From Compliance to Effective
Practices: Strengthening Parent
Involvement in EBR Schools
Presented by:
Marlon Cousin, Title I Coordinator
East Baton Rouge Parish School System
Goals
• Discuss characteristics of effective and
engaging parent involvement programs.
• Share Best Practices and Ideas for improving
parent involvement.
Why is Parent Involvement Important?
• A synthesis of parent involvement research
concluded that “the evidence is consistent, positive,
and convincing: families have a major influence on
their children’s achievement in school and through
life. When schools, families, and community groups
work together to support learning, children tend to
do better in school, stay in school longer, and like
school more.”[1]
[1] Henderson, Anne. T. and Mapp, Karen L., A New Wave of
Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community
Connections on Student Achievement, 2002, p.7
Parent Involvement and Student
Achievement
Studies have found that students with involved
parents, no matter what their income or background,
are more likely to—
• Earn high grades and test scores, and enroll in
higher-level programs;
· Pass their classes, earn credits, and be promoted;
· Attend school regularly; and
· Graduate and go on to postsecondary education.[1]
[1] Ibid.
Compliance & Effective Practices
• NCLB requires school districts and buildings to
develop comprehensive parental involvement plans
(compliance).
– Every LEA in the state that receives Title I money has a
parent involvement policy at both the district level and
at each Title I school site.
• However, not every school district can claim that
they have great parent involvement.
• WHY??
What the Research Says…
• “A New Wave of Evidence”: The Impact of School,
Family and Community Connections on Student
Achievement
– Reviewed over 50 comprehensive studies on the effect
of parent and community involvement on student
achievement over the past 25 years.
– Summarized the results and provides examples of
successful practices.
– Issued 9 Recommendations for Creating Successful
and Engaging Parent Programs
• Fully copy of report available as a PDF from:
www.sedl.org/pubs/catalog/items/fam33.html
Creating Effective Parent Programs
• Recommendation #1: Recognize that all parents, regardless
of income, education level or cultural background, are
interested in their children’s learning and want their children to
do well in school.
– Every study that looked at high performing schools in lowincome areas found that parents were highly engaged.
– Most studies showed that the children’s gains were directly
related to how much families were involved.
• What to do:
– Always proceed with the assumption that all families can help
improve their children’s performance in school and influence
other key outcomes that affect achievement.
– If school staff do not agree with this assumption, take a close
look at staff attitudes and the reasons for them.
Creating Effective Parent Programs
• Adopt a No Fault Policy
– Refrain at all times from blaming families for their
children’s low achievement.
• Never assume that families don’t care about their
children.
• High expectations should not apply just to students…but
to teachers, school staff and families.
• How to do it:
– Ask families about ways they encourage their children
at home and ways to share their cultural traditions.
Create small, friendly settings that will encourage
families to speak.
– At every conference, ask parents about their
expectations for their children’s education.
Creating Effective Parent Programs
• Recommendation #2: Create programs that will support
families to guide their children’s learning, from preschool
through high school.
– Early Childhood:
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Home Visits
Lending Libraries
Discussion Groups
Workshops on how to stimulate their children’s mental, physical
and emotional development.
– Elementary/Middle School:
• Interactive homework involving both parents/children.
• Workshops on topics parents suggest.
• Regular calls from teachers (not just when there are problems).
Remember to always lead with something positive.
• Learning packets in reading, science, math, as well as training
on how to use them.
• Regular meetings with teachers to talk about their child’s
progress and what they are learning.
Creating Effective Parent Programs
• High School:
– Regular meetings with teachers and counselors to plan
their children’s academic programs
– Information about program options, graduation
requirements, test schedules and post secondary
education options and how to plan for them.
– Explanations of courses students should take to be
prepared for college or other postsecondary education.
– Information about financing postsecondary education
and applying for financial aid.
• At all levels:
– Work with families to support children in making
transitions.
Creating Effective Parent Programs
• Recommendation #3: Work with families to build their social
and political connections
– When parents feel they have the power to change and
control their circumstances, children tend to do better in
school. Their parents are also better equipped to help them.
When schools work with families to develop their
connections, families become powerful allies of the schools
and advocates for public education.
• Develop Families’ Social Capital by providing connections with
neighbors, other parents in the school and teachers. Use the
same vocabulary, shared rules of behavior and resources to
make the connections possible. Try these type of activities:
– Translate all communications with families into their home
languages; provide an interpreter at all meetings.
– Offer childcare, meals and transportation for all activities at
school.
– Ask families about the best times for them to attend events at
school. Ask what kind of events? Ask what they think would
make the school better.
Creating Effective Parent Programs
• Develop Families’ Political Knowledge and Skills by:
– Making sure parents understand how the system works and
how to have an effect on public decisions. Give parents
access to the people who run the school system and a voice
in policymaking process.
• Make the school a “laboratory of democracy”. Support
families’ involvement in decision making.
• Ask the Superintendent, Board Members and district staff to
meet with parents at the school and explain what they do.
Work with parents to develop an agenda for the meetings so
they can voice their concerns
• Give families information about how the education system
works. Try a field trip to the district office or to school board
meetings.
• Keep voter registration cards and information about local
government in the school office or parent resource centers.
• Open the school to community meetings.
Creating Effective Parent Programs
• Recommendation #4: Develop the capacity of
school staff to work with families and community
members.
– Few teacher prep program include instruction on how to
partner with parents and community.
• Design in-service opportunities for ALL staff that
– Help all staff recognize the advantage of school and
family connections.
– Explore how trusting and respectful relationships with
family and community members are achieved.
– Enhance schools staff’s abilities to work with diverse
families.
– Explore the benefits of sharing power with families.
Creating Effective Parent Programs
• Recommendation #5: Link family and community engagement
efforts to student learning.
– Develop or adopt programs to engage parents in working
with their children to develop specific skills.
• Demonstrate an activity for parents
• Give materials to each family, offering advice on how to use
them
• Help parents assess child’s progress and steer child to next
steps
• Lend materials to use at home.
– Work with local after school programs to link their content to
what students are learning in the classroom.
– Link school’s traditional staples of parent involvement (open
house, etc.) to learning
• Incorporate information on standards and exhibits of student
work at open houses and back-to-school nights.
• Engage parents and students in math/reading games at Family
Nights.
• Use school newsletter to discuss test results and how students
are doing to meet higher standards.
Creating Effective Parent Programs
• Recommendation #6: Focus efforts to engage families and
community members in developing trusting and respectful
relationships.
– A theme throughout all research studies indicate that
relationships are key. Building of relationships must be
intentional and consistent.
• Respect cultural and class differences.
– Make an effort to learn about the concerns of families and
how they define and perceive their role in your school. (If
parents don’t attend activities arranged by schools staff and
held at school, the school should not assume that “parent’s
don’t care”.)
– Parent and community members feel respected when
educators attempt to understand and relate to their needs.
Creating Effective Parent Programs
• Allocate Resources to help build relationships and support
parent and community involvement.
• Adopt simple but effective practices of teacher outreach to
families. These have been found to be effective.
– Meeting face to face
– Sending materials on ways to help their child at home.
– Telephoning both routinely and when a child is having
problems.
• Allow school staff the resources and time to create programs
that
– Invite and welcome parent and community members
– Honor the contributions and accomplishments of parents
– Connect families to learning goals for children.
Creating Effective Parent Programs
• Recommendation #7: Embrace a philosophy of
partnership and be willing to share power with
families. Make sure that parents, school staff, and
community members understand that the
responsibility of children’s educational development
is a collaborative enterprise.
– Partnerships mean sharing power with family and
community members. Both will lose interest in
partnering when their participation is token.
– Avoid using parents and community members to merely
rubberstamp decisions already made.
Help is on the way…
• Very few schools and districts have parent programs
and policies in place that address all of the
recommendations included in the research.
• Districts have requested assistance and direction in
helping to get to the level of parent involvement
described in the research.
• So, where do you start?
Parent Involvement in NCLB
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NCLB defines parental involvement as the participation of
parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication
involving student academic learning and other school
activities, including ensuring—
that parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s
learning;
that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their
child’s education at school;
that 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; and
that other activities are carried out, such as those described in
section 1118 of the ESEA (Parental Involvement). [Section
9101(32), ESEA.]
Three Levels of Parent Involvement
• NCLB Parent Involvement Focuses on Student
Achievement
– Level I – Parent Helping Children at Home
• LEA provides strategies, activities, materials and resources for
parents to work with child at home.
• LEA provides training to assist parents’ ability to help child.
– Level II – Encouraging Parents to Be Involved in School
• Opportunities for Parent to Help or Observe in the Classroom
• Tutors, Teacher Assistants, Aides, etc.
– Level III – Parents as Active Partners in Developing Policy
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School Improvement Teams
School-wide Teams
Parent Involvement Policies, Compacts (required)
Annual Review of Title I Program (required)
NCLB Requirements for Parent
Involvement for LEA/Schools
• Parent Involvement Requirements at Every Level of Process
– Examples:
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District Parent Policies
School Level Policies
Parent/School Compacts
Parent Involvement Set Aside
Evaluation of Title I
Translation of Materials
Notification
Parent Choice Options (School Improvement)
• Districts and schools must demonstrate both “compliance” and
“effective practices”
• Title I can give districts and schools the “teeth” they need to
begin to develop effective and engaging parent involvement
programs.
NCLB Requirements for States
• Review Parent Plans Annually for Effectiveness
• Provide Technical Assistance to LEAs
• Ensure Compliance with Parent Involvement
Components in Section 1118
• PA has developed a tool for LEAs to use to help
ensure the LEAs are in compliance with the parent
involvement requirements of NCLB; but can also be
used to increase “effective practices”
Parent Involvement Rubric
• Developed by the Title I State Parent Advisory
Council
• Used by school districts as a self-assessment
tool to:
– Determine “compliance” with NCLB requirements
– Offer strategies and suggestions for moving to the
“effective practices” level
– Includes cross-references to the Title I law, USDE
Guidance and is being revised to include examples
of effective practices, tools, materials and
exemplars for each component.
Example
Sec. 1118(a)(2)(B) - LEA provides coordination, technical
assistance and other support to Title I schools in planning and
implementing effective parent involvement programs to
improve academic achievement and school performance.
• Compliance (3): LEA has met with school staff to discuss
parent involvement and how the LEA can support the schools
in implementing their parent involvement plans. Activities at
the school level are linked to student achievement and/or
school improvement.
• Effective Practice (5): LEA solicits input from Title I parents to
develop the training sessions for schools staff and/or uses
parents as facilitators during the training session in order to
open the doors of communication between parents and school
staff.
Example
Sec. 1118(c)(2) Each Title I school offers a flexible number of
meetings, such as in the morning or evening, and may also
provide transportation, child care or home visits with Title I
funds.
• Basic (3): Documentation exists - including letters, invitations,
flyers, agendas, sign-in sheets, etc. - to verify meetings are
held at various times or multiple times to best meet the needs
of Title I parents.
• Proficient (4): Documentation includes notices that offer
transportation, child care or the school offers home visits to
parents that cannot attend the meetings.
• Advanced (5): Staff make extraordinary efforts to make it
possible for Title I parents to attend the meetings (including
volunteering time to do home visits or summer visits, etc.).
Resources for Parent Involvement
 Education News Parents Can Use, a television series about
ways to ensure children’s educational success. The third
Tuesday of each month during the school year, Education
News provides parents with the tools and information they
need to be effectively involved in their children’s learning. [For
information on how to register visit the following URL and go to
FAQs: http://www.ed.gov/news/av/video/edtv/index.html.]
 The “What Works Clearinghouse” (WWC), a project to help
education decision-makers answer such questions as how do
we create better schools and how can we make sure that all
children can read? A part of the Department’s Institute of
Education Sciences, the WWC has been established to put
solid evidence from high-quality scientific research into the
hands of educators, policy-makers and the public so they may
make better choices about programs and practices. To
receive e-mail updates, subscribe to WWCUpdate on the Web
at www.w-w-c.org. or call 1-866-WWC-9799.
Resources for Parent Involvement
• National Center for Family and Community Connections with
Schools, funded through the Southwest Regional Educational
Laboratory (SEDL) by the Department’s Institute of Education
Sciences, bridges research and practice to remove barriers to
student achievement. The Center links people with researchbased information and resources that they can use to
effectively connect schools, families, and communities. The
Center reviews emerging findings and research to develop an
online database, annual conferences and annual reports to
help advance procedural knowledge and provides training and
networking across the regional educational laboratory system
to link research findings to practice.
• [For more information visit
http://www.sedl.org/connections/about.html.]
• Title I Parent Involvement Guidance – www.ed.gov
Questions/Answers