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Self-Reflection Tool for Priority 3: Parent Engagement
Standard: The local educational agency (LEA) annually measures its progress in: (1) seeking input from parents in decision making; and (2) promoting parental participation in programs, and reports the results to its local governing board at a regularly scheduled meeting and to stakeholders and the public through the California School Dashboard (Dashboard).
Criteria: The LEA will assess its performance on a (Met, Not Met, or Not Met for Two or More Years) scale.
Evidence: The LEA measures its progress using the self-reflection tool included in the Dashboard, and reports these results to its local governing board at a regularly scheduled meeting and through the local data selection option in the Dashboard.
Introduction
Family engagement is an essential strategy for building pathways to college and career readiness for all students and is an essential component of a systems approach to improving outcomes for all students. More than thirty years of research has shown that family engagement can lead to improved student outcomes (e.g. attendance, engagement, academic outcomes, social emotional learning, etc.). Consistent with the California Department of Education’s (CDE’s) Family Engagement Toolkit:^1
● Effective and authentic family engagement has been described as an intentional partnership of educators, families and community members who share responsibility for a child from the time they are born to becoming an adult.
● To build an effective partnership, educators, families, and community members need to develop the knowledge and skills to work together, and schools must purposefully integrate family and community engagement with goals for students' learning and thriving.
The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) legislation recognized the importance of family engagement by requiring LEAs to address Priority 3 within their local control and accountability plan (LCAP). The self-reflection tool described below enables LEAs to reflect upon their implementation of family engagement as part of their continuous improvement process and prior to updating their LCAP.
For LEAs to engage all families equitably, it is necessary to understand the cultures, languages, needs and interests of families in the local area. Furthermore, developing family engagement policies, programs, and practices needs to be done in partnership with local families, using the tools of continuous improvement.
(^1) California Department of Education. (2017). Family Engagement Toolkit: Continuous
Improvement through an Equity Lens. Sacramento, CA: Author.
Instructions
This self-reflection tool is organized into three sections. Each section includes promising practices in family engagement:
- Building Relationships between School Staff and Families
- Building Partnerships for Student Outcomes
- Seeking Input for Decision-making
LEAs use this self-reflection tool to reflect on its progress, successes, needs and areas of growth in family engagement policies, programs, and practices. This tool will enable an LEA to engage in continuous improvement and determine next steps to make improvements in the areas identified.
The results of the process should be used to inform the LCAP and the development process, to assess prior year goals, actions and services as well as to plan or modify future goals, actions, and services in the LCAP.
For each statement in the table below:
- Identify the diverse stakeholders that need to participate in the self-reflection process in order to ensure input from all groups of families, staff and students in the LEA, including families of unduplicated students and families of individuals with exceptional needs as well as families of underrepresented students.
- Engage stakeholders in determining what data and information will be considered to complete the self-reflection tool. LEAs should consider how the practices apply to families of all student groups, including families of unduplicated students and families of individuals with exceptional needs as well as families of underrepresented students.
- Based on the analysis of data, identify the number which best indicates the LEA’s current stage of implementation for each practice using the following rating scale (lowest to highest):
1 – Exploration and Research Phase
2 – Beginning Development
3 – Initial Implementation
4 – Full Implementation
5 – Full Implementation and Sustainability
- Write a brief response to the prompts following each of the three sections.
Building Relationships
1. Rate the LEA’s progress in developing the capacity of staff (i.e. administrators, teachers, and classified staff) to build trusting and respectful relationships with families.
Rating Scale (lowest to highest): 1 – Exploration and Research Phase; 2 – Beginning Development; 3 – Initial Implementation; 4 – Full Implementation; 5 – Full Implementation and Sustainability
2. Rate the LEA’s progress in creating welcoming environments for all families in the community.
Rating Scale (lowest to highest): 1 – Exploration and Research Phase; 2 – Beginning Development; 3 – Initial Implementation; 4 – Full Implementation; 5 – Full Implementation and Sustainability
3. Rate the LEA’s progress in supporting staff to learn about each family’s strengths, cultures, languages, and goals for their children.
Rating Scale (lowest to highest): 1 – Exploration and Research Phase; 2 – Beginning Development; 3 – Initial Implementation; 4 – Full Implementation; 5 – Full Implementation and Sustainability
4. Rate the LEA’s progress in developing multiple opportunities for the LEA and school sites to engage in 2-way communication between families and educators using language that is understandable and accessible to families.
Rating Scale (lowest to highest): 1 – Exploration and Research Phase; 2 – Beginning Development; 3 – Initial Implementation; 4 – Full Implementation; 5 – Full Implementation and Sustainability
Dashboard Narrative Box
Briefly describe the LEA’s current strengths and progress in this area, and identify a focus area for improvement, including how the LEA will improve the engagement of underrepresented families.
Building Partnerships for Student Outcomes
5. Rate the LEA’s progress in providing professional learning and support to teachers and principals to improve a school’s capacity to partner with families.
Rating Scale (lowest to highest): 1 – Exploration and Research Phase; 2 – Beginning Development; 3 – Initial Implementation; 4 – Full Implementation; 5 – Full Implementation and Sustainability
6. Rate the LEA’s progress in providing families with information and resources to support student learning and development in the home.
Rating Scale (lowest to highest): 1 – Exploration and Research Phase; 2 – Beginning Development; 3 – Initial Implementation; 4 – Full Implementation; 5 – Full Implementation and Sustainability
7. Rate the LEA’s progress in implementing policies or programs for teachers to meet with families and students to discuss student progress and ways to work together to support improved student outcomes.
Rating Scale (lowest to highest): 1 – Exploration and Research Phase; 2 – Beginning Development; 3 – Initial Implementation; 4 – Full Implementation; 5 – Full Implementation and Sustainability
11. Rate the LEA’s progress in providing all families with opportunities to provide input on policies and programs, and implementing strategies to reach and seek input from any underrepresented groups in the school community.
Rating Scale (lowest to highest): 1 – Exploration and Research Phase; 2 – Beginning Development; 3 – Initial Implementation; 4 – Full Implementation; 5 – Full Implementation and Sustainability
12. Rate the LEA’s progress in providing opportunities to have families, teachers, principals, and district administrators work together to plan, design, implement and evaluate family engagement activities at school and district levels.
Rating Scale (lowest to highest): 1 – Exploration and Research Phase; 2 – Beginning Development; 3 – Initial Implementation; 4 – Full Implementation; 5 – Full Implementation and Sustainability
Dashboard Narrative Box
Briefly describe the LEA’s current strengths and progress in this area and identify a focus area for improvement, including how the LEA will improve the engagement of underrepresented families.
Appendix A: Resources
- Southwest Educational Development Laboratory in Collaboration with the United States Department of Education. (2013) Partners in Education: A Dual Capacity Building Framework for Family School Partnerships. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/documents/family-community/partners-education.pdf
- California Department of Education. (2017). Family Engagement Toolkit: Continuous Improvement Through an Equity Lens. Sacramento, CA. Author. Retrieved from https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/lc/documents/family-engagement.pdf
- California Department of Education. (2017). Editable Templates for Family Engagement Toolkit. Sacramento, CA. Author. Retrieved from https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/lc/documents/toolkittemplates.doc
- United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start, National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. (2018). Head Start Parent, Family, and Community
Engagement Framework. Retrieved from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/pfce-framework.pdf
- (2018). Head Start Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Framework. Retrieved from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/pfce- framework.pdf
