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Family Involvement: What Schools and Districts Should Know

Michelle Jensen, Ph.D.Family and Community InvolvementOregon Department of Educationmichelle.jensen@state.or.us

OACE 1/2006

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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

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

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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

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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 http://www.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/parentinvguid.doc

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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”

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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

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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

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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:

http://www.ode.state.or.us/opportunities/grants/nclb/title_i/a_basicprograms/transactquickstartguide.pdf or on the ODE main search page type in “Transact”

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Families must be invited to actively participate in ways that are:

Regular

Two-way

Meaningful

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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

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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 329.125).

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 329.095).

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Best Practices and Effective Strategies

Family Involvement Network of Educators at Harvard Family Research Project:www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/fine.html

Epstein’s 6 Types of Family Involvement:http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/sixtypes.htm

Office of English Language Acquisition Family Involvement Toolkit:www.ncela.gwu.edu/oela/summit2004/cd/parent_toolkit.pdf

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Tools and Resources

Keep checking the ODE website at www.state.or.us

“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!