October 21, 2014 October 23, 2014

Type of Work: Contact Meeting Account #s - Certificated: Aides: Agenda 1) School Site Council Responsibilities 2) Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) 3) Title I Parent Involvement 4) Questions?

Contact Meeting Dates District Office Room 1A/B Elementary 3:45PM-5:15PM Secondary 12:30PM-2:00PM TBD 4/21/154/23/15

Site Council Documentation Requirements The State of California holds the Riverside Unified School District accountable for many federal and state educational requirements Many of these mandates for sites are centered around the School Site Council Here are the specific compliance indicators as show in the Compensatory Education – Federal Program Monitoring Instrument Available at:

CE-02 School Parent Involvement Policy I-CE 2. With approval from the local governing board, each Title I school shall jointly develop with, and distribute to, parents of Title I students a written parental involvement policy, agreed upon by such parents and updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (b)(1.)

CE-02 Continued Associated Documents Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) [r] Required and Suggested Documents CE activities for building capacity records [r] School Parent Involvement Policy [r] School-Parent Compact [r] SSC or SAC meeting agenda and minutes about school parent involvement policy [s]

CE-07 School Site Council Composition II-CE 7. The SSC is composed of the following members selected by peers. (EC §§ 52852, 64001(g).) (a) In elementary schools, half the members shall consist of the principal, classroom teachers, and other school personnel. Classroom teachers shall make up a majority of this group. The remaining half of the members shall consist of parents or other community members selected by parents. (b) In secondary schools, half of the members shall consist of the principal, classroom teachers, and other school personnel. Classroom teachers shall make up a majority of this group. The remaining half of the members shall consist of equal numbers of students selected by students, and parents or other community members selected by parents.

CE-07 Continued Associated Documents Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) [r] SSC agendas and minutes [r] Required and Suggested Documents Records of SSC peer selections [r] SSC Roster with membership categories [r]

CE-27 SSC Annually Evaluates SPSA Services (SMART Goal Evaluation) IV-CE 27. The SSC shall annually evaluate the goals and strategies described in the SPSA funded by the Title I and EIA/SCE programs to determine if the needs of all children have been met, particularly the academic achievement needs of low-achieving students and those at risk of not meeting the State's student academic achievement standards. The evaluation shall include a general framework of accepted evaluation procedures to provide adequate information for the SSC to carry out these responsibilities. (20 U.S.C. §§ 6314 (b)(1), (2), 6315(c)(2); EC § (f), (g); 5 CCR §§ 4422.)

CE-27 Continued Associated Documents LEA Title I and EIA/SCE Program Evaluation [r] Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) [r] SSC agendas and minutes [r] Student academic assessment data and evaluation results [r] Required and Suggested Documents CE record of LEA's involvement in SPSA evaluation [s] CE specific program modifications based on evaluation results [s] SPSA evaluation reports [r]

School Site Council and the Site Plan One of the most important roles of the site council is to develop the Single Plan for Student Achivement This Single Plan deals with expenditures for all funds distributed from the Consolidation Application to school sites Title I (Primarily)

CE-08 SSC Approves SPSA The SPSA contains: (a) An analysis of academic performance data to determine students’ needs. (b) School goals to meet the identified academic needs of students. (c) Activities to reach school goals that improve the academic performance of students. (d) Expenditures of funds allocated to the school through the CARS. (e) The means of annually evaluating the progress of programs toward accomplishing the goals, including determining whether the needs of all children have been met by the strategies used, particularly the needs of low- achieving students and those at risk of not meeting state academic content standards. (EC § 64001(f), (g), (h); 20 U.S.C. §§ 6314 (b)(1), (2), 6315 (c)(2).)

CE-08 Continued Associated Documents Consolidated Application and Reporting System (CARS) [r] Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) [r] SPSA budget and expenditure reports [r] SSC agendas and minutes [r] Required and Suggested Documents SSC Evaluation of CE Program in the SPSA [s]

So how do we document well? For site council, it’s all about the minutes Well kept minutes play a huge role in validating the role that the site council has played in fulfilling its obligations Minutes should be detailed enough to show that the parents played an active role in the decision-making process regarding the School Plan

Example 1 The principal shared the SPSA with the site council members. Motion carried Are these minutes good documentation for a reviewer?

Example 2 The principal presented the SPSA to the site council Mrs. Adams said, “I don’t understand what the mission statement means”. The principal responded, “A mission statement is an attempt to define what our day to day work is as a school.” Mrs. Adams said, “I think that our mission statement is missing an element about the English Learners” Mr. Jones said, “I agree. Our English learners need more attention across the board.” The principal said, “English learners are an important priority at our site. Here are the ways in which we support them.” Are these minutes good documentation for a reviewer?

Example 3 The principal presented the SPSA to the Site Council. Parent raised the following concerns: What are all of the programs offered to English Learners in RUSD? What does the mission statement mean for our site? After discussion, the site council made the following modifications to the site plan. Increased details on the English Learner program in RUSD. The mission statement was refined to consider the most recent changes to the school program. Are these minutes good documentation for a reviewer?

Planning Continued On top of documentation of the school plan process, there is a broader issue of what constitutes a good planning process. We are going to take some time to examine the RUSD school plan process from two perspectives: Current RUSD plan timeline and principles of the planning cycle Current plan template and the new CDE template

Quality Schooling Framework Video This short 5 minute video explains the basic elements of developing a school or district plan This video is a great refresher for those of us experienced with the planning process at our sites, and a nice introduction for those without that experience.

What is our current planning cycle? Plan14-15 Plan February 2014 – Send staffing changes to Human Resources May 2014 – Develop budget and staffing list October 2015 – SMART Goal Evaluation November 2014 – Develop Draft 1 of SPSA January 2015 – Final draft of SPSA due March 2015 – Board approval of SPSA

Suggested CDE Cycle

Plus/Delta/Rx Activity Using the information provided, take 5 minutes with a few table partners, and fill out the Plus/Delta/Rx in regards to our current planning process in RUSD Plus = Identifies what is great about the current cycle in Riverside Unified Delta = Identify what could be changed about our current cycle in Riverside Unified Rx = Your prescription for change to the cycle in Riverside Unified

The Plan Itself Now, let’s take a look at the plan template itself You will have both the current RUSD template, as well as CDE’s current sample Template Neither has the budget pages attached, but there is not as much variation in the budget process

Compare/Contrast Activity We are going to compare and contrast these two templates for the school plan Keep in mind both equally meet federal and state compliance requirements, so analyze from the following perspectives Usability from the perspective of writing and editing Accessibility for a wide range of stakeholders, including parents, school staff, students, and the community Considering these factors, does the new template provide enough positives to make a change worthwhile in the context of all of the changes currently underway?

Some Key Areas to Look for Differences Goal structure Subgroups versus overall Number and type of mandatory goal categories Use of paragraph narratives Overall length

Parent Involvement Continued I-CE 2. With approval from the local governing board, each Title I school shall jointly develop with, and distribute to, parents of Title I students a written parental involvement policy, agreed upon by such parents and updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (b)(1.)

Key Elements of the Parental Involvement Policy 2.1 The school-level policy shall describe the means for carrying out the requirements of subsections 20 U.S.C. § 6318 (c) through (f): Policy Involvement Shared Responsibilities for High Student Academic Achievement Building Capacity for Involvement Accessibility

Policy Involvement Policy Involvement. Each Title I school shall involve Title I parents by means of the following activities: (a) Convene an annual meeting to inform parents of participating students of the requirements of Title I and their right to be involved. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (c)(1).) (b) Offer a flexible number of meetings. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (c)(2).) (c) Involve parents of participating students, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of its Title I programs and parental involvement policy. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (c)(3).) (d) Provide parents of participating students with timely information about Title I programs. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (c)(4)(A).) (e) Provide parents of participating students with an explanation of the curriculum, academic assessment, and proficiency levels students are expected to meet. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (c)(4)(B).) (f) Provide parents of participating students, if requested, with opportunities for regular meetings to participate in decisions relating to the education of their children and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (c)(4)(C).)

Shared Responsibilities for High Student Academic Achivement 2.3 Shared Responsibilities for High Student Academic Achievement. The school-parent compact shall be jointly developed with and distributed to parents of Title I students. The school-parent compact shall outline how parents, the entire school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and describe the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the state content standards. The compact: (a) Describes the school’s responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables students to meet the state standards. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (d)(1).) (b) Describes the parents' responsibility to support their children’s learning. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (d)(1)) (c) Addresses the importance of ongoing communication between parents and teachers through, at a minimum, annual conferences, reports on student progress, reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class, and observation of classroom activities. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (d)(2).)

Building Capacity 2.4 Building Capacity for Involvement. To build capacity for involvement of parents, each school and LEA shall: (a) Assist parents in understanding academic content and achievement standards and assessments and how to monitor and improve the achievement of their children. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (e)(1).) (b) Provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s achievement. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (e)(2).) (c) Educate staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value of parent contributions and how to work with parents as equal partners. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (e)(3).) (d) Coordinate and integrate parental involvement with other programs and conduct activities that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (e)(4).) (e) Distribute information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities to the parents of participating students in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents understand. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (e)(5).) (f) Provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under this section as parents may request. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (e)(1).)

Accessibility 2.5 Accessibility. Each school and LEA shall provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory students including providing information and school reports required under Section 6311 in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language such parents understand. (20 U.S.C. § 6318 (f).)

So, what’s the bottom line? There’s a lot of text here, but what does the district collect? Associated Documents (in Doc-Tracking website) Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) [r] Required and Suggested Documents (In Compliance Upload Haiku) School Parent Involvement Policy [r] School-Parent Compact [r] SSC or SAC meeting agenda and minutes about school parent involvement policy [s]

Questions? Next meeting TBD based upon further developments in regards to the School Plan