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THE PRACTICE: Policies - Written family/school policies establish the expectation and authority for school leaders to comprehensively address family involvement. While building-level policies provide specific guidance for activities, state- and district-level family involvement policies provide leverage for change at the local level.
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Content Presented By:
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RMC Research Corporation
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What is it?
School communities rely on policies to guide their actions and inform their decisions. Specific policies regarding family involvement should be written to spell out the expectation that schools will institute, embrace, and support for programs and activities that engage families in their children's education. Other critical policies (e.g. policies related to curriculum development, assessment, school climate) should be reviewed to integrate the parent perspective. Policies should reflect the attitude, mission, and philosophy of the school and its community. They should be developed collaboratively with parents to be certain they represent the concerns of families and foster family "ownership."
Questions to Think About:
- How does the school's mission statement demonstrate a commitment to family partnerships?
- What family involvement policies currently exist? What policies should be developed?
- What other policies exist that should be reviewed and revised with family input?
- How are parents, teachers, and community members involved in writing the policies?
- How is information gathered from a wide range of parents to guide policy development (surveys, interviews, etc.)?
- How are parents involved in school leadership teams or councils? How could their roles be strengthened and improved? How are parents who typically don't participate involved?
- Are family partnership policies resulting in higher achievement and a stronger school community? How is this assessed?
- How do school policies reinforce state and district family involvement policies?
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