1 Family Involvement: What Schools and Districts Should Know Michelle Jensen, Ph.D. Family and Community Involvement Oregon Department of Education OACE 1/2006

2 What to expect today:  Review of family involvement  State and federal requirements  Current ODE family involvement efforts  Some tools to help schools and districts successfully meet family involvement challenges  Questions and challenges

3 Review of Family Involvement: Definition  “Family” includes parent, legal guardian, adult acting in loco parentis (step parent, grandparent, etc.)  Widely recognized aspects are school & home involvement  Epstein’s research-based framework

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5 Epstein’s Model: Students Learn and Grow in 3 Contexts

6 6 Types of Family Involvement (Epstein, 1993) 1. Parenting--Child rearing, parenting, child/adolescent development, setting limits and expectations 2. Communicating— Communication between schools and families about student progress and school programs 3. Volunteering—Most effective when linked to achievement

7 6 Types of Family Involvement (cont’d) 4. Learning at home—School readiness, literacy/reading, homework support, linking schoolwork to real life experiences 5. Decision-making– Including parents in leadership and governance opportunities e.g. PTA/PTO, site council, Title I planning, etc. 6. Community collaboration— Coordinating resources, services and programs between schools, families and community agencies.

8 Benefits of Family Involvement  Increased student achievement  Improved attendance  Improved student attitude and behavior  More homework completed  Increased graduation and post- secondary enrollment (Clark, 1993; Griffith, 1996; Dauber & Epstein, 1993)

9 The most accurate predictor of a student’s achievement is NOT income or social status, but the extent to which the student’s family is able to:  Create a home environment that encourages learning  Express high (but not unrealistic) expectations for their children’s achievement and future careers  Become involved in their children’s education at school and in the community. Notes from Research: Parent Involvement and Student Achievement, San Diego County Office of Education, 1997.

10 Federal Requirements  Parent and community involvement is a requirement by the federal NCLB Act. (Titles I, II, III, IV, V, IX)  Parental Involvement Title I, Subpart A, Non-Regulatory Guidance arta/parentinvguid.doc

11 NCLB Title I, Section 1118 Requires:  Written (updated) parent involvement policy  Reserve of 1% from Title 1A funds (95% of which must be allocated to and spent from the school level  Use funds to “build capacity” of parents and “support parent partnerships”

12 NCLB (cont’d)  Full participation opportunities for underrepresented groups  Written school parent involvement policy  School-level parent involvement activities, including annual parent meeting and individual student progress reports  School-parent compacts

13 NCLB Parent Notifications  Highly qualified staff  Services for ELL students  Title I eligibility in Targeted Assistance Schools  AYP reports  District and school report cards  School improvement sanctions  Persistently dangerous school

14 TransAct for Districts:  Unlimited, no-cost access to online parent notifications in multiple languages to meet NCLB and OCR requirements  For complete listing of all NCLB required notifications in go to: rants/nclb/title_i/a_basicprograms/transact quickstartguide.pdfhttp:// rants/nclb/title_i/a_basicprograms/transact quickstartguide.pdf or on the ODE main search page type in “Transact”

15 Families must be invited to actively participate in ways that are:  Regular  Two-way  Meaningful

16 School-Family Communication Communication to families must be understandable to all families to the extent possible in a language and format they can understand.  Language  Accessibility  Readability

17 State Recommendations  State law policy on parental and community participation recommends but does not require districts to provide opportunities for parents to be involved in educational goals and decision-making (ORS ).  Re. school district self-evaluations, local district improvement plans and departments’ technical assistance programs, state law encourages districts to undertake a communications process that involves parents, students, teachers, school employees and community representatives to explain and discuss the local goals and their relationship to programs under this chapter (ORS ).

18 Family Involvement and the Continuous Improvement Planning (CIP) Indicators  Families and communities are active partners working together with schools and districts to promote programs and services for all students.  Effective communication strategies— multiple communication strategies and contexts to disseminate information to all stakeholders and, communicate regularly with families about individual student progress.  Families are welcome in the school and their support and assistance are sought— Schools create welcoming environments for parents and, parents’ support and assistance are actively sought.

19 CIP (cont’d)  Authentic relationships with communities, businesses and higher education— School and district staff members engage in authentic relationships with communities, businesses and institutions of higher education to strengthening the education program and improve student performance.  Community resources strengthen schools, families’ and student learning, and student learning.  Parenting and family skills are promoted and supported

20 Current ODE Family Involvement Efforts  Multiple stakeholders and communities Education Administration Business Community Agencies State agencies  Inter-agency across departments Goals: sustainability, utility, accessibility, culturally competent, best practices

21 Current ODE Family Involvement Efforts (NCLB/CIP) Family Involvement Policy  District/school policy development pilot  SBE  Document highlighting/linking to federal guidelines Best Practices  Toolkit for schools/districts Research Strategies Programs Resources and templates

22 ODE Efforts (cont’d) Web  ODE—REAL/SSS, Supt. Priority  Outside project Closing the Achievement Gap conference (April 28-29)  Family/community involvement strand Projects with partners  Report card indicators (Chalkboard Project)  ODE-OSU video project

23 Best Practices and Effective Strategies  Family Involvement Network of Educators at Harvard Family Research Project: /fine.html  Epstein’s 6 Types of Family Involvement: xtypes.htm  Office of English Language Acquisition Family Involvement Toolkit: 004/cd/parent_toolkit.pdf

24 Tools and Resources Keep checking the ODE website at “Superintendent Priorities,” homepage on right “Teaching and Learning,” menu on left, then click on “REAL” then “Strategies for Student Success” Toolkit coming in April at CTAG conference. Thank you!