State College Area School District
Title I Program Parent & Family Engagement Policy

2017-2018

It is the policy of the State College Area School District’s Title I program to encourage active participation of parents and those in the role of parents as required in Title I, Part A, Section 1118. This policy includes a commitment to guide/reinforce/increase parent involvement by building a strong partnership emphasizing the shared responsibilities among students, parents, and school teams. To accomplish this goal, our schools involve parents in the development of the Local Educational Agency (LEA) policy and the process of school review and improvement through the following types of involvement activities.  This will be achieved through the following types of involvement activities:

• Parental involvement group meetings
• Parent surveys
• Consultation with Title 1, general education teachers, and district administration
• Conferences

Parents may request information regarding the professional qualifications of their teacher(s).

Objective 1: The LEA will foster effective parental involvement strategies and support partnerships among schools, parents, and the community to improve student achievement.

Strategies for reaching objective:

1. Develop and disseminate district parental involvement policy.
• Back-to-School Night
• Title I Web Site
• Board of School Directors Report
2. Conduct an annual meeting to review and update the effectiveness of the Parent Involvement Policy.
3. Reserve a minimum of 1% if the Title I, Part A allocation for parent involvement
4. Collaboration with other parental involvement programs such as CHAMPS camp and Family Outreach. 
5. Establish parental involvement contact person at each of the Title I, Part A schools.
6. Ensure that parents of children with disabilities or limited English proficiency have the same access as other parents including information in a language and form they can understand.
7. Ensure Homeless students have access to Title I services if they qualify and title funding to support them.
8. Hold at least 1 parent involvement professional development event per year where current strategies being used to support students in the classroom are shared with parents.
   
   Objective 2: The district will provide coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist participating schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement.
   
   Strategies for reaching objective:

1.  District Parent Involvement policy is disseminated to all Title I teachers to guide the development of Building Parent Involvement policies.
2.  During building Title I Back-to-School Nights, inform parents of their school's participation in the development of the parental involvement policy and their right to be involved.
3.  During building Title I Back-to-School Nights, inform parents of the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) and encourage parents to participate in the PAC at the district and/or building levels.   
4.  Monitor each Title I school to ensure that each school performs the following tasks:

• Develops a parental involvement policy.
• Offers flexible meeting times.
• Provides information to parents about the school's program, including parent information guides.
• Participates in goal-setting conference.
• Provide a copy of the School Parent Involvement Policy for each parent.  Encourage parents to provide feedback through contacting the Title 1 teacher or through the website.
• Provide materials for training to assist parents in supporting their child's academic achievement.
• Provide newsletters and activities to keep parents updated on current parent/student involvement practices.
• Encourage parents to visit/volunteer in the classroom.
• Encourage parents to be a part of the State PAC.

Objective 3: The district will conduct, with the involvement of parents, ongoing evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parental involvement policy as it relates to strategies for increasing parental participation and identifying barriers to greater parent participation. 

Strategies for reaching objective:

1. Develop procedures to document parent participation through sign-in lists for workshops, meetings, and conferences; workshop schedules and brochures; meeting notes; and other means as appropriate throughout the school year. 
2. Benchmarking assessments and Title I eligibility criteria are shared with parents at the district and building PAC meetings and goal setting conferences. Parent input is recorded in PAC meeting notes.  Title I staff includes parent input when making decisions about how to best meet the needs of Title I students and their families.
3. Involve parents through an annual survey to improve school effectiveness.
4. Use findings from evaluation process to:
• Make recommendations to each participating school for parental involvement policy revisions.
• Provide suggestions for designing school improvement policies, as they relate to parental involvement.
5. Develop and disseminate an annual parent activity evaluation report to share with parents, staff, and the community.  Summary of the results of the parent survey is posted on district Title I and building Title I web pages.