The Parent and Family Engagement

The Parent and Family Engagement Statewide Initiative, the Texas Education Agency, and members of the Parental Involvement Conference Advisory Board worked diligently on the 2022 “Be A Light” Parental Involvement Conference that took place December 8th through December 10th in Frisco, Texas. The event was a huge success, with lots of positive feedback due to everyone’s hard work and dedication. We hope all in attendance gained beneficial knowledge and tools they can take back to their schools, districts, and communities.

We would like to invite you to attend next year’s Parent and Family Engagement Conference on October 4th through October 6th, 2023 in Corpus Christi, Texas. We can “Navigate the Future” by bringing parents, families, community members, and educators together for the joined goal of increasing student achievement. Parents are invited to attend the conference, so talk to a representative at your Title I school about how to attend using federal funds.

• Best Practices Expo LIVE on February 28-March 1, 2023 in McAllen, Texas

Register here: www.esc16expolive.com

• Virtual Best Practices Expos on March 23, 2023 and April 20, 2023 (FREE)

Register here: https://www.escweb.net/tx_r16/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=935879

FEBRUARY

• Maintain strong academic grades. Colleges will review spring semester grades!
• Continue to research and apply for scholarships.
• Watch the scholarship list, as many scholarships have deadlines in February and March.

MARCH

• Carefully evaluate college admissions decisions as they come in.
• Revisit the campus if necessary.
• Register to take the TSI test if you did not take it your Junior year of HS.
• This is required for your two-year or four-year public Texas college.
• Students with certain credentials may be exempt from the TSI. Consult with your college for details.
• Refer to the college’s website on requirements or confer with your counselor if you have questions.
• Continue to research and apply for scholarships.
• You should receive admission decisions and financial aid offers by April.
• Contact the college financial aid office(s) with questions.

To enlist in the military there are a few basic requirements:

(https://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/join-the-military-basic-eligibility.html)

• You must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien.
• You must be at least 17 years old (17-year-old applicants require parental consent).
• You must (with very few exceptions) have a high school diploma.
• You must pass a physical medical exam.
• For each branch, there are slightly different enlistment requirements:

MILITARY BRANCH REQUIREMENTS

Air Force

• Be between the ages of 17-39
• Have no more than two dependents
• Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. (ASVAB) (Minimum AFQT score: 36)

Army

• Be between the ages of 17-35
• Have no more than two dependents
• Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. (Minimum AFQT score: 31)

Coast Guard

• Be between the ages of 17-27
• Have no more than two dependents
• Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. (Minimum AFQT score: 40)
• Have a willingness to serve on or around the water.

Marines

• Meet exacting physical, mental and moral standards
• Be between the ages of 17-28
• Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. (Minimum AFQT score: 32)

Navy

• Be between the ages of 17-34
• Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test. (Minimum AFQT score: 35)

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) believes that meaningful partnerships between schools, families, and communities are the foundation of effective schools and critical to a child’s educational well-being. It is further grounded in the belief that parents, families, educators, and community members work together as full partners, hold themselves mutually accountable, and have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to succeed in achievement for all students.

State Family Engagement Definition

Families, community members, and educators work together in an equal and respectful partnership to create and provide effective, systemwide support for student learning and development from early childhood into college, a career, or the military.

State Parent and Family Engagement Vision

To promote student success, Local Education Agencies (LEAs), with assistance from the TEA and Education Service Centers (ESCs), will align mission, goals and values and utilize available resources to engage, empower, and support families of all backgrounds as they learn to navigate the educational system. A positive school culture requires proactive and responsive student support services and involves families and community.

State Board of Education Vision

The TEA has adopted these vision statements for Family Engagement and Empowerment from the State Board of Education Long-Range Plan for Public Education.

• Texas will have an education system and culture of trust that welcomes and values every family as an active partner by building relationships.
• All cultures that interplay with the education system will be valued and welcomed into the process for student success.
• All available forms of communication will be fully utilized to engage, empower, and connect with all stakeholders.
• TEA and school districts will have systems and resources in place to engage, empower, and support families as they navigate through the complex educational process.

Guiding Principles

When families engage in their students’ learning, learning improves. TEA is committed to coordinating efforts among schools, parents, and community leaders and will support LEAs in:

• Building the capacity of parents, families, communities, and educators;
• Maintaining regular two-way communication between home and school;
• Developing relationships with parents and families as partners in planning and decision-making;
• Creating systemic processes for needs assessment, program development, and continuous improvement;
• Overcoming cultural and linguistic barriers;
• Ensuring a parent and family (PFE) program that is student outcome oriented.

TEA Strategic Priorities

TEA’s approach to planning and implementing Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was strengthened by purposefully connecting it to the agency’s strategic planning initiative and aligning work to TEA’s four strategic priorities.

Recruit, support, and retain teachers and principals. Supportive and positive relationships between teachers and families characterized by respect, trust, consideration, understanding, equality, and shared responsibility create a strong foundation for collaborative teacher-family partnerships. These positive partnerships can aid in recruiting and retaining quality staff which can improve student’s academic outcomes.

• Build a foundation for reading and math. Children show notable improvements in learning and school readiness when families are engaged and involved in goal-oriented curriculum and evidence-based programs focused on math and reading.
• Connect high school to career and college. College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) programs and career pathways are designed to help students build a strong foundation of knowledge and cognitive/intellectual skills needed for college, the workforce, and the military. Students benefit when families and educators partner to provide support and guidance in these essential programs.

• Improve low-performing schools. TEA’s Effective School Framework approach strategically incorporates family engagement as an essential action needed to improve schools and expand great choices for students and families. School improvement approaches that implement high-quality family engagement practices in tandem with high-quality instruction have noted sustained gains in student learning.

  
  

Stakeholder Roles

TEA is committed to increasing student achievement through collaboration with key stakeholders to support PFE. These are the roles played by each stakeholder:

• TEA will collaborate and coordinate efforts among schools, parents, and community leaders to strengthen Texas PFE. TEA will provide leadership, appropriate funding, professional development, training tools and resources for sustained support for all federal PFE programs across the state.
• Texas Council on Parent and Family Engagement will provide input and advice to state and local policy makers, guidance on content for initiative training and professional development, and will be a parent voice to identify and affirm best practices.
• Statewide initiatives will collaborate and coordinate with TEA and the Texas Council to identify and publicize best practices, design statewide training and professional development, develop statewide guidance and resources for ESCs, LEAs, and campuses and will provide virtual meetings and trainings throughout the year to assist parent and family engagement programs.
• ESCs will conduct initiative-designed training and professional development for LEAs, provide ongoing support and technical assistance to LEAs in implementing parent and family engagement, and disseminate statewide guidance and resources on parent and family engagement to LEAs including innovative ideas to support rural and small schools.
• LEAs will create a positive school climate for PFE including meaningful involvement of parents and family members in fulfilling the requirements of ESSA Section 1116, which includes but is not limited to:

1. Building the capacity of parents, families, communities, and educators to work collaboratively by fostering reciprocal relationships through dialogue and shared responsibility in planning and decision-making and policy development.
2. Communicating with families on a regular basis about their child’s performance, including their child’s college, career, or military preparation.

Advocating for students and families by encouraging and supporting the creation of processes that allow parents and families to ask questions, resolve problems, and receive information and resources suitable to their needs to support their students.

Each year, the Parent and Family Engagement Statewide Initiative accepts applications from districts and/or schools who are implementing practices that yield high parent and family engagement and empowerment. This year, there were many amazing applications, including some that we hope apply again next year once they have collected data on the practice. This year, the following schools were selected as our Promising Practices winners.

What is the goal of the practice? Project LEARN exists to help at-risk children become successful and to provide the education and encouragement to their parents to become partners as well as strong and informed advocates in their children’s education.

How was the practice identified as a need? The practice is identified as a need since parents have requested this service. District leaders have been active in providing equity for all stakeholders in Lamar CISD Title I survey and District Improvement Plan.

What is the goal of the practice? The goal of this practice is to increase parent, family and community involvement, engagement and empowerment by promoting effective customer service and communication in accordance with the needs of students and parents.

How was the practice identified as a need? Needs we identified from different sources, including, but not limited to paper surveys, online surveys, community meetings, committee meetings, talking to parents to ask about their needs, looking at the effectiveness of our current practices and parent participation and engagement in events. The school team made sure that they provided a voice to the parents to determine their needs.

What is the goal of the practice? The goal of this practice is to provide students and families with experiential learning experiences that teach students how to develop a business and market a product, while gaining the knowledge required through the process of buying, selling, spending and saving.

How was the practice identified as a need? Student Improvement in mathematics has been an ongoing growth goal as evidenced in the Local District Plan. Connecting Math concepts learned in the classroom to real life situations by providing students with practical experiences is a strategy the LEA utilizes to focus on district needs, specifically as it relates to financial literacy.

What is the goal of the practice? The goal of the practice is to provide access to needed supplies and resources for students and families to begin the school year with success. Additionally, another goal was to build healthy relationships with families from the very beginning of their student’s educational journey.

How was the practice identified as a need? Following the Covid 19 pandemic, Pampa ISD families, just like many other families, suffered job loss and pay cuts. There was a significant increase in the number of students needing services such as school supplies, immunizations, health screenings, and clothes. Connecting with families before the school year began was essential to build the foundation for building healthy school-home relationships throughout the year. Additionally, building partnerships with businesses, civic organizations and churches helps to build bridges and provide greater opportunities and resources for students and families.

All 4 of the Promising Practices winners will present their implemented practices at our Best Practices Expo Live February 28-March 1 in McAllen. Information and Registration here: https://esc16expolive.com

If the school your child attends is a Title I, Part A school that receives Title I, Part A ESSA funding, you have certain rights as a parent. A few relevant during the winter months include:

• According to section 1111 (h)(1)(B) and (h)(2)(B) of ESSA, Annual State Federal Report Cards as well as Annual Local Education Agency Report Cards shall be disseminated to the public. These reports are typically released in December, and can be found on the TEA website here.
• Your school leaders have the opportunity to attend the National ESEA Conference in February to learn ways to meet the needs of disadvantaged students.
• According to section 1112 (e)(1)(B) of ESSA, a school district that assigns an inappropriately certified or uncertified teacher to the same classroom for more than 4 consecutive weeks during the same school year shall provide written notice of the assignment to a parent or guardian of each student in that classroom.
• According to section 1116 of ESSA, each school and local educational agency shall:

1. provide assistance to parents in understanding the challenging State standards, State and local assessments, and how to monitor a child’s progress (e)(1).
2. provide materials and training to help parents to work with their children to improve their children’s achievement (e)(2).
3. educate teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, principals, and other school leaders, and other staff members, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of the contributions of parents (e)(3).

For any questions or concerns regarding any of the above, please contact your school or local educational agency.

Bibliography

Amarillo ISD. (n.d.). Retrieved from Amarillo ISD. Magnolia High School. (n.d.). Retrieved from Magnolia ISD. U.S Department of Education. (2015, December 10). Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). USA Gov. (n.d.).

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