FILE: IFD
PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT
In support of strengthening student academic achievement, Avoyelles Parish Schools receives Title I, Part A funds and therefore must jointly develop with, agree on with, and distribute to parents and family members of participating children a written parent and family engagement policy that contains information required by Section 1116(a)(2) of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The policy establishes the LEA's expectations and objectives for meaningful parent and family engagement and describes how the LEA will implement a number of specific parent and family engagement activities, and it is incorporated into the LEA's plan submitted to the Louisiana Department of Education.
Part I. GENERAL EXPECTATIONS
The Avoyelles Parish Schools agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:
The school district will put into operation programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents in all of its schools with Title I, Part A programs, consistent with section 1118 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Those programs, activities and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.
Consistent with section 1118, the school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level parental involvement policies meet the requirements of section 1118(b) of the ESEA, and each include, as a component, a school-parent compact consistent with section 1118(d) of the ESSA.
The school district will incorporate this district wide parental involvement policy into its LEA plan developed under section 1112 of the ESSA.
In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school district and its schools will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports required under section 1111 of the ESSA in an understandable and uniform format and, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.
If the LEA plan for Title I, Part A, developed under Section 1112 of the ESSA, is not satisfactory to the parts of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submits the plan to the state Department of Education.
The school district will involve the parents of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the 1 percent of Title I, Part A funds reserved for parental involvement is spent, and will ensure that not less than 95 percent of the one percent reserved goes directly to the schools.
The school district will be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement, and expects that its Title I schools will carry out programs, activities and procedures in accordance with this definition:
Parental involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring:
Parents play an integral role in assisting their child's learning
Parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child's education at school
Parents are full partners in their child's education and are included, as appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child
Other activities are carried out, such as those described in Section 1116 of the ESSA
The school district will inform parents and parental organizations of the purpose and existence of the Parental Information and Resource Center in the State.
PART II. DESCRIPTION OF HOW DISTRICT WILL IMPLEMENT REQUIRED DISTRICT WIDE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS
The Avoyelles School District will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its district wide parental involvement plan under section 1112 of the ESSA:
The Avoyelles School District will take the following actions to involve parents and family members in jointly developing its LEA plan under Section 1112, and the development of support and improvement plans under paragraphs (1) and (2) of Section 1111(d) of the ESEA
The Avoyelles School District will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement under section 1116 of the ESSA:
The Title I Parent Involvement Plan and the Comprehensive LEA Improvement Plan are reviewed and/or revised annually. The school district uses parent, faculty and student surveys results from previous year to determine effectiveness and make changes to plans. Drafts of the Parent Involvement Plan are presented for parental review at least two separate times in order to gather parental input. The comments and suggestions of parents are considered before the final draft of the plan is completed. Agendas, sign-in sheets, and parental input is maintained by the Title I office.
The Avoyelles School District will provide the following necessary coordination! technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance:
The Avoyelles School District will provide the following coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist and build capacity of all Title I, Part A schools 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.
The Avoyelles School District will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the following other programs: State-operated preschool programs, by:
The Title I Coordinator and Parent Involvement Coordinator assist and provide coordination of support to each school as needed. The Title I Parent Involvement Coordinator assists parents in improving their child's achievement by providing materials and training throughout the year. Schools have a parent resource center that houses materials for parents to take home and/or check-out. The Center further provides learning opportunities for parents that promote literacy, parental development, use of technology, effective communication with educators, decision-making skills — related to the education of their children, and methods for monitoring their children's progress. This ensures the effective planning and implementation of parent involvement activities.
School-Parent-Student Compact is explained, discussed, and signed with parents and students at the beginning of the school year or during the Title I Orientation/ Open House Meeting, and is discussed at the district Parent Advisory Council meeting. Parents receive copies. New registrants discuss and sign the School-Parent-Student Compact and are given a copy, along with other required Title I documents at registration. Parents and/or teachers may elect to review and/or revise an individual student's School-Parent-Student Compact to accommodate that student's individual needs. Each school annually revises the School-Parent-Student Compact with input from parents.
The Avoyelles School District will take the following actions to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parental involvement policy in improving the quality of its Title I, Part A schools. The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in parental involvement activities (with particular attention 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 district will use the findings of the evaluation about its parental involvement policy and activities to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary (and with the involvement of parents) its parental involvement policies.
The Avoyelles School District will take the following actions to conduct, with the meaningful involvement of parents and family members, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parent and family engagement policy in improving the academic quality of its Title I, Part A schools. The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in activities (with particular attention 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 evaluation will also include identifying the needs of parents and family members to assist with the learning of their children, including engaging with school personnel and teachers and strategies to support successful school and family interactions. The school district will use the findings of the evaluation about its parent and family engagement policy to design evidence-basted strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary, its parent and family engagement policies.
The Title I Parent Engagement Plan is reviewed and/or revised annually. A district-wide survey is administered annually. Parents are given at least two opportunities to participate in the survey, by written or online questionnaire. Parent meetings are held at various sites/times to maximize parent participation. Parents are given the opportunity to provide input. All parents' comments, suggestions, and/or written feedback are collected and maintained in the Title I Office. Parent input, along with survey results from local schools, are used to determine the effectiveness of the program; to identify barriers to parent participation; and to increase opportunities for parent participation. In addition to the annual survey, small surveys are taken at every Title I parent meeting and /or workshop. Results are used to make revisions and/or to plan future workshops.
The Avoyelles School District will build the schools' and parent's capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, through the following activities specifically described below:
The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I, Part A schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school district or school, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following, by undertaking the actions described in this paragraph –
the State's academic content standards,
the State's student academic achievement standards,
the State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments,
the requirements of Part A,
how to monitor their child's progress, and
how to work with educators:
The school district will, with the assistance of its schools, provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children's academic achievement, such as literacy training, and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement, by:
The school district will, with the assistance of its schools and parents, educate its teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff, in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and schools, by:
Administration will hold an annual meeting to discuss the school's improvement plan and its alignment to the school's parent and family engagement policy.
Faculty, parent, and community input will be used to write the school's parent and family engagement policy.
The school district parent and family engagement coordinator will hold three yearly trainings with school personnel to offer suggestions and share ideas on how to improve school and parent/family relations.
The school district will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with 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, by:
The Title I Coordinator and Parent Involvement Coordinator assist and provide coordination of support to each school as needed. The Title I Parent Involvement Coordinator assists parents in improving their child's achievement by providing materials and training throughout the year. Schools have a parent resource center that houses materials for parents to take home and/or check-out. The Center further provides learning opportunities for parents that promote literacy, parental development, use of technology, effective communication with educators, decision-making skills related to the education of their children, and methods for monitoring their children's progress. This ensures the effective planning and implementation of parent involvement activities.
Parents are supported in meeting their basic obligation as their child's first teacher. This is accomplished in part through a Parent Resource Center facilitated by the Title I Parent Involvement Coordinator, a certified teacher. The coordinator assists parents in improving their child's achievement by providing materials and training throughout the year. A Parent Resource Center houses materials for parents to check-out. The Center further provides learning opportunities for parents that promote literacy, parental development, use of technology, effective communication with educators, decision-making skills related to the education of their children, and methods for monitoring their children's progress.
Meetings/trainings are provided to assist parents in understanding of the National/state/district education goals, content standards, and curriculum, educational rights/responsibilities under the ESEA and Title I, Part A, school district and state assessments, and reading, writing, and math skills and strategies. Parents are also provided with additional learning opportunities that promote oral and written English literacy, goal setting/tracking goal progress, and methods for monitoring their children's progress.
The school district will take the following actions to ensure that information related to the school and parent- programs, meetings, and other activities, is sent to the parents of participating children in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand:
The Avoyelles School District will coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement strategies with parent and family engagement strategies, to the extent feasible and appropriate, with other relevant Federal, State, and local laws and programs: Special Education, English Language Learners (EL), Pre-K, Head Start, and other programs as appropriate that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children by:
Continuously communicating with parents via multiple media, including:
Local school websites and teacher websites
Local media and community/business partners
Parent-teacher conferences, parent workshops, Parent Resource Center
Newsletters, emails, signs, posters, and text messaging
Telephone
Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, App., etc.)
Jcampus Jcalls
All communications are in an easy-to-understand language. Translations for other languages may be provided upon request, and to the extent practicable.
PART III. DISCRETIONARY DISTRICT WIDE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS
NOTE: The School District-wide Parental Involvement Policy may, include additional paragraphs listing and describing other discretionary activities that the school district, in consultation with its parents, chooses to undertake to build parents' capacity for involvement in the school and school system to support their children's academic achievement, such as the following discretionary activities listed under section 1118(e) of the ESSA:
involving parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of that training;
providing necessary literacy training for parents from Title I, Part A funds, if the school district has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for that training;
training parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;
in order to maximize parental involvement and participation in their children's education, arranging school meetings at a variety of times, or conducting in-home conferences between teachers or other educators, who work directly with participating children, with parents who are unable to attend those conferences at school;
adopting and implementing model approaches to improving parental involvement;
establishing a district wide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in Title I, Part A programs;
developing appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses, including faith-based organizations, in parental involvement activities; and
providing other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under section 1118 as parents may request.
PART IV. ADOPTION
This School District-wide Parental Involvement Policy has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs, as evidenced by the district annual request for community and parent input on February 24, 2021.
Revised: December, 2017
Revised: May 4, 2021
Revised: June 7, 2022
Ref: 20 USC 6312 (Part A – Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies)
20 USC 6318 (Parental and Family Engagement)
La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §17:235.2
Avoyelles Parish School Board