description of the school’s responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum, and instruction in a supportive, effective learning environment that enables students to meet the academic achievement standards and the ways in which each parent and family member will be responsible for supporting learning, including volunteering in their child’s classroom and participating in decisions related to the education of their children;

    2. the importance of communication between families and staff through, at a minimum, parent-teacher or family member-teacher conferences in elementary schools, at least annually, during which the agreement/compact will be discussed as it related to the individual child’s achievement; frequent progress reports to the parents/family members; and opportunities to volunteer in or observe their student’s class;

    3. ensuring regular two-way meaningful communication between family members and school staff in a language they understand;

  7. ensure the effective involvement of parents and family members and support a partnership among the school, parents/family members and the community to improve student academic achievement by the following activities:

    1. providing assistance to parents and family members in understanding the State’s academic standards, State and local academic assessments, the requirements of Title I, and how to monitor a student’s progress and work with educators;

    2. providing materials and training to help parents and family members to work with their students to improve their achievement;

    3. educating school personnel, with the assistance of parents and family members, in the value and utility of the contributions of parents/family members, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents/family members as equal partners;

    4. integrating engagement strategies with other Federal and State programs, including preschool programs;

    5. ensuring that information related to programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to parents and family members in a format and a language they can understand;

    6. providing other reasonable support for engagement activities;

    7. providing opportunities for the informed participation of families with limited English proficiency or disabilities and families of migratory children in a format and language they understand;

    8. providing reasonable support for parental/family member involvement activities as parents and family members request them;

    9. paying reasonable and necessary costs associated with engagement activities including transportation and child care costs, to allow parents and family members to participate;

    10. training parents and family members to enhance the engagement of other parents/family members;

    11. arranging school meetings between teachers and parents/family members who are unable to attend such conferences at school;

    12. implementing model approaches to improving parental/family members involvement;

    13. establishing a Corporation-wide parent/family member advisory council to improve engagement;

  8. Parents and family members of children receiving Title I services must be notified about their school’s parent and family engagement policy in an understandable and uniform format, and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents/family members can understand. These policies also must be made available to the community.

  9. School-level parent and family engagement policies must be updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents/family members and the schools.

In order to involve parents and family members in the education of their children and to support a partnership among the school, parents/family members and the community for improving student academic achievement, the Superintendent and building principals must include provisions in the Corporation and school-level parent and family engagement policies regarding:

  1. assisting parents and family members of children served under Title I in understanding such topics as the State academic standards, State and local academic assessments, Title I, and how to monitor their child’s progress and how to work with educators to improve their child’s achievement;
  2. providing materials and training to help parents and family members work with their children to improve achievement, such as literacy training and using technology (including education about the harms of copyright privacy);
  3. educating teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, school leaders (including principals), and other staff, with the assistance of parents and family members, about the value and utility of contributions of parents/family members, how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents/family members as equal partners, how to implement and coordinate parent/family member programs, and how to build ties between parents/family members and the school;
  4. to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordination and integration of parent/family member involvement programs and activities with other Federal, State and local programs (including public preschool programs), and conducting other activities that encourage and support parents and family members to more fully participate in the education of their children (e.g., parent resource centers);
  5. providing information related to school and parent/family member programs, meetings, and other activities to parents and family members of participating children in a format, and, to the extent practicable, in a language they can understand;
  6. providing such reasonable support for parent involvement activities as parents may request.

In order to build the Corporation’s capacity for parent involvement, the Superintendent and building principals also may:

  1. involve parents and family members in the development of training for teachers and administrators and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training;
  2. provide necessary literacy training from Title I funds if the Corporation has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for such training;
  3. pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parental/family member involvement activities to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions, including transportation and childcare costs;
  4. train parents/family members to enhance the involvement of other parents and family members;
  5. arrange school meetings at a variety of times, or conduct in-house conferences between teachers or other educators who work directly with participating children, with parents and family members who are unable to attend such conferences at school, in order to maximize parental/family member involvement and participation;
  6. adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental/family member involvement;
  7. establish a Corporation-wide parent and family member advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental/family member involvement in Title I programs;
  8. develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parental/family member involvement activities.

Revised 5/9/22

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