PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS Corina Ene - Director of Policy and Research Debbie Pham – Program Specialist Office of Federal Programs

ESSA Requirements Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Section 1114(b)(2) stipulates that Schoolwide plans must be developed with the involvement of: • parents and other members of the community to be served; • individuals who will carry out such plan, including teachers, principals, other school leaders, paraprofessionals present in the school, administrators; • the local educational agency; • tribes and tribal organizations present in the community (to the extent feasible); • specialized instructional support personnel; • technical assistance providers; • school staff; • students (if the plan relates to a secondary school); and • other individuals determined by the school. 2 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

What Is Parent Engagement? Meaningful parent engagement is when schools recognize parents as valuable sources in supporting student achievement, and acknowledge them as partners in shaping children’s educational background. 3 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

What Is the Impact of Parent Involvement? Research indicates that, when parents are involved, students have: • Better school attendance; • Lower rates of suspension; • Decreased use of drugs and alcohol; • Better self-esteem and increased motivation to do good in school; • Higher grades, test scores, and graduation rates; • Fewer instances of violent behavior. 4 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Where Does Parent and Community Stakeholder Involvement Start? • Begin by conducting a school Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA); • Based upon the results of the CNA, identify strategies to increase family and community stakeholder involvement; • Convene an annual meeting and invite parents and community stakeholders; • Advertise the meeting early, giving ample notice and using a variety of communication methods (emails, flyers, posters, social media, etc. ); • Offer flexible hours of the meeting to accommodate their schedule; • Explain the ESSA requirements and parents’ right to be involved in school programs and activities; • Organize opportunities for them to plan, develop and improve programs, such as Schoolwide Plan and Parent Involvement Policy. 5 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Strategies to Increase Parent and Family Involvement 1) Provide a welcoming environment for families and ensure a mutual support among school staff and parents as partners in shaping their child's education. • Establish a school environment that is clean, welcoming, and it has signage available to help parents easily navigate the school campus; • Establish a communication policy that is timely, positive, and it is in a language parents can understand; • Train parents on understanding the process of communication with school personnel; • Train staff on how to make every interaction and engagement with parents positive and valuable, how to invite parents to visit their classrooms, to volunteer, and to share insight of their children’s personality. 6 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Strategies to Increase Parent and Family Involvement (cont. ) 2) Develop school's vision and mission for student success in collaboration with parents and stakeholders. • Do not just create school's vision and mission for student success in isolation, and then communicate the results to families; • Instead, invite parents and stakeholders to be part of developing and shaping school's vision and mission for student success, and strive to base them on the beliefs and values of the families and community stakeholders who represent the most at-risk students. 7 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Strategies to Increase Parent and Family Involvement (cont. ) 3) Involve parents and stakeholders in improvement strategies that are based on the identified needs. • After conducting the Comprehensive Needs Assessment, always refer to the identified needs when developing strategies for improvement; • Involve parents in these strategies, and work together to improve student outcomes. 8 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Strategies to Increase Parent and Family Involvement (cont. ) 4) Provide parents opportunities to obtain necessary information, knowledge, and skills to support their children’s education at home and at school. • Create a Parent and Family Engagement team that will coordinate all efforts to implement an effective plan for family engagement, including the school-parent compact; • Include parents and community stakeholders who reflect the demographic composition of the school (including those who represent the most at-risk students) as decision makers in a broad spectrum of school decisions, including the development and monitoring of the Title I Schoolwide Plan; • Create a Parent and Family Engagement center where staff and parents receive training and support to carry out their roles and ensure equipment/technology are adequate to support these activities; • Offer parent education classes to the parents, to strengthen their skills to support learning at home. 9 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Strategies to Increase Parent and Family Involvement (cont. ) 5) Engage parents in school’s volunteering program so they can participate in supporting schoolwide activities, classroom and parent involvement activities. • Invite all parents to participate in school's volunteer program to support teachers in the classroom as well as in schoolwide activities; • Designate a staff person to oversee the school volunteer program; • Provide training for volunteers based on their assignment and need; • Annually assess the impact of the volunteer program on school operations, school climate, and student performance. 10 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Strategies to Increase Parent and Family Involvement (cont. ) 6) Be responsive to parent concerns and complaints to ensure child’s educational needs are met. • Inform parents and staff about Parents’ Rights To Know and their responsibilities under the Parent Compact, and post this information in key areas of the campus; • Respect the rights of parents and children in order to promote trust; • Train staff to be respectful and informative in interactions with parents; • Provide timely resolutions to parent concerns and have an approach that is supportive of student learning; • Develop a complaint process and inform parents how they can express their concerns or complaints; • Follow these protocols in a fair and consistent manner. 11 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Now That You Partnered With Parents, What's Next? • Involve parents in the Title I team and start developing the Schoolwide Plan; • Based on the results of Needs Assessment, establish goals and stay on track of meeting these goals; • Stay in close communication with parents regarding the development of the Schoolwide Plan; • If possible, make the Schoolwide Plan available in languages and formats accessible for every family and community stakeholder of the school. 12 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Parent and Community Stakeholder Involvement Component of the Schoolwide Plan in Oklahoma When developing the narrative answer for this component of the Schoolwide Plan, ensure that it falls under “Meets Expectations”, or at least it is in the “Developing” stage. 13 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Parent and Community Stakeholder Involvement Component of the Schoolwide Plan in Oklahoma (cont. ) Meets Expectations stage: 1) Specific strategies to increase family and community stakeholder involvement, particularly among those who represent the most at-risk students, based upon results of the Needs Assessment have been identified and implemented. 14 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Parent and Community Stakeholder Involvement Component of the Schoolwide Plan in Oklahoma (cont. ) Meets Expectations stage: 2) Parents and community stakeholders who reflect the demographic composition of the school, including those who represent the most at-risk students, are included as decision makers in a broad spectrum of school decisions, including the development and monitoring of the Title I Schoolwide Plan. 15 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Parent and Community Stakeholder Involvement Component of the Schoolwide Plan in Oklahoma (cont. ) Meets Expectations stage: 3) The school vision and mission for student success are collaboratively developed based on the beliefs and values of the school community, including families and community stakeholders who represent the most at-risk students. 16 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Parent and Community Stakeholder Involvement Component of the Schoolwide Plan in Oklahoma (cont. ) Meets Expectations stage: 4)The Title I Schoolwide Plan, as well as all communication regarding its development, evaluation, and revision processes, are available in languages and formats accessible for every family and community stakeholder of the school. 17 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Parent and Community Stakeholder Involvement Component of the Schoolwide Plan in Oklahoma (cont. ) Developing Stage: 1) Specific strategies to increase parental involvement have been identified and implemented and may be loosely aligned with the Needs Assessment. 18 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Parent and Community Stakeholder Involvement Component of the Schoolwide Plan in Oklahoma (cont. ) Developing Stage: 2) Parents and community stakeholders who may or may not reflect the demographic composition of the school are included as decision makers in the development of the Title I Schoolwide Plan. 19 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Parent and Community Stakeholder Involvement Component of the Schoolwide Plan in Oklahoma (cont. ) Developing Stage: 3) The school vision and mission for student success are communicated to families and are based on the beliefs and values of the school community. 20 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Parent and Community Stakeholder Involvement Component of the Schoolwide Plan in Oklahoma (cont. ) Developing Stage: 4) The Title I Schoolwide Plan is available in multiple languages and formats. 21 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Parent and Community Stakeholder Involvement Component of the Schoolwide Plan in Oklahoma (cont. ) Take immediate action and progress to the “developing” stage if you find any of the following as true: 1)Specific strategies to increase parental involvement have not been identified and implemented, or they may not be aligned with the Needs Assessment; 2)Parents and family members are advised of school decisions, including the creation of the Title I Schoolwide Plan; 3)The school vision and mission for student success may not reflect the beliefs and values of the school community or may not be embraced by families or community members; 4)The Title I Schoolwide Plan is posted in English on the school’s website. 22 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Wrapping-up the Parent and Community Involvement in the Schoolwide Plan After the narrative in Section 1 of the Schoolwide Plan was finalized, then: • Take input from the stakeholders; • Move on to the next section, if no adjustments are needed. 23 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Helpful Hints for Completing the Plan as pdf Document • Use either Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is free, or Acrobat Pro, which requires a license to be purchased; • Type the responses directly into the pdf form, in the designated text box; • When typing on the form, the text box does not change, and one must continue scrolling down to complete the responses; • Cannot paste into, or attach graphs and charts to, the form; • May upload graphs and charts in GMS, in addition to the template. However, the graphs and charts should be converted to PDF. 24 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

25 Questions? PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Contacts Corina Ene Director of Policy and Research Office of Federal Programs Phone: (405)522 -1929 corina. ene@sde. ok. gov Debbie Pham Program Specialist/SW-TA Coordinator Office of Federal Programs Phone: (405)521 -6785 debbie. pham@sde. ok. gov 26 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS

Resources • ESSA, P. L. 115– 224, July 31, 2018 • http: //home. lausd. net/ourpages/pcsb/pubs/school_goals_engl. pdf 27 PARENT AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLWIDE SCHOOLS