AN AGREEMENT FOR SUCCESS: Title I
Parent/School Compacts
Compacts: Definition
SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HIGH STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT.
—As a component of the school-level parental involvement policy developed … each school served under this part shall jointly develop with parents for all children served under this part a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the State’s high standards.
TITLE I – SECTION 1118
What needs to be included?
• describe the school’s responsibility to provide high qualitycurriculum and instruction in a supportive and effectivelearning environment that enables the children served underthis part to meet the State’s student academic achievementstandards, • and the ways in which each parent will be responsiblefor supporting their children’s learning, such as monitoringattendance, homework completion, and television watching; volunteering in their child’s classroom; and participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children and positive use of extracurricular time;
In Simpler Terms…
• Compacts are a “job description” that defines the “jobs” of the school, the parents (and sometimes the student) in order to ensure that the student receives and achieves the best possible education.
Purpose of Compacts
• Process vs. Outcome– Link (process) activities of school/staff, parents
and children to (outcome) student learning and achievement
• Open Communication– Parents can understand the school system
better– Teachers can understand the needs of parents
better– Students can understand their responsibilities
• Creating a “team” to support every student.
TEAM EDUCATION
Student
TeacherPrincipal
Title I
ParentCommunity
Agencies PDE
AidesSchool
STARTING LINEUP
SchoolParents
StudentTeachers
Team EDUCATION
CREATING A COMPACT TEAM
• Parents (required)• Teachers (required)• Optional:
– Students– Administrators– Community Members
• Libraries• Businesses• Faith Based Organizations
– Community Organizations
Who Should Be Included?
GETTING STARTED
• ESEA/NCLB Goal– All Students at Proficient or Advanced on
the PA System of School Assessment (PSSA) by 2014
• Issues currently facing our school• Issues currently facing our parents• Issues currently facing our community
Understanding the Challenges Facing Education Today
Goals for Educating our Children
Discussion Questions:• Parents: What do you want for your child
as they go through school?• Parents: What goals do you have for your
child after they graduate?• Teachers: What do you want for your
students as they go through your classroom this year?
• Teachers: What do you want for their future?
What Do We Expect From Each Other?
All parents and teachers want to ensure that every child is:– Healthy– Safe– Engaged in Learning– Supported by Caring Adults– Exposed to a Challenging Curriculum
(includes arts, music and other essential courses)
*From www.WholeChild Education.org
DEVELOPING OUR COMPACT
Compacts are required to address three areas for families and the school to work together:
– Student learning and high achievement;– Effective and frequent communication
between school and home; and– Building capacity for the family/school
partnership through volunteering and training.
Student Learning & High Achievement• Discussion Questions:
– What does our current compact include to address student learning and high achievement?
Parents: – What do you see happening in your child’s
school and/or classroom to support this topic?
– What can parents do at home and school to help students achieve?
– Are there any other things we can add to the compact?
Student Learning & High Achievement• Discussion Questions:
School:– What can teacher/school do at school to
help students achieve?– What are the teacher/school
responsibilities in the compact?
– Are there any other things we can add to the compact?
Student Learning and High Achievement
• Suggestions for Compact:– School’s responsibility includes offering a rigorous
and challenging academic program [be specific in what your school offers here], and making sure every student gets help as soon as it’s needed.
– School agrees to provide training for parents on ways to help them help their children at home, and to send home materials they can use.
– Parents agree to monitor homework completion, and to help their child see how to use reading and math to pursue interests and goals.
– Parents agree to support learning at home by reading with their children every night, and using the materials the school sends home weekly [or whatever is agreed upon at this meeting…]
Discussion Questions:• What does our current compact include that relates
to communication between the home and school?• Parents: What do you see happening in your child’s
classroom to support this?• Teachers/School: What do you see happening from
parents to support communication?• Define “effective” communication.• Define “frequent” communication.• Are those definitions reflected in the current
compact?• Is it enough? Do the parents feel that they are
“kept in the loop” of their child’s progress in school? Do teachers feel that they are getting enough parent support?
Effective and Frequent Communication Between Home/School
Effective and Frequent Communication Between Home/School
• Suggestions for Compact:– School agrees to communicate frequently (define
frequently) with families about student progress through [agreed upon methods i.e., email, phone calls, newsletters, etc.].
– Teachers agree to build a relationship with every family in their class, and to keep families informed of their children’s progress and needs in each subject.
– Parents agree to monitor child’s progress, contact the teacher with questions, and let the teacher know right away if their child has any problems.
Suggestions for compacts:
Building Capacity through Volunteering and Training
• Discussion Questions:• Identify activities that parents could
volunteer for or be trained to help their children do better in school.
• Are there opportunities for parents to be involved at a governance level at this school? How and what?
• How can we get more parents involved? What are the barriers? How are we eliminating them?
Building Capacity through Volunteering and Training
• Suggestions for Compact:– School agrees to involve parents in school
governance by…..– Teachers will train parents on these
strategies to help their children do better in school…
– Parents agree to volunteer at least ___ hours a year at the school.
USING THE COMPACT
• Moves the Compact from a Planning Document to an Action Document
• Get the Word Out!– School Newsletter– Weekly Lunch Menus– Web Sites– Email– Listserv– School’s Voice Mail System– Mailing– Local Newspaper– Community Events– Special School Events
USING THE COMPACT
• Use the Compact in All Parts of Your School Program– DISCUSS STUDENT PROGRESS AT
PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES (required by NCLB)
– Help launch programs for family involvement
– Support training for teachers and other staff to work with families
– Complement School Improvement Plans– Help partners discuss their responsibilities
in meeting the goals of the school
EVALUATING THE RESULTS
• Schools are required to review the compacts each year to determine if they are effective and to make changes, if needed– Parents must be involved– Need to more than whether it is in place– Need to know what’s working and
what’s not
How do you know whether or not your compact is working?
Resources
• US Department of Education– www.ed.gov– No Child Left Behind– Title I Legislation
(Section 1118 – Compacts)
• Project Appleseed (National Campaign for Public School Improvement– www.projectappleseed.org
• PA Academic Standards– PA Department of Education– www.pde.state.pa.us
Questions
Congratulations!
• You’ve completed the update of your parent/school compact.
• For further information on ways to increase parent involvement in your school:– www.spac.k12.pa.us (State Parent
Advisory Council website)– www.ed.gov (USDE Website)
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