Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Archived FedPro Message

SUBJECT:  Compliance Requirements Reminder

LISTSERVE MESSAGE DATE:  September 9, 2010

Districts and schools supported by Title I funds must meet certain compliance requirements in exchange for the use of those funds.  Several of the requirements are related to informing parents of their rights or of how they might be better involved in the successful education of their children.  The following are some of the notifications and parent involvement policies required of Title I funded districts and schools.

Parent/Guardian Notifications

 

ESEA requires notification to parents/guardians when any of the following situations exist in a LEA receiving Federal funds:

 

• At the beginning of each school year, a participating LEA must notify the parents/guardians of each student attending a building that receives Title I funds that they may request, and the LEA will provide in a timely manner, information regarding the professional qualifications of their child’s classroom teachers and any paraprofessionals providing services to their child.
• A building that receives Title I funds must provide all parents/guardians notice that their child has been assigned, or has been taught for four or more consecutive weeks, by a teacher or a person who is not appropriately certified.
• When a school is identified for School Improvement, the LEA must notify the parents/guardians of all children in the identified Title I building of its School Improvement status. Yearly updates are provided to parents with available options until the building is no longer identified for improvement.
• Within 30 days after the beginning of the school year, a LEA must inform parents/guardians that their LEP child has been identified for participation in a language instruction educational program.
• Parents/guardians of students enrolled in a persistently dangerous school or students who are victims of violent criminal offense while on school property must be notified of their option to transfer their student to a school that is not designated persistently dangerous.
• LEAs must annually disseminate Federal Programs Complaint Resolution Procedures to parents/guardians of students and appropriate private school officials or representatives.

 

Parents Right to Know

 

At the beginning of each school year, a participating LEA must notify the parents/guardians of each student attending a building that receives Title I funds that the parents/guardians may request, and the LEA will provide in a timely manner, information regarding the professional qualifications of their child’s classroom teachers and paraprofessionals. The notices and information provided to parents must be in a format and language that is easily understood by all parents and must include a contact name and appropriate contact information (telephone number, e-mail address, street/mailing address).

 

The information available to parents will include, at a minimum, the following:

• Whether the teacher has met state certification criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher is providing instruction.
• Whether the teacher is teaching under emergency or other provision status through which State qualification or licensing criteria have been waived.
• The baccalaureate degree major and any other graduate degree or certification, including field of discipline, the teacher holds.
• Whether their child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.

 

Buildings receiving Title I funds must provide to each individual parent:

• Notice that their child has been assigned, or has been taught, for four or more consecutive weeks by a substitute teacher or a person who is not appropriately certified.  This notice should be provided as soon as the building is aware that the assignment will occur.
• Annual information on their child’s achievement level in each of the state academic assessments—for tested grades.

 

Parent Involvement

 

Programs, activities, and procedures for the involvement of parents/guardians must be implemented in order for a LEA to receive a Title I allocation. Parental involvement shall include participation of parents in ongoing and meaningful communication about student academic learning and other school activities, ensuring that parents/guardians:

• Play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;
• Are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;
• Are full partners in their child’s education and are included, as appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child; and
• Are notified of the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status of their child’s school building.

 

 

LEA Parent Involvement Policy

 

Each LEA must have a written parent involvement policy jointly developed with, agreed with, and distributed to parents of participating children. The policy must be approved by the LEA board of education and should describe how the LEA will meet the six requirements to build parents’ capacity:

• Involve parents in the joint development of the CSIP and in the process of school improvement;
• Provide coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student achievement;
• Build the schools’ and parents’ capacity for strong parental involvement by assisting parents in understanding such topics as the State’s academic content and achievement standards, academic assessments, how to monitor a child’s progress, and how to work with educators, by providing materials and training to help parents work with their children (including literacy and technology training) and by educating teachers, pupil personnel, principals, and other staff in the value and utility of the contributions of parents and how to work with parents;
• Coordinate parental involvement strategies with those under other programs, such as Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, Parents as Teachers, Home Instruction for Preschool Youngsters, and State-run preschool programs (providing support for parental involvement activities as parents request it) and Title III language instructional programs;
• Conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parent involvement policy, including the identification of barriers to greater participation, especially by parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background; use the findings of the evaluation to design strategies for more effective parental involvement; revise, if necessary, parent involvement policies; and
• Involve parents in the activities of the Title I-served schools.

If the LEA has a policy apart from Title I that involves all parents, that policy may be amended to meet these requirements.

 

School Parent Involvement Plan

 

In addition to the LEA policy, each Title I building must jointly develop with and distribute to parents of participating children a written parent involvement plan. The plan must be updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school and be in a format and language readily understood by parents and LEA personnel. If the building already has a plan for involving all parents, that plan may be revised to meet the federal requirements.

 

For LEAs with allocations over $500,000, one percent of the allocation is budgeted and

used for parent involvement activities, including promoting family literacy and parenting

skills; 95% of the one percent is distributed to the buildings.

The written plan must address all of the following requirements and must be distributed to parents.  Strategies for Communication (Policy Involvement)--Each building must:

• Hold an annual meeting to inform parents of their school’s participation in Title I, explain Title I requirements, and explain parents’ right to be involved;
• Offer a flexible number of meetings at various times and, if necessary, use Title I funds to provide transportation, child care, or home visits as these services relate to Title I parental involvement;
• Involve parents in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of programs under Title I, including the school parent involvement policy and the joint development of the schoolwide plan;
• Provide parents of participating children:
  • timely information about Title I programs;
  • a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of assessment used to measure student progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet;
  • an interpretation of the school’s annual performance report;
  • if requested by parents, regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, when appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children and timely responses to the suggestions made by parents that have been offered in the meetings;
  • include comments from parents of participating children who find any aspect of the schoolwide plan unsatisfactory when it is submitted to the LEA.

 

Notices and Information LEAs with Title I, Part A-funded language instruction educational programs must provide to parents of limited English proficient students

 

LEAs using Title I, Part A funds to provide a language instruction educational program (as defined in Part C of Title III of the ESEA) must provide the following information to a parent or parents of limited English proficient children identified for participation or participating in such a program:

• the reasons for the identification of their child as limited English proficient and in need of placement in a language instruction educational program;
• the child’s level of English proficiency, how that level was assessed, and the status of the child’s academic achievement;
• the methods of instruction used in the program in which their child is, or will be participating, and the methods of instruction used in other available programs, including how those programs differ in content, instructional goals, and the use of English and a native language in instruction;
• how the program in which their child is or will be participating will meet the educational strengths and needs of their child;
• how the program will specifically help their child learn English, and meet age-appropriate academic achievement standards for grade promotion and graduation;
• the specific exit requirements of the program, including the expected rate of transition from the program into classrooms that are not tailored for limited English proficient children, and the expected rate of graduation from secondary school for the program if Title I, Part A funds are used for children in secondary schools;
• in the case of a child with a disability, how the program meets the objectives of the child’s individualized education program (IEP) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or the child’s individualized services under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (section 504);
• information pertaining to parental rights, including written guidance—

• detailing the option that parents have a right to decline enrollment in a language instructional program and to choose  another program or method of instruction if available;
• detailing the right that parents have to remove their child immediately from the program upon the parents’ request; and
• assisting parents in selecting among various programs and methods of instruction, if more than one program or method is offered by the eligible entity.

• These notice requirements also apply to a language instruction educational program funded under Part A of Title III.  [Section 3303, ESEA.]
• The notice and information provided must be in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language that the parents can understand.  [Section 1112(g)(2), ESEA]

LEAs must provide the above information to parents not later than 30 days after the beginning of the school year for those children identified before the beginning of the school year as limited English proficient.  For children identified after the beginning of the school year as limited English proficient, LEAs must provide the above information to parents within the first 2 weeks of the child being placed in a language instruction educational program.

In addition, if a language instruction educational program has not made progress on the annual measurable achievement objectives under section 3122 of the ESEA, the eligible entity using the Title I, Part A funds must provide separate notification to parents of a child identified for participation in, or participating in, that program to inform them of that failure not later than 30 days after the failure occurs.  [Section 1112(g)(1), (2), and (3), ESEA.]

Do parents of private school children in Title I, Part A programs have the right to equitable in parental involvement activities? 

 

Yes.  Under participation the equitable participation provisions of Title I, Part A, an LEA must provide eligible children enrolled in private elementary and secondary schools, on an equitable basis, special education services and other benefits under Title I, Part A, including parental involvement services and activities, that are comparable to the services and benefits provided to their public school counterparts.  The amount of funds available to provide equitable services from the applicable reserved funds must be proportionate to the number of private school children from low-income families residing in the participating public school attendance areas.

As part of complying with this requirement, an LEA must provide equitable services to parents of private school participants from the funds set aside for this purpose.  Activities for the parents of private school participants must be planned and implemented after meaningful consultation with private school officials and parents and conducted either in conjunction with the LEA’s parental involvement activities or independently.  Activities that LEAs can provide parents that will assist private school students in achieving high academic standards include a written agreement between the LEA and parents of private school participants regarding the responsibilities of the LEA and parents in the Title I program, parent meetings, communication between the Title I teachers and parents on students’ academic progress, parent-teacher conferences, and parent education.  [Section 200.65(a)(2) of the Title I Regulations and Section 1120, ESEA.]

Additional information related to the compliance requirements for ESEA programs can be found at:

http://www.dese.mo.gov/divimprove/fedprog/documents/administrativemanual.pdf .

Stephen Barr

Coordinator, Federal Grants and Financial Management

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

PO Box 480

Jefferson City, MO  65102

Telephone:  (573) 751-2046