Family engagement to become a big part of federal ed policy
(District of Columbia) Parent and family engagement plays a key role in the compromise legislation released earlier this week by Congress that would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
The bill, which is expected to be formally introduced next week and likely taken up in earnest before the Christmas holiday, returns to states authority to design and implement a wide variety of accountability and performance controls but maintains long-standing federal requirements on student testing.
If approved it would also recast the nation’s primary education law as the “Every Student Succeeds Act,” while doing away with adequately yearly progress and its sanctions – the centerpiece of the No Child Left Behind act.
It would also clearly prohibit the federal government from mandating or incentivizing states to adopt any particular set of curriculum standards, including the Common Core State Standards.
The new bill would, however, expand themes around parent and family engagement set out in the existing NCLB.
For one, the new language is more inclusive, striking the term “parental involvement” and replacing it with “parent and family engagement.”
There is also greater precision around what districts need to do to bring parents and family members into their student’s education. States and schools are directed to ensure the involvement of “parents and family members in jointly developing the local educational agency plan(s),” and to provide “coordination, technical assistance” to help “build the capacity” of all schools with planning and implementing effective parent and family engagement aimed at improving student performance.
This may include “meaningful consultation with employers, business leaders, and philanthropic organizations, or individuals with expertise in effectively engaging parents and family members in education.”
There is also specific mention of the problems some targeted subgroups face in participating more in school activities.
Schools must still conduct an evaluation of the “content and effectiveness” of a parent and family engagement policy and still identify “barriers to greater participation by parents in activities authorized by this section (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 new bill still requires local educational agencies to reserve at least 1 percent of their Title I allocation to assist schools in carrying out the parent and family involvement activities.
According to a briefing memo released by the House Education and Workforce Committee, states will be allowed to design their own accountability systems, which must “identify and support” struggling schools.
Plans for how states would tackle the problem would be submitted to the U.S. Secretary of Education for a review limited to ensuring “that the plan is consistent with the law.”
Testing would still be required in reading and math for grades 3 through 8 and once in high school, as well as in science, which must be assessed three times between grades 3 and 12.
“States may pursue flexibility to develop and implement innovative assessments through a pilot Family engagement to become a big part of federal ed policy :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:
