IFD, Parental Involvement in Education

FILE: IFD

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION

The Acadia Parish School Board recognizes that parental involvement must be a priority of the Board for children to learn and achieve academic success. Parents and families provide the primary educational environment for children; consequently, parents are vital and necessary partners with the Board throughout their children's elementary and secondary school careers. The term parent shall refer to any caregiver who assumes responsibility for nurturing and caring for children, and includes parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, foster parents, stepparents, and others. The concept of parental involvement shall include programs, services, and/or activities on the school site, as well as contributions of parents outside the normal school setting.

It shall be the policy of the School Board and each public school in Acadia Parish, in collaboration with parents, teachers, students, administrators, and other educational resources, to establish, develop, and maintain strategies and programs that are intended to enhance the involvement of parents and other caregivers that reflect the needs of students, parents, and families served by the Board, in accordance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations. As part of the parental involvement program, it shall be the responsibility of every school to create a welcoming environment, conducive to learning and supportive for comprehensive family involvement programs that have been developed jointly with parents/families.

DISTRICT LEVEL RESPONSIBILITIES

At the district level, the School Board shall:

Involve parents in the joint development and amendment of the school district's plan, which includes components of the district's parental involvement program, to be submitted to the Louisiana Department of Education. Such involvement shall involve, but not be limited to, the following:

a)	appointing to, and interacting with, each school's School Improvement Team, which is actively involved with assessing needs and addressing these needs in the school;
b)	conducting open public workshops on major issues;
c)	holding regular School Board meetings, with opportunities for the Board to receive public input and comments;
d)	requiring each school to conduct an annual open house meeting;
e)	encouraging school based parental organizations, such as PTA, PTO, TEAM, etc.

Provide coordination of various programs which involve parents, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist every public school in Acadia Parish in planning and implementing effective parental involvement programs and strategies.
Coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs with other programs that promote parental involvement.
Conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of components and strategies of the Board's parental involvement program and assess the components' and strategies' usefulness. The evaluation shall attempt to identify ways of improving the academic quality of the schools served by the Board, including identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in educational and parental involvement activities; particular attention shall be directed to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background. The School Board and each school shall use findings of such evaluation to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary, the parental involvement policies and procedures.
Distribute to parents information about the Acadia Parish School District's parental involvement program, as well as provide proper notification to parents about specific services or special programs, as required by state or federal law. Notification shall also include, at the start of school each year, the right of parents to request and receive timely information on the professional qualifications of their children's classroom teachers.
Submit with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Consolidated Application plan to the Louisiana Department of Education comments of parents of participating children who are not satisfied with components of the parental involvement program.
Inform and notify parents and organizations of the existence of a parental information and resource center established by the state to provide training, information, and support to parents and individuals who work with parents, School Boards, and schools.

SCHOOL LEVEL RESPONSIBILITIES

As part of the parental involvement program, the School Board shall encourage each public school and require those schools receiving federal Title I funds under the jurisdiction of the Acadia Parish School Board to:

Convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to which all parents of participating children shall be invited and encouraged to attend, to inform parents of their school's educational programs and to explain components of the parental involvement program, and the right of the parents to be involved.
Offer a flexible number of meetings, services, and/or activities, on or off school campuses, at various times of the day to maximize parental participation, and may provide transportation, child care, appropriate refreshments, and/or home visits, as such services relate to parental involvement.
Involve parents in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of parental involvement programs, including the planning, development, review, and improvement of the school parental involvement policy and the joint development of the schoolwide parental involvement program plan.

Provide parents, especially those of participating children in NCLB programs:

timely information about educational and parental involvement programs;

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 level students are expected to meet;

if requested by parents, 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.

If the school-wide parental involvement program plan is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, submit any parent comments on the plan when the school makes the plan available to school district level personnel.

SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES

As part of the parental involvement program, to build a capacity for involvement, the School Board and each public school under the jurisdiction of the School Board:

Shall provide assistance to parents of children served by the school or Board, as appropriate, in understanding such topics as the state's academic content standards, state and local academic assessments, the components of the Board's parental involvement program, and how to monitor a child's progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children.
Shall 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, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement.
Shall educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, 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.
Shall, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parent involvement programs and activities with other outreach educational programs, such as Head Start, and public preschool and other 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.
Shall ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to parents in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.
May involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training.
May provide necessary literacy training from federal and state funds received if the Board has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for such training.
May pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parental involvement activities, including transportation, appropriate refreshments, and/or child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions.
May train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents.
May arrange school meetings, at a variety of times and places, or conduct in-home conferences between teachers or other educators who work directly with children, with parents who are unable to attend such conferences at school, in order to maximize parental involvement and participation.
May adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental involvement.
Shall recognize parental activities and/or contributions outside the normal school setting that enhance student academic achievement, such as tutoring, improving attendance, and contributing and preparing school/classroom support materials and services.
May establish a district-wide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in programs.
May develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parental involvement activities.
Shall provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities as parents may request.
Shall provide, to the extent practicable, full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing necessary information and school reports required in a format, and to the extent practicable, in a language such parents understand.

PARENTS' RESPONSIBILITIES

The School Board realizes that a child's education begins at birth. Parents and family members, as their child's primary teachers, play a vital role in the intellectual, social, and emotional growth of their children. A child's development and success is dependent on the direct support a child receives at home. In an effort to promote responsible and successful parenting skills, the Board expects parents to:

Make sure children attend school regularly and arrive at school on time.
Supervise completion of all homework assignments.
Assure proper hygiene and daily cleanliness of their children.
Make sure children are dressed properly, in accordance with the uniform or dress code.
Make sure that children get adequate amounts of sleep nightly.
Visit and discuss their child's academic progress regularly with teachers.
Discuss academic progress and school events regularly with their child.
Instill proper respect for parents, teachers, and other adults.
Volunteer in child's classroom, school, or related activities to the extent feasible and appropriate.
When feasible, attend school-sponsored programs in which their child may participate.
When feasible, join and be active in parent/teacher organizations.

Statement of Compliance

Each student in grades 4-12 and each parent or guardian of a student in grades 4-12, shall annually sign a Statement of Compliance, in accordance with state law. For students, the Statement of Compliance shall state that the student agrees to attend school regularly, arrive at school on time, demonstrate significant effort toward completion of homework assignments, and follow school and classroom rules. For parents, the Statement of Compliance shall state that the parent or legal guardian agrees to ensure his/her child's daily attendance at school, ensure his/her child's arrival at school on time each day, ensure his/her child completes all assigned homework, and attend all required parent/teacher/principal conferences.

SCHOOL-PARENT COMPACT

Each school shall jointly develop with parents a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the State's high standards. Such compact shall:

Describe the school's responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables the children to meet the state's student academic achievement standards, and the ways in which each parent will be responsible for supporting their children's learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, and television watching; volunteering in their child's classroom; contributing services outside the normal school setting; and participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children, and positive use of extracurricular time.

Address the importance of communication between teachers and parents on an ongoing basis through, at a minimum:

a)	parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools, at least annually, during which the compact shall be discussed as the compact relates to the individual child's achievement;
b)	frequent reports to parents on their children's progress;
c)	reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child's class, and scheduled observation of classroom activities; and
d)	parental activities and/or contributions away from the school site that enhance academic achievement.

OTHER PROGRAMS

In conjunction with the district services rendered under the Board's parental involvement program, the School Board shall maintain contact and communication with social service and health agencies, faith-based institutions, and community groups to support key family and community services and issues. In particular, the Acadia Parish School Board has a strong relationship with and support from community and/or governmental organizations such as Families in Need of Services (FINS), Partners in Education, and District Parent/Teacher Association (PTA). One of the primary goals of these groups is to support, supplement, and assist in improving involvement of parents of children in the Acadia Parish public schools.

Ref: 20 USC 6312 (Strengthening and Improvement of Elementary and Secondary Schools)

20 USC 6319 (Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged)

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §17:235.2

Acadia Parish School Board