Title I Parent & Family Engagement Policy
Education is a partnership between the school and the home; however, building effective partnerships can be a challenge. Schools must consciously reach out and plan for ways to engage families. For Title I schools, it can be a bigger challenge with parents facing barriers related to poverty. For these reasons, having a comprehensive plan and policy to engage families in Title I schools is a requirement of the ESSA grant and a priority in random validations conducted by the Texas Education Agency. Whether your school has a Title I schoolwide or targeted assisted program, a written Parent and Family Engagement (PFE) Policy (that is developed in collaboration with parents) is required. Be aware that TEA has identified PFE as an area for improvement based on audit findings.
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What is Parent & Family Engagement?
ESSA describes parent and family engagement as the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities. Family-school collaboration is a cooperative process of planning that brings together school staff, parents, students, and community members to maximize resources for student achievement and development.
Involvement vs. Engagement
- Parent involvement is more often “doing to,” while engagement is “doing with.”
- With involvement, schools tend to lead with their mouth – telling parents what they should be doing. Engagement has schools listening with their ears and being responsive.
- When involving parents, they are generally directed toward completing a task selected by the school. When engaging parents, they are considered a potential leader who is integral to identifying a vision and goals.
What is the Title I, Part A PFE Policy requirement?
Each LEA and school that receives Title I, Part A funds shall jointly develop with, agree on with, and distribute to parents and family members of participating children a written parent and family engagement policy (even for single-campus charters). The LEA policy shall be incorporated into the District Improvement Plan and establish the district’s expectations for parent and family engagement. The school policy shall describe the means for carrying out the parent involvement requirements. Parents shall be notified of the policies in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language the parents can understand. (Public Law 114-95, Section 1116)
| LEA (District-level) Policy Should address, at a minimum: | School Policy Should address, at a minimum: |
|---|---|
| Involving parents in the development of the district improvement plan | Convene an annual meeting to describe the school’s participation in a Title I program and the right of the parents to be involved |
| Assisting schools to implement family engagement activities to improve student performance | Offer a flexible number of meetings |
| Assist the schools and parents to build capacity | Include parents in the planning, review, and improvement of the school policy |
| Coordination of parental and family engagement activities | Timely information about parent activities, a description and explanation of the school curriculum and forms of assessment with expected proficiency levels |
| Conduct, with parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the PFE policy in improving the academic quality of the schools | Conduct, with parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the school’s PFE policy |
| Involving parents in the activities of the school | The school-parent compact which ad-dresses the importance of communication between school and home |
| PFE Evaluation Toolkit ESC16 Pp 11 District PFE Evaluation | PFE Evaluation Toolkit ESC16 Pp 23 Campus PFE Evaluation |
| PFE Policy Toolkit Pp 10, 25 District PFE Checklist | PFE Policy Toolkit Pp 10, 27 Campus PFE Checklist/Content |
| PFE Policy Toolkit Pp 11 -13 Sample/Template District PFE policy | Sample Campus Written PFE Policy Pp 14-18 Sample/Template Campus PFE Policy |
| PFE Policy Toolkit Pp 19-24 Sample/Template Single campus LEA | PFE Policy Toolkit Pp 37 link to PFE Policy FAQs |
How should PFE compliance be documented?
In order to demonstrate compliance, TEA will typically request the following documentation:
- District-level and/or school-level written PFE policy
- District Improvement Plan reflecting PFE activities for the LEA
- Invitations/flyers, sign-in sheets, agendas, and meeting notes/minutes from when the PFE policies were developed/reviewed collaboratively with parents (parents clearly labeled under “role”)
- Proof of distribution of the written PFE policies to parents (dated)
- Meetings to evaluate the PFE policy each year (invitations/flyers, sign-in sheets, agendas, meeting notes/minutes)
- Translation procedure. (If you have a bilingual program or waiver, documents MUST be translated in the program language.)
- Invitations/flyers to parent events that are academic or capacity building in nature
- Title I Annual Parent meetings – same meeting MUST be offered on different days and at different times
- Annual staff training on the importance of and strategies for PFE on campus
The CSS team assists clients by training and advising administrators and other key staff on best practices for implementing PFE activities and compliance requirements.
Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy Resources
The Title I, Part A Parent & Family Engagement Statewide Initiative is managed by the Region 16 Education Service Center. It offers multiple resources for Parents, Teachers, PFE Liaisons, and Administrators.
Resources for the PFE Policy include checklists for both the campus and district policies along with a compliance calendar and the PFE Policy Toolkit which includes instructions, checklists, samples and templates.
Additionally, Region 16 hosts training opportunities around the state each year. Information about the Statewide Parental Involvement Conference can be found at the Title I, Part A Parent & Family Engagement Statewide Initiative resource page.
Need help?
Please contact Charter School Success:
- Sharon Benka, Federal Grants Manager • sbenka@charterschoolsuccess.com
Have questions?
- Ask questions, get answers, and discuss this topic on the Charter School Community Roundtable now.
- Register for the online Parent and Family Engagement Policy online course now.