East Columbus Magnet Academy
Parent Involvement Policy
2008-2009
PART 1: DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION OF POLICY
The East Columbus Magnet Academy School Parent Involvement Policy was developed with input from the District Level Parenting Specialist and the School Leadership Team.
Each fall, the school will have an Open House at a convenient time for parents. All parents of participating children will be invited and encouraged to attend. Parents will be informed of the nature of the Title 1 Program, its requirements, why their children are participating, and the parents’ right to be involved in decisions made about their children’s education.
PART 2: PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARENT INVOLVEMENT PLAN UNDER SECTION 1118 OF THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB) ACT OF 2001
Parents will be involved in the joint development of the East Columbus Magnet Academy Title I Schoolwide Plan, the Parent Involvement Policy, and in the process of school review and improvement through the use of parent surveys at the school level, by representation on the District Parent Committee, by membership on Schoolwide Planning Teams, or on School Improvement Teams.
PART 3: PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLANS UNDER SECTION 1116
When a school is identified for School Improvement, a team of teachers, administrators, consultants, and parents will be assembled to research the current program and seek ways to improve it. Parents are included in looking for strategies to better serve their children and raise the level of academic achievement.
PART 4: EXPECTATIONS OF PARENT INVOLVMENT
Effective parent involvement will not be an occasional event, such as a parent conference. Rather, it will be an ongoing process that may include attending parent conferences and other meetings, supporting homework and study, coaching a child with academics at home, providing a home environment that encourages learning, developing a positive approach to discipline and encouragement, volunteering at school and being involved in decisions that affect one’s children.
Parents and teachers will discuss their shared responsibility for high student performance and will jointly develop a compact that outlines the roles of parents, the entire school staff, and the student in improving student achievement. The compact will describe the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve Georgia’s high standards.
PART 5: COORDINATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Title I identified schools are provided the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist in planning and implementing effective parent involvement. A District Parenting Specialist will train parent representatives in methods for increasing parent involvement using information and materials from various sources. The District Parent Committee will coordinate district-wide parent-child activities.
The parent coordinator will design and conduct parent workshops, work with teachers and parents to plan instructional programs for the students, and design information sheets which include tips for working with children at home.
District level personnel will meet with the District Parent Committee monthly to disseminate helpful information to parent representatives who will disseminate it to the parents in their schools.
Parent representatives will collect information from various sources including workshops, conferences, and community agencies. They will share what they learn with other committee members who will, in turn, share with parents and/or the school parent coordinator.
PART 6: ASSISTANCE TO PARTICIPATING PARENTS
Topics discussed at parent workshops will include:
State Content Standards and Student Performance Standards
The Quality Core Curriculum objectives/ Georgia Performance Standards will be used in the school until such time as new standards are adopted. Parents will be made aware of these objectives and at what level their child in expected to perform to meet the state standards. In the spring, Criterion Referenced Competency Tests (CRCTs) will be given in grades one through eight to measure student achievement. Parents will be informed of the ranking of their child’s school in the district and the district’s ranking in the state. Scores will be printed in the local newspaper and will be discussed at the parent meeting following the newspaper publication.
School Improvement Process
If a school does not show achievement gains for two consecutive years, it will be placed in the School Improvement Program. When a school is placed in the program, an extensive process of review and evaluation of the instructional program is made by the teachers, administrators and parents. Parent input will be sought to help discover why the program as designed at that school is not being successful. With the help of research, a revised instructional program will be designed to better meet the needs of the particular school’s population.
State and Local Assessments
On a timely basis, parents will be provided information concerning the results of the annual review including school performance profiles, individual student assessment results and interpretation of those results a description and explanation of the school curriculum and the assessments used to measure student progress and the proficiency levels the students are expected to meet.
Requirements of Title I Parent Involvement
Inclusion of parents in all educational areas that affect their children is a goal of Title I. Interested parents will be assisted in obtaining literacy skills and parenting skills in order to help them help their children. Expected roles for parents will be outlined in a written Parent-Teacher-Student Compact. Parents will be included on teams that evaluate and design the Title I Schoolwide Plan.
Monitoring Student Progress and Addressing Academic Need
Information will be made available at meetings, workshops, and conferences that will help parents learn how they can help their children improve.
Parent Participation in Educational Decisions
Parents will be made aware of ways to participate in their children’s schools. Parents will be encouraged to volunteer in classrooms, serve on committees, and see the value of their contributions to education by monitoring their children at home.
PART 7: MATERIALS AND TRAINING
The District will provide assistance to parents as they obtain literacy skills from community or school resources in order to help their children improve achievement. Workshops may be provided to show parents ways they can help their children with homework, educate parents on the use and abuse of television, inform parents of strategies for preparing children for tests, help parents interpret test results, and prepare parents for effective parent-teacher conferences.
PART 8: VALUE AND UTILITY OF CONTRIBUTION OF PARENTS
Professional development will be provided through conferences, workshops, publications, etc. to educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and other staff, in the value and utility of contributions of parents as partners in education. The school’s parent coordinator will coordinate all parent programs. The school will develop ways for parents to help at school and at home.
PART 9: COORDINATION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS
Community Services
The state funded Family Services Coordinator will assist in the coordination of community services from such agencies as the Health Department, the Department of Family and Children Services, and Homeless Shelters. The family services coordinator will facilitate the smooth operation of family literacy programs.
PART 10: ROLES FOR COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND BUSINESSES
The school will work with its Partners in Education (school-business partners) to provide information about opportunities for organizations and businesses to work together with parents and schools. The school will describe appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parent involvement activities. The school maintains a partnership with its partners that include a role for parents.
PART 11: PARENT RESOURCE CENTER
A parent resource center in the school will be maintained to provide opportunities for parents to learn about child development and ways they can help their children be successful in school.
PART 12: PROVISION FOR LEP AND DISABLED PARENTS
To the extent possible, information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities will be sent to the homes of participating children in the language used in the home. In carrying out the parent involvement requirements, the school, to the extent practicable, will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency or with disabilities, including providing information and school profiles in a language and form such parents understand.
PART 13: EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PARENT POLICY
The school will survey parents annually to measure the effectiveness of the Parent Policy. Areas to be evaluated include increasing parent participation and identifying barriers to parent participation such as low income, disabilities, limited literacy, LEP, and racial or ethnic considerations. The findings of this evaluation will be used to design strategies for school improvement.
PART 14: COLLECTION OF NON-SATISFACTORY COMMENTS
The school will collect all non-satisfactory parent comments regarding the school plan and attach them to the school plan upon submission to the LEA.