Colquitt County School System Federal Programs

Colquitt County School System Federal Programs

710 28th Ave. S. E.

Moultrie, Ga. 31768

229-890-6231

Dr. Samuel DePaul, Superintendent

Mr. James Harrell, Federal Programs Director

Parental Involvement inEducation

Part I

GENERALEXPECTATIONS

The Colquitt County Board of Education affirms and assures the rights of parentsand teachers of children being served in activities funded by Title I, Elementaryand Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) by providing opportunities to participate inthe design and implementation of theseactivities.

The Colquitt County School District agrees to implement the followingstatutory requirements:

The school district will put into operation programs, activities, and proceduresfor the involvement of parents in all of its schools with Title I, Part Aprograms, consistent with Section 1118 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Actof 1965 (ESEA).These programs, activities, and procedures will be plannedand operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participatingchildren.

Consistent with Section 1118, the school district will work with its schoolsto ensure that the required school - level parental involvement policies meetthe requirements of Section 1118(b) of the ESEA, and each include, asa component, a school – parent compact consistent with Section 1118(d) ofthe ESEA.

The school district will incorporate this districtwide parental involvementpolicy into its LEA plan developed under section 1112 of theESEA.

In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental involvement requirements, to theextent practicable, the school district and its schools will provide full opportunities forthe participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents withdisabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information andschool reports required under section 1111 of the ESEA in an understandableand uniform format and, including alternative formats upon request and, to theextent practicable, in a language parentsunderstand.

If the LEA plan for Title I, Part A, developed under section 1112 of the ESEA,is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school districtwill

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submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submitsthe plan to the State Department ofEducation.

The school district will involve the parents of children served in Title I, PartA schools in decisions about how the one percent of Title I, Part A fundsreserved for parental involvement is spent, and will ensure that not less than 95 percentof the one percent reserved goes directly to theschools.

The school district will inform parents and parental organizations of thepurpose and existence of the Parent Involvement Resource Center in the stateof Georgia.

The school district will be governed by the following statutory definitionof parental involvement, and expects that its Title I schools will carry outprograms, activities and procedures in accordance with thisdefinition:

Parental involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way,and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and otherschool activities, including ensuring—

that parents play an integral role in assisting their child’slearning;
that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in theirchild’s education atschool;
that Parents are full partners in their child’s education and are included,as appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory committees to assistin the education of theirchild;
the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section118 of theESEA

Part II

DISTRICTWIDE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICYCOMPONENTS

1.The Colquitt County School District will take the following actions to involve parentsin the joint development of its districtwide parental involvement plan under section 1112of theESEA:

Host a parent feedback meeting annually for all parents to participate inthe analysis of the parental involvement plan and to discuss the plan’seffectiveness in meeting the needs of the students and requirements of the Title IProgram.

Distribute parent feedback forms to all parents of students enrolled in TitleI schools to involve parents in the development of this policy, the district plan,and use of parent involvementfunds.

Provide parents access to the information in the districts parentalinvolvement policy and plan through the district website and engage in opencommunication about the plan during parent meetings, such as thefollowing:

Annual Title I PublicMeeting
School Advisory CouncilMeetings
Migrant Parent Advisory CouncilMeeting

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OpenHouse
ParentWorkshops
ParentConferences

2.The Colquitt County School District will take the following actions to involve parentsin the process of school improvement under section 1116 of theESEA:

Provide parent access to each school’s Title I plan, budget, compact,parental involvement policy, and brochure via each school’s website. Astakeholder feedback form will also be provided to facilitate parent involvement inthe development of these documents and in the expenditure offunds.

Hold an annual meeting for parents of students in the Title I program todiscuss the review and implementation of the Title I plan and how Title I funds forparent involvement activities will beused.

Distribute an annual written survey to all parents of children enrolled in TitleI schools to involve parents in the process of design, review, and improvementof the Title Iprogram.

Review the effectiveness of the actions and activities the schools are carryingout under this part with respect to parental involvement, forprofessional development, and other activities and provide opportunity for all parentinput throughout the year in multipleways.

3.The Colquitt County School District will provide the following necessarycoordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I, Part A schools in planningand implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve studentacademic achievement and schoolperformance:

Employee a system-wide Parent Involvement Director that providessupport to assist in planning and implementing effective parent involvement. Animportant responsibility of the system Parent Involvement coordinator is to join forceswith each school’s personnel as well as the community agencies to nurturea supportive spirit among schools, parents, and thecommunity.

Employ a Title I director that provides guidance and support toadministrators and the Parental Involvement coordinator through emails, telephonecalls, meetings,ETC.

Review school parent involvement plans to ensure compliance,including documentation from parent meetings showing it was developed jointly withparent input.

4.The Colquitt County School District will coordinate and integrate parentalinvolvement strategies in Title I with parental involvement strategies under the followingother programs: Head Start, specific home instructional activities, and Georgia stateoperated preschool programsby:

Collaborating with external early education programs to develop aneffective program that prepares young learners for grade school and parents forschool transition.

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Coordinating with early educational programs to invite families andpreschool children into the schools to take a tour and participate in plannedactivities.

5.The Colquitt County School District will take the following actions to conduct, withthe involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness ofthis 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 inparental involvement activities (with particular attention to parents who areeconomically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy,or are of any racial or ethnic minority background). The school district will use thefindings of the evaluation about its parental involvement policy and activities to designstrategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary (and withthe involvement of parents) its parental involvementpolicies.

Parent meetings (Migrant PAC, Annual Title IMeeting) Feedback from focusgroups

Surveys (take-home, electronic, phonecall)

Offer a variety of opportunities for parents to be involved in their child’seducation Publicize (website, phone calls, flyers, etc.) all activities in multiple waysto ensure families areinformed.

Provide assistance to schools throughout year asneeded

6.The Colquitt County School District will build the schools’ and parents’ capacityfor strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents andto support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the communityto improve student academic achievement, through the following activitiesspecifically describedbelow:

A.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 thefollowing:

the State’s academic contentstandards,

the State’s student academic achievementstandards,

The State and local academic assessments includingalternate assessments,

The requirements of Title I, PartA, how to monitor their child’sprogress, how to work witheducators

Title I director and the Title I Parent Coordinator will attend TitleI meetings, listen to Webinars and attendtraining/conferences provided by GADOE to stay up to date with Title I requirementsand help ensure parents are provided with tool to aid in learningat home
All Title I schools will host parentmeeting/workshops/classes
Send home information via written correspondence,take-home folders, in planners,ETC.

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Post information on websites, districts and each individualschool
Using the automated calling system to keep parentsinformed

B.The school district will, with the assistance of its schools, provide materialsand training to help parents work with their children to improve theirchildren’s academic achievement, such as literacy training, and using technology,as appropriate, to foster parental involvement,by:

Hosting parent/family workshops that promote literacytraining

Providing take-home learning materials that provide tips and ideas tofor helping children in core subjectareas

C.The school district will, with the assistance of its schools and parents, educateits teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff, in how to reachout to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, in the valueand utility of contributions of parents, and in how to implement and coordinateparent programs and build ties between parents and schools,by:

Providing adequate Professional Development for schoolstaff/parent involvement on a yearly basis to address a variety of topics thatmay include but are not limited to thefollowing

Communicating with Parents
Including Parents in the HomeworkProcess
The Basics of ParentInvolvement/Engagement
Promoting CulturalCompetency

Hosting parent meetings for parents to provide feedback regardingthe best practices forcommunication.

Disseminating a parent survey annually requesting input abouteffective school/homecommunication

D.The school district will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinateand integrate parental involvement programs and activities with Head Start,home instructional programs, programs to build parent capacity, publicpreschool programs, and conduct other activities, that encourage and support parentsin more fully participating in the education of their children,by

coordinating parent involvement efforts to have a greater impact onthe community

coordinating the use of parent resources (technology, books,supplies)

E.The school district will take the following actions to ensure thatinformation related to the school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities, issent to the parents of participating children in an understandable and uniformformat, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, ina language the parents canunderstand:

Provide an interpreter as needed for parentmeetings

Provide written communications in a language parents canunderstand

F.Provide other reasonable support for parental involvement activitiesunder Section 1118 as parents mayrequest.

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Part III

All requests should be submitted to the principal at each Title I school.The principal will then forward such requests to the Title IDirecto

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ADDITIONAL DISTRICT WIDE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICYCOMPONENTS

The Colquitt County School District may: Involve parents in the developmentof training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improvethe effectiveness of thattraining.

Provide necessary literacy training for parents with Title I, Part A funds, ifthe school district has exhausted all other reasonably available sourcesof funding for thattraining.

Train parents to enhance the involvement of otherparents.

Arrange school meetings at a variety of times

Adopt and implement model approaches to improving parentalinvolvement.

Establish a districtwide parent advisory council to provide advice onall matters related to parental involvement in Title I, Part Aprograms.

Develop appropriate roles for community-based organizationsand businesses, including faith-based organizations, in parentalinvolvement activities

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