MCS Parent Involvement Policy

Madison Consolidated Schools Parental Involvement Policy

Part I: General Expectations

Madison Consolidated Schools agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:

• Madison Consolidated Schools will put into operation programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents in all of its schools with Title I, Part A programs, consistent with section 1118 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).   Those programs, activities and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children on an annual basis within 90 days of the first day of school each academic year.
• Consistent with section 1118, the school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level parental involvement policies meet the requirements of section 1118(b) of the ESEA, and each include, as a component, a school-parent compact consistent with section 1118(d) of the ESEA.
• The school district will incorporate this district wide parental involvement policy into its LEA plan developed under section 1112 of the ESEA.  
• In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school district and its schools will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports required under section 1111 of the ESEA in an understandable and uniform format and, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.
• If the LEA plan for Title I, Part A, developed under section 1112 of the ESEA, 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 State Department of Education. 
• The school district will involve the parents of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the 1 percent of Title I, Part A funds reserved for parental involvement is spent, and will ensure that not less than 95 percent of the one percent reserved goes directly to the schools.  
• 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:

Parental involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring:

(A) That parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;

(B) That parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;

(C) 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;

(D) the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 1118 of the     ESEA.

Part II:  Parental Involvement Policy Component Implementation

Madison Consolidated Schools will implement or accomplish each required district wide parental involvement policy component as required by section 1118(a)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in the following ways:

1. Madison Consolidated Schools will take action to involve parents in the joint development of its district wide parental involvement plan under section 1112 of the ESEA.

2. Madison Consolidated Schools will take action to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement under section 1116 of the ESEA.  

3. Madison Consolidated Schools will provide necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance.  

4. Madison Consolidated Schools will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the following other programs such as: OVO Head Start, MCS Preschools, and state-operated preschool programs.  

5. Madison Consolidated Schools will take action 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, Part A 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 (and with the involvement of parents) its parental involvement policies.

6. Madison Consolidated Schools will build the schools’ and parent’s capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure 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:  

A.  The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I, Part A schools, aid 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 --

• Indiana’s academic content standards
• Indiana’s student academic achievement standards
• State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments
• The requirements of Title I Part A,
• How to monitor their child’s progress, and
• How to work with educators

B.  The school district will, with the assistance of its 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.  

C.  The school district will, with the assistance of its schools and parents, educate its teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff, in how to reach out to, communicate with, and 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.  

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.

E.  The school district will take the following actions to ensure that 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.  

Madison Consolidated Schools will implement or accomplish parental involvement policy components (1-6 [A-E]) as required by section 1118(a)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in the following ways:

• MCS will require all school sites to annually review and revise their Parent Involvement Policy, including the School and Family Compact.
• Review and revision will be done in the spring or summer of the year, with parents and staff using the state-approved rubrics.
• MCS will distribute the Parent Involvement Policy and Compact in both English and Spanish.
•  Accommodations, such as interpreters, will be provided, as needed, for parents with limited literacy and/or English skills for meetings and activities.
• MCS will require schools to evaluate the content and effectiveness of the parental policy; identify parent participation barriers, including English proficiency, limited literacy disability, and racial or ethnic minority background.
• MCS will provide assistance to parents and children to better understand the state academic standards and how to monitor progress for academic improvement.
•  MCS will provide material, and training, to help parents work with their children in academic areas.
• MCS educates the educators, with the assistance of parents, using various tools to ensure parents are encouraged to recruit parents to become active partners.
• MCS will ensure that communication is written in a language that all parents can understand and will allow them to be fully engaged in the education of their child(ren).
•  MCS will provide support for parents that are reasonable, per the request of parents.
• MCS will support the transition of students into and out of various schools.
  • Activities may include holding open houses, touring school sites, hosting informational meetings with parents, distributing newsletters and conducting parent workshops.
• MCS will also provide opportunities for school volunteerism, inclusion of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information for school reports. 
• MCS will provide Information about Indiana College and Career Readiness Standards from the IDOE and other publications to parents/guardians.
• MCS will provide parents with quarterly reports for all academic areas, as well as formative assessment reports (e.g., NWEA) that illustrate academic growth and mastery of grade level standards.
• MCS will communicate with parents via: newsletters, teacher email and contact information, family access to Skyward, and invitations for formal and informal conferences with teachers.
• MCS will work with parents to establish an understanding that school and parents/guardians can request support in academic, emotional, and social areas to assist in the improvement of student achievement.

Part III: Discretionary District Wide Parental Involvement Policy Components

Madison Consolidated Schools may include additional 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, such as the following discretionary activities listed under section 1118(e) of the ESEA:

• involving parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of that training;
• providing necessary literacy training for parents from Title I, Part A funds, if the school district has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for that training;
• paying reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parental involvement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions;
• training parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;
• in order to maximize parental involvement and participation in their children’s education, arranging school meetings at a variety of times, or conducting in-home conferences between teachers or other educators, who work directly with participating children, with parents who are unable to attend those conferences at school;
• adopting and implementing model approaches to improving parental involvement;
• establishing a district wide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in Title I, Part A programs;
• developing appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses, including faith-based organizations, in parental involvement activities; and

providing other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under section 1118 as parents may request.]

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Part IV: Adoption

This district wide parental involvement policy of Madison Consolidated Schools has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs, as required by federal statute. 

This policy was adopted by Madison Consolidated Schools on August 9th, 2023, and will be in effect for the period of 2023-2024.  Madison Consolidated Schools will distribute this policy to all parents of participating Title I, Part A children on or before September 1st, 2023.