Title I District Parental Involvement
Part I. District Expectations
Each school district must establish the District’s expectations for parental involvement. [Section 1118(a)(2), ESEA]
The Dickinson Public School District agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:
• The school district will put into operation programs, activities, and procedures for the involvement of parents in all of its schools with Title I programs. Those programs, activities and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.
• The school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level parental involvement policies meet the Title I requirements and include as a component a school-parent compact.
• The school district will incorporate this District-wide parental involvement policy into its District plan.
• In carrying out the Title I parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school district and its schools will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with children with limited English proficiency, parents with children with disabilities and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports in an understandable and uniform format and including alternative formats upon request and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.
• If the District plan for Title I is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submits the plan to the Department of Public Instruction.
• The school district will involve the parents of children served in Title I schools in decisions about how the one percent (1%) of Title I funds reserved for parental involvement is spent and will ensure that not less than 95 percent (95%) of the one percent (1%) reserved goes directly to the schools. (Only applicable for Districts with Title I allocations greater than $500,000.)
• The school district will be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement and expects that its Title I schools will carry out programs, activities and procedures in accordance with this definition:
Descriptor Code: GAD
FDCAB
KBB
Parental involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring—
• that parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;
• that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;
• that parents are full partners in their child’s education and are included, as appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child;
• the carrying out of other activities such as those described in section 1118 of the ESEA.
• The school district will inform parents and parental organizations of the purpose and existence of the Parental Information and Resource Center in North Dakota (i.e., NDPASS in Minot, North Dakota).
PART II. DISTRICT PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY REQUIRED COMPONENTS
1. The Dickinson Public School District will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its District parental involvement plan:
The Parent Advisory Councils in Title I schools will be involved in the development and periodic review of the Title I District Parental Involvement Policy. Parent input will also be obtained through the School-wide Program Planning Teams.
2. The Dickinson Public School District will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance and other support to assist Title I schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance:
Information regarding parental involvement activities will be provided to all Title I school personnel through staff meetings and in-service training. The District Parental Involvement and Title I Coordinators will provide coordination, technical assistance and other support, as needed.
3. The Dickinson Public School District will build the schools’ and parents’ capacity for strong parental involvement in order to ensure the effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved; parents and the community to improve student academic achievement through the following activities specifically described below.
Descriptor Code: GAD
A. The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school district or school, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following by undertaking the actions described in this paragraph:
• the state’s academic content standards;
• the state’s student academic achievement standards;
• the state and local academic assessments including alternate assessments;
• the requirements of Title I;
• how to monitor their child’s progress; and
• how to work with educators.
Training opportunities will be available to parents addressing the topics indicated above. Information will also be provided through dissemination of the District and school adequate yearly progress reports and school district profile information, individual student achievement results, school newsletters, the West Dakota Parent and Family Newsletter, parent/teacher conferences and annual notice of the “Parents Right to Know Clause.”
B. The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I schools, provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s academic achievement such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement by:
Distribution of school and West Dakota Parent and Family Newsletters, brochures, parental access to Power School, parent/teacher conferences, school district website with links to West Dakota Parent and Family Resource Center and NDPASS and parental involvement/ training opportunities.
C. The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I schools and parents, educate its teachers, student services personnel, principals and other staff on how to reach out, to communicate with and to work with parents as equal partners in the value and utility of contributions of parents and in how to implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and schools by:
District stakeholders will be educated through building level communication, distribution of school and West Dakota Parent and Family Newsletters, access to parent resources (i.e. NDPASS) and District-wide training opportunities.
D. The school district will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, Home Instruction Programs for Preschool Youngsters, the Parents as Teachers Program and public preschool and other programs and conduct other activities such as parent resource centers that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children by:
Descriptor Code: GAD
Parental involvement programs and activities will be coordinated with applicable school district programs including West Dakota Parent and Family Resource Center, Head Start and the Regional After School Program (RASP).
E. The school district will take the following actions to ensure that Title I information related to the school and parent-programs, meetings and other activities is sent to the parents of participating children in an understandable and uniform format including alternative formats upon request and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand:
Parent feedback will be solicited through survey questions, Annual Review meetings and School-wide Planning Committees to ensure information provided to parents meets stated criteria.
4. The Dickinson Public School District will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies under Title I with parental involvement strategies under the following other programs: Head Start and the Regional After School Program (RASP) by:
The Parent Involvement Coordinator will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies with applicable programs in our District, Head Start and Regional After School Program (RASP).
5. The Dickinson Public School District will take the following actions to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parental involvement policy in improving the quality of its Title I schools. The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in parental involvement activities (with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background). The school district will use the findings of the evaluation about its parental involvement policy and activities to design strategies for more effective parental involvement and to revise, if necessary, (with the involvement of parents) its parental involvement policies.
Evaluation of the parental involvement policy will be ongoing through verbal and written parent feedback at parent involvement activities, parent surveys and information provided at Annual Review and School-wide Planning Meetings
6. The Dickinson Public School District will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement:
Parents will be involved through participation in School-wide Planning Committees, Parent Advisory Committees, surveys and the Title I Annual Reviews.
Descriptor Code: GAD
PART III. DISCRETIONARY DISTRICT PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS
The District Parental Involvement Policy includes the following discretionary activities that the school district, in consultation with its parents, chooses to undertake to build parents’ capacity for involvement in the school and school system to support their children’s academic achievement:
• Provide literacy training for parents through the West Dakota Parent and Family Resource Center and/or the Adult Resource Center.
• Pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parental involvement activities, including child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions.
• Train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents.
• Arrange school meetings at a variety of times in order to maximize parental involvement and participation in their children’s education.
• Utilize Parent Advisory Councils in Title I buildings and, if applicable, School-wide Planning Teams to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in Title I Part A programs.
• Develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses, including faith-based organizations, in parental involvement activities.
• Provide other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under section 1118 as parents may request.
Dickinson Public Policy Adopted:
School District #1 Policy Amended: