Let’s Renew our
Title I Compact
To reach our school
improvement goals, everyone
needs to be on board!
Compact:
A written agreement of shared responsibility
Articulates how families and
teachers will work together
this year to achieve the goals
of the school improvement
plan and make AYP!
The New Compact Will:
• Link to the goals of our School Improvement Plan and
our grade-level achievement data
• Describe strategies families can use at home to
strengthen students’skills
• Explain what teachers will do to support family learning
• Describe what students will do to reach their
achievement goals
• Be written in family-friendly language with meaningful
input from families and students
Not Use General Statements Like:
• Teachers will hold high expectations for all
children and offer high-quality instruction
• Parents will monitor attendance and TV watching,
and make sure their children do their homework
• Students will be good citizens, read 30 minutes
every day, and bring home notices from school.
Why do This?
• Section 1118 of the law says we must have a
School-Parent Compact
• Research says that engaging families helps
students do better in school
• Parents and families want to help
• We need all the help we can get to make AYP
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Organizing Schools for Improvement
• Long-term study of Chicago schools: When schools
have strong family and community ties, their students
are:
• Four times more likely to make significant gains in
reading
• Ten times more likely to make significant gains in
math.
Anthony S. Bryk et al, (2010) Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press)
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
What are Strong Family Ties?
Title I students‘ reading and math scores (3-5th
grades) improved 40-50% faster when
teachers:
• met with families face-to-face
• sent materials on ways to help their child at home
• telephoned routinely about progress
(Westat and Policy Studies Associates, 2001)
First Two Steps to Success
1. Motivate and get buy-in from staff
- Explain at a staff meeting what Compacts are
and how they contribute to student success
2. Designate a leader
- Pick a person with leadership skills. Math/literacy
coach, AP, data team leader, home-school
coordinator
Next Two Steps to Success
3. Align Compact with school improvement plan
- Review and analyze school data and SIP goals to
ID skills to focus on (video clip
)
4. Get grade-level input on skills that need to
improve in each grade
- Data teams ID three goals/grade level and draft
home learning ideas to discuss with parents
Steps to Success #5 and #6
5. Reach out to Families
- Meet by grade level to discuss how to work
together (workshops, class meetings, math night).
Two-way conversations!
6. Don’t forget the Students
- How will they take responsibility for their learning?
- What do they want teachers and
parents to do to support them?
It’s All About the Conversations!
• Recruit parents to fun event -- then break into grade
level groups with translators.
• Ask: How can the school help YOU support your
children’s learning?
\
• Type up and circulate parents’ideas.
• Teachers meet at each grade level to respond, draft
Compact plan.
• Parents approve.
Next Two Steps to Success
7. Pull it All Together
- Create an attractive, family-friendly Compact with
input from all
- Design a roll-out plan
8. Align all Resources
- ID professional development
- Pull in volunteers and community partners,
- Tap the Title I budget for materials, speakers
Aligning Resources
• Family Engagement
•
School-Parent Compact
•
Grade Level Strategies
•
•
•
Plan
Budget
Parent Workshops
Staff Development
Volunteers, Tutors and
other Partners
Title 1 Evaluation
School Action Team for Partnerships
Last Two Steps to Success
9. Market the Compact
- Get the word out at every opportunity
- Refer to the Compact at parent-teacher conferences
and meetings
10. Review, Revise, Celebrate Progress
- Discuss what worked, what needs to Improve, then
develop new plan.
- Celebrate success and ask students to show off!
Quality Indicators
• Link actions to goals in SCIP and to school data
• Connect activities for families to what students are
learning and doing in class
• Include follow-up steps to support parents and
students
• Consult with parents on communication strategies
that work best for them
• Translate into families’ home languages
10 Sections – Must Have
• Definition – Family-School Compact
• Jointly Developed – Process Description
• Activities to Support Partnerships
• Communicating about Learning
• Cover Page
• District Goals
• School Goals
• Classroom Teacher Support to Parents
• Parent Support for Students at Home
• Student Activities to Support Their Learning
10 Sections – Must Have
Definition of FamilySchool Compact
• A Family-School Compact for
Achievement is an agreement
that parents, students and
teachers develop together. It
explains how parents and
teachers will work together to
make sure all students get the
individual support they need to
reach and exceed grade level
standards.
10 Sections – Must Have
Process Description
• Jointly Developed with Parents
• In this section, describe how the
compact was developed jointly
with parents, students and
teachers (see sample).
• Invite parents to contact the
school, parent liaison, or others
if they would like to contribute
ideas or make comments at any
time.
10 Sections – Must Have
School Activities
• Activities to Support
•
•
•
•
•
Partnerships
List the activities you will hold at
your school to support
partnerships for parents and if
possible the dates and times of
those activities.
Conferences
Leadership opportunities
Parent group meetings
Learning opportunities for
parents and children
10 Sections – Must Have
Communicating
• Communicating about Learning
• This section explains to parents
what they can expect in terms of
communications from the school
and ways they can also
communicate with the school.
Communication should be a
two-way process.
10 Sections – Must Have
Cover Page
• Include school name
• Contact information for
principal and the
school
• Grade level of the
compact
10 Sections – Must Have
District Goals
• Strong Schools Strong
Communities Plan
• Achievement
• Equity
*Copy this section as it
is for your Compact.
10 Sections – Must Have
School Goals
• School Goals (From
the SCIP)
• Reading Goal
• Math Goal
• Equity Goal
10 Sections – Must Have
Classroom Teacher
Support to Parents
• This section describes
what the classroom
teachers at this grade
level will do for families
to support students’
success in reading and
math.
10 Sections – Must Have
Parent Support for
Students at Home
• This section describes
the ideas that parents
offered as ways they
could support students’
success in reading and
in math.
10 Sections – Must Have
Student Activities to
Support Their Learning
• In this section students
have identified things
they can do to support
and improve their own
learning.
REMEMBER:
It’s all about
the Conversations!