In addition to the district parent involvement policy, each campus must develop with and distribute to parents of the children enrolled on that campus a written parent involvement plan. The plan must be updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school, and be in a format and language readily understood by parents and district personnel. If the building already has a plan for involving all parents, that plan may be revised to meet the federal requirements.
The written plan must address all of the following requirements.
Strategies for Involvement
Each building must:
¥ hold an annual meeting to inform parents of their schoolÕs participation in Title I, explain Title I ¥ involve parents in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of programs, including the school parental involvement plan and the development of the schoolwide plan
¥ provide parents of participating children:
1. timely information about campus programs
2. an interpretation of the schoolÕs annual performance report
3. an explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of assessment used to measure student progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet
4. if requested by parents, regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, when appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children
5. timely responses to the suggestions made by parents that have been offered in the meetings
¥ include comments from parents of participating children who find any aspect of the schoolwide plan unsatisfactory when it is submitted to the school district.
Shared Responsibilities for High Student Academic Achievement
As a component of the school-level the campus parental involvement plan, each school must jointly develop with parents of participating children a school-parent compact. The compact will outline how parents, the entire school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improving student achievement and describe how the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the TEKS Standards.
The school-parent compact must:
¥ describe the schoolÕs responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment
¥ describe how parents will be responsible for supporting their childÕs learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, and TV viewing; volunteering in their childÕs classroom; participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their child; and positive use of extracurricular time
¥ describe opportunities for parents and teachers to communicate on an ongoing basis including, at a minimum:
1. parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools, at least annually, during which the compact will be discussed in relation to their childÕs achievement
2. frequent reports to parents on the progress of their child
3. reasonable access to staff and opportunities to volunteer, participate, and observe in their childÕs classroom.
Expanding Opportunities for Parent Involvement
To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership with the Title I school, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, each district and participating school must:
¥ provide assistance to participating parents with such topics as
1. understanding the TAKS Standards, the TEKS test and local assessments
2. understanding how to monitor a childÕs progress
3. knowing how to work with teachers to improve the performance of their child
¥ provide parents the training and materials necessary to improve their childÕs achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate ¥ educate, with parental assistance, all school personnel in valuing parent contributions, communicating and working with parents as equal partners, implementing and coordinating parent programs, and building ties between home and school
¥ coordinate and integrate the campus parent involvement program and activities with other existing parent involvement programs, such as Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, Parents as Teachers, Practical Parenting Partnerships, public preschool programs
¥ ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents of children in a format and language they can understand
¥ to the extent appropriate and feasible, provide parent resource centers and opportunities for parents to learn about child development and child rearing issues
¥ provide other reasonable support for Title I parental involvement activities as requested by parents.
The district and participating school may:
¥ pay reasonable and necessary expenses, including transportation and childcare costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and trainings
¥ train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents ¥ provide necessary literacy training if all other available sources of funding have been exhausted
¥ arrange school meetings at a variety of times or other locations to maximize parental involvement and participation
¥ adopt and implement model parent involvement approaches
¥ establish a districtwide parent advisory council to advise on all parent involvement matters
¥ develop appropriate roles for community organizations and businesses in parent involvement activities.