STANDARDS OF FAMILY ENGAGEMENT AND EMPOWERMENT

Background

It is evident and clear that there is a significant and valuable role for all parents [1] in every school. To succeed in Educating Cleveland’s Children, parent engagement and empowerment is not an option; parent engagement and empowerment is a mandate. Recognizing that parent frustration, disillusionment and alienation had been a by-product of the general District dysfunctionality, the Chief Executive Officer directed the Office of Family& Community Engagement (FACE) to gather data from each school to determine the level and quality of parent participation. The requested data would be used to determine the direction for expanded, meaningful, and structured parent participation at each school.

 At the close of the 2000-2001 school year, the data was presented to the Chief Executive Officer. The data revealed that there were a variety of school-based parent groups and organizations within each school. With the exception of the Parent Teacher Association and the School Community Council, there was little consistency regarding roles, responsibilities, operational procedures, structure, and the relationship with the principal, school staff and approved academic achievement plan.

Overwhelming research confirms the positive impact of structured and meaningful parent engagement and empowerment on student academic achievement. In order to continue to successfully implement Educating Cleveland’s Children, the Chief Executive Officer recommended to the Board of Education the following:

The adoption of a policy which will establish District Standards for Family Engagement and Empowerment.  The policy should be guided by the researched-based, nationally-validated principles of the Joyce Epstein model. As demonstrated at 59 Cleveland schools, when implemented, the Epstein model resulted in the creation of strong, viable, sustainable, and meaningful home-school partnerships, which work to support academic achievement and social development of children.

The six components of the model are philosophically aligned to the goals and objectives in the document, Educating Cleveland’s Children, approved by the Board of Education in May, 1999. The six components include:

  • Parenting                                        

  • Communicating

  • Volunteering

  • Learning at Home

  • Leadership / Decision Making

  • Collaborating with Community   

The alignment is demonstrated in Attachments “A” and “B”  

        

PURPOSE AND STRUCTURE

The purpose of the Family Standards Engagement and Empowerment Policy is clear. The goal is to:

 

  • Create a vision of what needs to be in place for there to be quality parent involvement across the District;

  • To develop a set of expectations which can be operationalized and which is consistent with the vision for Educating Cleveland’s Children. 

  • To develop standards of growth for each school which will increase the level and quality of  parent involvement; and finally

  • To provide a vehicle for there to be authentic, formal parent representation to the Chief Executive Officer to support the shared responsibility for curriculum, finances and civic engagement.

STRUCTURE

School Parent Organization(s)

Each school or school building will have its own School Parent Organization.  While all existing parent groups will be welcomed at the school level, there must be one School Parent Organization that will be officially recognized as the parent group of the school. By definition, this group of elected parents will serve as the recognized group required for discussion, input, and sign off relative to the Academic Achievement Plan and participation with the core planning teams for academic achievement.

Family Standards Stakeholder Committee

The Chief Executive Officer will convene a Family Standards Stakeholder Committee for the purpose of developing the regulations, guidelines, by-laws, rubric, and timeline(s) for establishing the School Parent Organizations and Officers at each school. The Family Standards Stakeholder Committee will consist of:

  • Four principals;

  • Five teachers;

  • Three community/ faith based leaders;

  • One member of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District Board of Education;

  • One representative of a not-for-profit organization;

  • Four designees of the Chief Executive Officer;

  • Ten parents of students enrolled in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District;

  • Two Family Liaisons.

The parent representatives will reflect the demographics of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.  The Family Standards Stakeholder Committee will forward its recommendations to the Chief Executive Officer in a timely manner.

 

CEO Family Standards Advisory Council

Purpose

The creation of the CEO Family Standards Advisory Council is critical. The purpose of this Council will be to provide input, recommendations, information, and critical issues to the Chief Executive Officer for discussion and consideration. Although the Family Standards Advisory Council is not the decision-making authority, the Council will be valuable in assisting the Chief Executive Officer and the Administration in developing positions on issues relative to public advocacy for students, community school-based issues, curriculum and standards implementation, school construction and capitol projects, and budget planning. It is the responsibility of the Council to distribute in a timely and organized manner all information as a result of the discussion at council meetings to School Parent Organization Presidents at each school.

Selection of the CEO’s Family Standards Advisory Council

The Chief Executive Officer’s Parent Advisory Cabinet must have representation membership from the following geographic clusters:

  • Westside

  • Near Westside

  • Eastside

Please see Attachment “C” for the list of schools represented in each geographic cluster.

The School Parent Organization Presidents of these schools will meet and elect representatives to serve as members of the CEO Family Standards Advisory Council. The CEO Family Standards Advisory Council will meet regularly.

 

Representatives will reflect the demographics of the school community:

Westside:               Eight Members

Near Westside:      Four Members

Eastside:                Eighteen Members

Total:                             Thirty Members
 
Subcommittees

Members of the School Parent Organization will be represented at each subcommittee corresponding to the six Parent Involvement components: Parenting, Communicating, Volunteering, Leadership, Learning at Home, and Community Collaboration. Parent participation at individual schools is at-will. Every parent/custodial caregiver is a “member” of the parent organization by virtue of having a child at the school. The Parent Compact, the school Academic Achievement Plan, the School Performance Indicators, “Educating Cleveland’s Children” and school-based initiatives will drive the School Parent Organization’s activities at each school. The School Parent Organization will act on behalf of parents by providing a voice at the school and within the community. Working cooperatively with the Principal and Family Liaison (where available), the Parent Organizations will provide an arena for conversations, information and advocacy for parents to be active participants in their child(ren)’s education.                  

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[1] The word “parent” is used to reference both parents and other adults who are the legal guardian of a student.