Title I, Part a Parent Involvement Policy

Spring Independent School District

Title I, Part A Parent Involvement Policy

2016 – 2017

Spring Independent School District will implement the following No Child Left Behind requirements:

1. Spring ISD, with meaningful collaboration with parents of participating children, will implement programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents at all of its Title I, Part A schools.
2. Spring ISD will develop jointly with, agree on with, and distribute to parents of participating children the District’s written Parent Involvement Policy. The District will incorporate this policy into the District’s plan.
3. Spring ISD will provide technical assistance for all of its Title I, Part A schools to develop jointly with parents the school’s written Parent Involvement Policy and theSchool-Parent Compact.
4. Spring ISD will provide the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist its Title I, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance.
5. Spring ISD will support its Title I, Part A schools to build the schools’ and parents’ capacity for active parent involvement and promoting parenting skills and family literacy to improve academic achievement.
6. Spring ISD will coordinate and integrate parent involvement strategies for the Title I, Part A program with parent involvement strategies under other programs when feasible.
7. Spring ISD will conduct with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the Parent Involvement Policy and its program in improving the academic quality of its Title I, Part A schools. The District will use the findings of such evaluation to design strategies for more effective parent involvement and to revise, if necessary, the parent involvement policies.
8. Spring ISD will identify any barriers to greater participation by parents in activities of participating children at its Title I, Part A schools 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.
9. Spring ISD will ensure that all parent notifications and school reports will be in an understandable and uniform format and to the extent practicable, in a language that parents can understand.

Statement of Purpose

The Spring Independent School District is committed to working together with parents, students, the community and other stakeholders to improve student academic achievement. The goal of Spring ISD is to ensure that all of its students graduate from high school ready to succeed in the college or career of their choice. To that end, Spring ISD will become the best school district in the Houston area. Spring ISD recognizes that parents are valued partners in the educational process, playing an extremely important role by serving as the child’s first teacher in their early years of child development. Partnerships with parents and the community are vital. Therefore, Spring ISD encourages the participation of parents in regular, two-way, meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities. Spring ISD wants parents to:

• Stay informed about their child’s academic progress in a routine and consistent manner.
• Work in partnership with school staff to help their child achieve at the highest levels.
• Communicate with their child the importance of being prepared for college and a career.

The Spring ISD curriculum that is based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) includes non-negotiable objectives that must be taught at every grade level. However, individual schools are held accountable for innovative instructional programs and its instructional results. Every Spring ISD student will be provided equal access to rigorous instruction and academic programs. Spring ISD recognizes that some students may need extra assistance that is available through the Title I, Part A program to obtain high academic achievement. Spring ISD will include parents in appropriate decision-making opportunities to support student academic achievement.

Parent Involvement in Developing the Policy

Parents are valued partners in the educational process, serving as the child’s teacher in the home. All school and district activities will give proper consideration to the involvement of parents. A Parent Advisory Council consisting of parents, Title I Coordinators/contact persons and other district-wide staff will meet to update the school district’s Parent Involvement Policy. The Parent Advisory Council will be chosen from volunteers across all grade levels. The goal is to have parents play a vital role in decision making regarding the Title I, Part A program.

Capacity Building and Coordination

Capacity building activities will be provided to increase student academic achievement through district-wide and campus efforts. The district will coordinate these efforts and strategies with other federal and state programs in a variety of ways. These activities may include, but are not limited to, parent education workshops, parent leadership training and parent education conferences.

School-Parent Compacts

Each school must share responsibility with parents for high student academic performance by developing a school-parent-student compact jointly with the parents. This compact must outline how parents, staff, and students will share responsibility for improved student academic achievement. Parents on each school’s Parent Advisory Council will be involved in designing these compacts. Parents and teachers are strongly urged to discuss the compact during conferences and with the students.

Types of Parent Involvement

There are many ways in which parents can become involved in their child’s education. Spring ISD values both the at-home contributions and those which take place at school and in the community. Reading to children at home and talking with them at family meals are as important as volunteering at school and serving on advisory committees. Many types of parent involvement are needed in a school-home-community partnership to ensure that all children succeed. Each Title I, Part A campus is responsible for creating meaningful ways for parents to be involved in their children’s education.

Matching Programs to the Needs of the Community

Each year, Spring ISD will determine the needs of parents and children in the community through a variety of measures. This includes an annual consultation with parents to ensure that the Title I, Part A program will be tailored to meeting those needs. Workshops and other programs will be available for parents and schools to help form partnerships which will improve the involvement of families in order to increase student achievement. Parents will be notified about these opportunities through the individual schools. Parents may call the Family and Community Engagement Department, the Federal Programs Department or their local school office at any time to express an interest in a particular type of workshop or to make other suggestions.

Staff-Parent Communication

Communication with parents may include, but are not limited to, newsletters, websites, emailsand on-site postings. There will also be notices sent home with children. Phone calls, conferences, and home visits will be scheduled as needed. Parents are encouraged to take the initiative in calling their child’s teacher to monitor their child’s progress as well as when they are concerned about a problem. They may also call the school office and ask for a translator for conferences. As much as possible, notices will be sent home in a language parents understand. Training on how to improve home-school communication will be available.

Annual Meeting for Title I, Part A Parents

At the annual meeting for parents, information about Title I, Part A guidelines will be distributed. Parents will be given copies of the current Parent Involvement Policy and offered a chance to become involved in revising that policy as needed. Parents of students who receive Title I, Part A services will have input on how Title I, Part A funding will be used; including funds for parent involvement activities. Volunteers may serve on either the district-wide or individual school Advisory Council. Translation will be provided so that all parents may participate.

Evaluation

A district-wide Title I, Part A Advisory Council will be involved in the process of school review and improvement. Parents will participate in this group. The goal is to evaluate the schools in the district by collecting information in a variety of ways, including parent surveys, program evaluations and the school’s report card.

There will be an annual consultation of the content and effectiveness of all federal programs and parents will be asked for their input. The survey evaluation will include an assessment of how much parent involvement is increasing and what the barriers are to effective parent participation. Spring ISD will revise its Parent Involvement Policy on the basis of this annual review.

Conclusion

Spring ISD is committed to ensuring that parents are partners in all Title I, Part A schools. “Families as Partners in Student Success” is one of the commitments in the District’s Five-Year Strategic Action Plan and will be supported by the Title I, Part A parent involvement program and promoted by building principals and other district and school staff.

Created on May 19, 2016and adopted on September 15, 2016 to be in effect for the 2016 – 2017 school year.