Parental Involvement

TITLE I PARENT INVOLVEMENT POLICY

The Clayton County Board of Education affirms and assures the rights of parents and teachers of children being served in activities funded by Title I, No Child Left Behind, 2001 (NCLB) opportunities to participate in the design implementation of these activities. All parents of eligible Title I students will be invited to an Annual Parent Informational meeting held at the beginning of school year. The annual public meeting will provide an opportunity for parents to obtain information about Title I programs and ask questions as related to Title I and other federal programs. The Title I parent involvement policy is updated and revised annually. Additional activities held periodically during the school year may include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Notify each child’s parent of the results of the annual school review of adequate yearly progress (AYP) for parental input opportunities on the school improvement plan.
    

2. Notify parents that a school has been identified for school improvement, corrective action or restructuring. The notification must include the following elements:

   	An explanation of what identification means, and how the school compares to other Clayton County Schools;
   	The reason for the identification;
   	What the school is doing to address the problem of low achievement;
   	What the Clayton County Board of Education and Georgia State Department of Education are doing to help the school address the problems; and
   	The parents’ options regarding their right to seek a transfer of their children or to seek supplemental educational services.

3. Reporting the child’s progress to the parents.
    
4. Providing information concerning the Title I Program
    
5. Parent-Teacher conferences at Parent Teacher Association (PTA) /Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) meetings and open house held at schools.
    
6. Parent survey for providing input in future program development.
    
7. Dissemination of evaluation results and school report card.
    
8. A school-parent compact
    
9. Opportunities for parent education and awareness through a series of training workshops.
    
10. Provide home activities to reinforce learning
     
11. Notice of the professional qualification of teachers at the beginning of each school year.
     
12. Timely notice to parents if their child is taught for four or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who is not highly qualified.
     
13. Collect all non-satisfactory parents’ comments regarding school plans.
     
14. Provide a master calendar on the website for district parent meetings.
     

Parents and teachers shall annually assess the effectiveness of the parent involvement program and determine what action needs to be taken, if any, to build the capacity of parents to help their children achieve to high standards. A response to the recommendations by parents will be made through a newsletter.

The Clayton County Board of Education and all schools shall:

• Provide assistance to parents of participating Title I children in understanding such topics as the state’s academic content and achievement standards, the assessments being used, the requirements of Title I, Part A, and how to monitor their children’s progress and work with educators to improve their achievement.
   

• Provide materials and training, such as literacy training and training on how to use technology, to help parents to work with their children to improve achievement.
   

• Educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and the school.
   

• Title I will coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs with other programs such as Early Intervention Program (EIP), counselors, PTA/PTO’s, Lottery Pre-K Program, Neglected & Delinquent (N&D) institutions, Homeless, Drug Free Schools, Adult Education, Even Start/Family Literacy, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children.
   

• Ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings and other activities is sent to the parents of participating children in a format, and to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.
   

• Provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities as parents may request.

The Clayton County Board of Education and all schools may:

• Involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training.
   

• Provide necessary literacy training for parents with Part A funds if the Local Education Agency (LEA) has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding.
   

• Train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents.
   

• Arrange school meetings at a variety of times, or conduct in-home conferences between parents who are unable to attend the school meetings and the teachers and other educators who work with their children.
   

• Adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental involvement.
   

• Establish a district-wide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in funded programs.
   

• Develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parent involvement activities.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT PLAN DETAILS

Parents will be involved in the planning, review and improvement of the Title I Program, join planning and design of programs in such ways as:

- Surveys
- Conferences
- Annual Meeting
- PTA Meeting
- PTO Meeting
- Parent Compacts
- School Councils

Information and assistance concerning Title I will be addressed through items such as: parent letters, conferences, phone calls, parent visitation, and open house.

Sharing student performance and assessment through:

- School Report Card
- Progress Reports
- Computer Profiles
- Online Grade Book

Reviewing school curriculum through:

- PTA/PTO Meetings
- Explanation of Testing & Results
- Core Curriculum Information Sessions

Promoting two-way communication through:

- Conferences
- Phone Calls
- Questionnaires
- Parent Visitation
- Parent Compacts

Providing parents with materials and training to help them work with their children and to coordinate literacy training through opportunities such as:

- Parent Workshop Sessions
- Parent Flyers
- Even Start Family Reading Nights

Teachers will be educated in the value and utility of contributions of parents and how to reach and communicate effectively by creating a school vision for parental involvement.

To the extent possible, we will provide information to Limited English Proficient (LEP) parents in a language the parents understand and provide opportunities for these parents to participate by:

- Providing an interpreter for meetings
- Providing a resource person to contact parents
- Providing a written communication in the language parents can understand.

Clayton County will reserve not less than 1 percent of our allocation to carry out parent involvement activities. The system shall provide assistance to participating parents in such areas as understanding the:

- National Education Goals
- State’s content standards and students performance standards
- Components of a school wide program, if applicable
- State and local assessments
- Requirements of Title I Parent Involvement
- Ways parents can monitor their children’s progress and work with educators to
   improve the performance of their children.
- Ways parents can participate in decisions relating to the education of the children.