TIPS FOR DEVELOPING A SCHOOL FAMILY INVOLVEMENT POLICY

What is a Policy?

A policy commits a school to certain goals and actions. A family involvement policy describes what effective partnership between the school and its families looks like, and lays out how and when that will happen, and who will do what.

Here are some things that the policy needs to cover:

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 A vision statement that says what the school community believes about the importance of family-school partnership to high student achievement.
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 Specific steps that the school and families will take to work as partners to improve achievement, such as a school-family compact, family learning activities, personal learning plans, and student support teams.
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 Terms of engagement such as times for parents to observe in classrooms, availability of interpreters and translation, principal office hours, opportunities for parent-teacher communication, and so on.
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 Information about standards and assessment, and how to monitor student progress.
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 Who will be responsible for carrying out the policy, including school staff, parents, and community members.
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 Resources, such as funding, space, equipment, and staff time and positions.

The policy also needs to lay out how it will be developed, promoted and assessed:

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 How parents, school staff, community members and students will be involved in developing and approving the policy.
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 Guidelines for measuring whether the policy is working, such as increased parent involvement in school activities and improved student attendance.
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 How parents, school staff, and community members will learn about what the policy says.

Steps to Develop a Policy

1.
 Bring together an action team that represents the people who will carry out the policy, including parent leaders who reflect the diverse families in the school.
2.
 Find out how families and school staff want to work together to improve achievement. What they are interested in doing and learning about? What supports do they need? Focus groups, surveys and interviews are good ways to do this.
3.
 Revise the existing policy to respond to current needs and interests. Focus on action - what needs to happen and when.

What Should a Policy Cover?

First and foremost, the policy must focus on improving student achievement. The research on family involvement and student achievement strongly suggests the following:

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 A school that is family-friendly: warm, helpful, and welcoming to families of all backgrounds.
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 Activities and programs for families that are clearly linked to improving achievement. (Checklist: How will they help families understand what their children are learning, what good work for their children's age and grade level looks like, and how to help their children at home?)
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 Close, personal relationships between staff and families, through one-to-one and small group contact.
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 Information, workshops and other activities for families on how to help their children's learning,
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 Bridging cultural differences, by understanding families home cultures, identifying their strengths and assets, making sure all have chances to contribute.
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 Encouraging families to be effective advocates for their children: help them take more challenging classes, and plan for post-secondary education and a career.
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 Opportunities for families to volunteer or contribute both at home and at school.
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 Building the capacity of teachers, parents, and other school staff to work together through training and professional development.

Sample of an elementary school policy:

Vision: Parents are their children's first and most important teachers. Research tells us that parent involvement makes a big difference. When schools welcome families, establish personal relationships among families and staff, help parents understand how the system works, and encourage family-staff collaboration to improve student achievement, students do better in school -- and the schools get better.

Our school is committed to being family-friendly and to working as partners with our families to help ALL our students learn to high levels.

Our school encourages families to be:

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 teachers of their children at home
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 supporters of our school and of public education
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 advocates for their own and other children, and
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 decision-makers in school policy and practice

To be fully family-friendly, our school will provide:

1.
 A welcoming environment
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 Friendly signs welcome visitors and explain how to get around the building.
 
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 Standards of welcoming behavior apply to all staff, including front office staff, bus drivers, security guards, custodians and cafeteria workers.
 
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 Visitors and callers are greeted politely and right away and can get information easily.
 
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 A comfortable family resource room is a place for parents to meet, and lends books, games, and educational information for families to use at home.
2.
 Programs and activities to engage families in improving student achievement
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 Current student work is displayed throughout the building, so that visitors can understand the purpose of the work and the high standards it is to meet.
 
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 Programs and activities help families understand what their children are learning and promote high standards.
 
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 Workshops, learning kits, and other activities show families how to help their children at home -- and respond to what families say they want to know about.
 
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 The school reports to parents about student progress and how teachers, parents and community members can work together to make improvements.
3.
 Strong relationships between teachers and families
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 The school welcomes new families, offers tours, and introduces them to staff and other families. Bilingual speakers are available to help families.
 
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 Teachers and families can meet face-to-face and get to know each other, through class meetings, breakfasts, home visits, and class observations.
 
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 Teachers or advisors make personal contact with each family at least once a month.
 
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 A family liaison helps teachers connect to families and bridge barriers of language and culture.
4.
 Opportunities for families to develop their skills, self-confidence and contacts
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 Families are involved in planning how they would like to be involved at the school.
 
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 School committees and the PTA/PTO reflect the diversity of the school community and actively recruit and welcome families from all backgrounds.
 
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 The school is open and accessible - it is easy for parents to meet with the principal, talk to teachers and counselors, and bring up issues and concerns.
 
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 Parents develop school improvement projects and do action research - survey other families, observe in classrooms, review materials, and visit other schools and programs.
5.
 Professional development for families and staff on how to work together productively
 
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 Families learn how the school system works and how to be effective advocates for their children.
 
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 Teachers learn about successful approaches to working with families of diverse cultural backgrounds.
 
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 Families and staff can learn together how to collaborate to improve student achievement.
 
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 The school reaches out to identify and draw in local community resources that can assist staff and families.

This policy was developed by a committee of parents, teachers, support staff, and community members. Here is what they did:

1.
 They conducted focus groups with families, staff and community members, and did a school climate survey to find out what was important to them.
2.
 They drafted a policy and distributed it widely for comment.
3.
 They revised the policy using the comments and had it ratified by the school council, the parent organization, and the faculty.

The policy should be reviewed every year and updated or revised as needed using the process described above.