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The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School

Title I Parent Involvement Policy

General Expectations

The PA CYBER CHARTER SCHOOL agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:

  • The school district/LEA will put into operation programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents with Title I, Part A Programs, consistent with The No Child Left Behind Act. Those programs, activities will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.
  • Consistent with section 1118, the school district/LEA will work to ensure that the required parental involvement policies meet the requirements of section 1118(b) of the ESEA, and each include, as a component, a school-parent compact consistent with section 1118(d) of the ESEA.
  • The school district/LEA plan developed with follow guidelines under section 1112 of the ESEA.
  • In carrying out the Title 1, Part A parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school district/LEA will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports required under section 1111 of the ESEA in an understandable and uniform format and, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.
  • If the district/LEA plan for Title 1, Part A, developed under section 1112 of the ESEA, is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submits the plan to the State Department of Education.
  • The school district/LEA will involve the parents of children served in Title 1, Part A schools in decisions about how the 1 percent of Title 1, Part A funds reserved for parental involvement is spent, and will ensure that not less than 95 percent of the one percent reserved goes directly to the schools required for Title 1, Part A funds of $500,000.00 or greater.
  • The school district will be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement, and expects that its Title 1 schools will carry out programs, activities and procedures in accordance with this definition:

Parental involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including

  • (A) parents play an integral role in assisting their child's learning;
  • (B) parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child's education at school;
  • (C) parents 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.

Part II; Description of How District Will Implement Required District Wide Parent Involvement Policy Components

  1. The PA CYBER CHARTER SCHOOL will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its district wide/LEA parental involvement plan.
    • Annual Parent Title Meetings to inform parents of their participation in Title 1, the Title 1 involvement requirements and their rights to be involved.
    • Need for School-Parent Compact
    • Provide all parents with copy of district/LEA parent involvement policy each year.
    • Include survey with policy to obtain feedback from parents
    • Meeting with Title 1 to discuss survey results.
  2. The PA CYBER CHARTER SCHOOL will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of development of the School wide Program Plan under Section 1114.
    1. (list actions)
  3. The PA CYBER CHARTER SCHOOL will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title 1, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance:
    • Establishment of an Integration Team to include CEO, Executive Director, Assistant Director, Director of Instructional Technology, Title 1 Coordinator, Assistant to Title 1 Coordinator, Parents and Jr./Sr. Students.
    • Meetings between Integration Team, Invited Parents, Administration and Staff for professional development needs and training to provide most effective teaching tools and resources to increase student achievement. Discussion to include PSSA and local assessment data and results.
  4. The PA CYBER CHARTER SCHOOL to the extent feasible will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the following other programs: Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, Parents As Teachers, Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters, and State-operated preschool programs by:
    • Invite program members to participate in parent night meetings held during the school year.
    • Invite program members to participate in professional development activities.
    • Organize and participate in joint transition-related training of school staff, Head Start staff and other early childhood development programs.
    • Conduct meetings involving parents and programs participants to discuss development and assessments needs of individual children.
  5. The PA CYBER CHARTER SCHOOL will take the following to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parental involvement policy in improving the quality of its Title 1, Part A schools. The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in parental involvement activities (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 school district/LEA will use the findings of the evaluation about its parental involvement policy and activities to design strategies for more effective parental; involvement, and to revise, if necessary (and with the involvement of parents) its parental involvement policies.
    • Establish an Integration Team to include CEO, Executive Director, Assistant Director, Director of Instructional Technology, Title 1 Coordinator, Assistant to Title I Coordinator, Parents and Jr./Sr. students.
    • The Integration Team will enhance the alignment of current curriculum with developed Title 1 Programs. The catalyst for integration will be innovative technology to assist the needs of all children.
    • The Integration Team focusing on needs of all students with concentrations in the areas of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and mathematics will initially evaluate the program/policy.
    • Program/policy evaluation findings will be shared with parents via meetings, surveys and other means of communication to work collectively to update and improve policies as needed.
    • Policy will be reviewed at a minimum annually.

The PA CYBER CHARTER SCHOOL will build the schools' and parent's capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement through the following activities specifically described below:

The school district/LEA will, with the assistance of its Title I, Part A schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school district or school, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following, by undertaking the actions described in this paragraph.

  • the State's academic content standards
  • the State's student academic achievement standards
  • the State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments,
  • the requirements of Part A,
  • how to monitor their child's progress, and

  • how to work with educators:

    • Provide assistance to Title 1 parents as appropriate in understanding standards, state and local assessments, the requirements of Part A, monitoring a child's programs and working with educators by conducting workshops at host locations such as Intermediates, PA Cyber Host Sites, enlistment of County and State Parent Advisory Committees and Workshops.
    • Provide parents with PDE websites and Department of Ed websites specific to academic standards, assessments, NCLB, and Title 1 Part A
    • Organize and participate in joint transition-related training of school staff, Head Start staff and other early childhood development programs.
    • Conduct meetings involving parents and programs participants to discuss development and assessments needs of individual children

The school district will take the following actions to ensure that information related to the school and parent-programs, meetings, and other activities, is sent to the parents of participating children in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand:

  • Mailings
  • Random phone call reminders
  • Emails
  • Postings on district/LEA website (list actions)

Part III. Discretionary District Wide Parental Involvement Policy Components

  • Adopting and implementing model approaches to improving parental involvement;
  • Establishing a district wide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in Title 1, Part A programs;
  • Developing appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses, including faith-based organizations, in parental involvement activities; and
  • Providing other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under section 1118 as parents may request.

Part IV. Adoption

This District wide Parental Involvement Policy has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title 1, Part A programs, as evidenced by This District wide Parental Involvement Policy has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title 1, Part A programs, as evidenced by Family Link, Parent Forums, Parent/Teacher Conferences, one on one synchronous coaching with certified teachers, Parent Surveys, field trips, Dibels Fluency testing, United Streaming content usage, and Study Island testing and assessment utilization.

This policy was adopted by the PA Cyber Charter School on 03/21/07 and will be in effect for the period of 2008-2009. The school district will distribute this policy to all parents of participating Title 1, Part A children on or before the Title 1 referral date.