The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), each outline requirements for effective parent and family engagement strategies designed to help families support the educational success of their students. Specifically, these provisions stress shared accountability between schools and families for high student achievement, collaborative development of family engagement plans with sufficient flexibility to address local needs, and programs that build a family’s capacity for using effective practices to improve their own student’s academic achievement. When schools collaborate with families to help their children learn, and when families participate in school activities and decision-making about their student’s education, students achieve at higher levels. 

Montana Family Engagement Standards

 

 

 

Montana Family Engagement Resources

 

Welcomed, Valued & Connected

Families actively participate in the life of the school and feel welcomed, valued, and connected to each other, to school staff, and to what students are learning and doing in class.

 

 

Families of English Learners

  • English Learner Family Toolkit – A resource from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition

  • Webinars for EL families from WIDA

  • WIDA Focus on Family Engagement 

  • WIDA – ABCs of Family Engagement: Key Considerations for Building Relationships with Families and Strengthening Family Engagement Practices

Meaningful Communication

Families and school staff engage in regular, two-way meaningful communication about student learning.

Strengthening Knowledge & Skills

Families and school staff continuously collaborate to support student learning and healthy development both at home and at school and have regular opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and skills to do so effectively.

 

Empowerment & Engagement

Families are empowered to be advocates for their own and other children, to ensure that students are treated equitably and have access to learning opportunities that will support their success.

 

Title I, Part A Parent and Family Engagement

Title I Parental Involvement is not only a requirement of the ESSA, but it is also a requirement of the Montana Board of Public Education.  The ESSA requires a Title I Plan to be developed in consultation with teachers, principals, administrators and parents of children served.  What this means is that “you need to have Parent Involvement before you have Parent Involvement.”  Parental Involvement needs to be a component of your Title I Plan before, during and after implementation.

  • required under the ESEA, ESSA, and BPE 

  • an LEA Title I plan shall be developed in consultation with teachers, principals, administrators and parents of children served 

  • district policy 

  • a district may receive Title IA funds only if such agency implements programs, activities, and procedures that involve parents in meaningful consultation for planning and implementation. 

Written Policy for Districts

The Title I Plan requires a written Parental Involvement Policy for the district.  The creation of this written Policy needs to include parents.  It needs to contain the following components.  While these components are equally important, it is vital that parents be included in the annual evaluation of the Title I Plan and the Parental Involvement Policy.

  • districts shall develop a written policy jointly with, agreed on with, and distributed to parents of participating children 

  • districts shall incorporate the written policy into the Title I plan and describe: 

    • district coordination, technical assistance, and support to schools in planning and implementing effective parent al involvement activities 

    • district building capacity for strong family engagement 

    • coordination and integration of family engagement  strategies with other state and federal programs 

    • involvement of parents annually in evaluating the content and effectiveness of the family engagement policy 

    • family engagement in school activities 

Written Plan for School(s)

Along with the district policy, each school needs to develop a written policy or plan that is similar to the district policy.  While parents do not have the final say in the creation of policy, they are allowed input even if they are not in agreement with it.

  • each school served shall develop a plan similar to the district policy to be made available to the local community and to be updated periodically

  • schools may amend current plan to reflect these requirements 

  • any comment from parents not satisfied with this policy must be submitted with the Title I plan 

Allocation Set-aside

At certain levels of Title I funding, schools are required to set-aside a minimum amount for Parental Involvement activities.  That threshold is $500,000.  It is required that parents be involved in the decisions of how to spend Title I funds for these activities.

  • 1% allocation – the district shall set aside one percent of its agency allocation for family engagement if the allocation is above $500,000. 

  • parental input – parents shall be involved in the decisions regarding expenditures for family engagement activities. 

School Requirements

Your school plan needs to incorporate the following elements.  Having an annual meeting is one of the requirements.  Parent /Teacher Conferences are in addition to the annual meeting and, you must include parents in annual evaluation and revision of the Parental Involvement Plan.  This means you should be conducting an additional meeting at the end of the year.   Therefore, schools should have at least two meetings.

Each school shall:  

  • convene an annual meeting of parents 

  • provide flexible meeting schedules 

  • involve parents in all issues regarding Title I policies and plans 

  • provide parents with: 

  • timely information 

  • information about curriculum, assessment, and proficiency levels 

  • regular parent meetings 

  • include parent comments in the plan 

School-Parent Compact

The law requires the creation and implementation of School-Parent Compacts.  The Compact  is used to create a partnership between the school, teachers, and parents to help attain better student achievement.   The Compact is signed by teachers, parents, and the student when appropriate.

  • Each school shall jointly develop with parents a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help students achieve the state’s high academic standards. 

  • The compact should: 

  • describe the school’s responsibility 

  • describe the parents’ responsibility 

  • describe the student’s responsibility if desired 

  • address importance of communication between teachers and parents through: 

    • at least an annual parent-teacher conference in elementary schools that includes discussion about how the compact relates to individual achievement 

    • frequent reports to parents on their children’s progress 

    • reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer, and observe classroom activities 

Building Capacity for Family Engagement

Building capacity for parent and family involvement is the effort that both the school and district provide to allow time, space, information, training and other supporting functions that allow Parental Involvement to grow and become more effective throughout the school year.  If parents need support and/or training to be able to participate in their students’ academic growth, then the term “Building Capacity” may include Literacy Training, as well as training in the use of technology. 

To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school, parents, and community, the school and district: 

  • will provide assistance to parents in understanding the state academic content standards, state and local academic assessments, state student academic achievement standards, and how to monitor a child’s progress and work with educators to improve achievement 

  • will provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improvement achievement: 

  • literacy training 

  • using technology 

  • will educate all staff with the assistance of parents, in the value of family engagement and: 

    • how to reach out to parents 

    • how to communicate with parents 

    • work with parents as equal partners 

    • implement and coordinate parent programs 

    • build ties between parents and school 

  • will, to the extent feasible, coordinate and integrate family engagement programs and activities with other state, federal, and local programs 

  • will ensure that information provided to parents is in an understandable format 

  • may involve parents in developing staff training

  • may provide literacy training from these funds 

  • may pay reasonable and necessary expenses of parents 

  • may train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents 

  • may arrange school meetings at a variety of times to maximize family engagement 

  • may adopt and implement model approaches to family engagement 

  • may establish a district wide parent advisory council 

  • may involve community-based organizations in parent activities 

  • will provide such reasonable support requested by parents 

Policies, Practices & Programs

Families and school staff partner in decisions that affect children and families and together inform, influence, and create policies, practices, and programs.

 

Family, School & Community Collaboration

Families and school staff collaborate with members of the community to connect students, families, and staff to expand learning opportunities, community services, and civic participation.

 

OPI Staff are here to help:

Serena Wright, Family Engagement Specialist, 406-410-4098

 

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