1. Dust Off Your Old
School-Parent
Compact
Linking Family Engagement to Your
School Improvement Plan
Judy Carson
Connecticut State Department of Education
judy.carson@ct.gov
Patti Avallone
Consultant to Connecticut State Department of Education
patriciaavallone@sbcglobal.net

2. School-Family-Community Partnerships
“Schools, families and communities all contribute
to student success, and the best results come when
all three work together as equal partners.”
CSBE Position Statement on School-Family-Community Partnerships

3. Title I and Parent Involvement
District Level
Policy
School Level
(Policy) Plan
Building School-Parent
Title I Program
Capacity Compact

4. Parental Involvement Definition
 Participation of parents in regular, two-way,
and meaningful communication involving
student academic learning and other school
activities ensuring–
 That parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s
learning;
 That parents are encouraged to be actively involved in
their child’s education at school;
 That 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

5. Let’s Meet a Family

7. What Do Parents Want From Us?
What is my child expected to know in each grade level?
Make us feel welcomed in your school and classroom
Offer workshops on how to help children at home
Lend us books/materials
Reach out and visit us in our neighborhoods and homes
Offer child care and transportation
Hold events at varying times and venues for working families

8. Compact: A written agreement of shared responsibility
How will families and teachers work
together this year to achieve the goals
of the school improvement plan?
USDE 1996

9. Compacts: A Missed Opportunity
 One of the weakest areas of Title 1 Compliance;
need for technical assistance is substantial (USDE 2008)
 Engaging families should be a core strategy for
school improvement.
Compacts are not present
Not meaningful
Not specific

10. Let’s Look At A Compact

11. Example of an OLD Compact
NUTMEG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
HOME/SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT COMPACT
TITLE I TEACHER: PARENT/GUARDIAN: STUDENT:
I understand that the school I realize that my time in school is very I know my education is
experience is important to every important. I also understand that participating important. I know my
student and so is my role as a in my child’s education will help his/her parents want to help me,
teacher and model. Therefore, I achievement and attitude. Therefore, I agree but I am the one who has to
agree to carry out the following to carry out the following responsibilities to do the work. Therefore, I
responsibilities to the best of my the best of my ability: agree to do the following:
ability:
1. Go over my child’s assignments with 1. Do my classwork on
1. Teach necessary concepts him/her. time.
to your child. 2. Make sure my child is at school on time. 2. Be at school on time
2. Try to be aware of your 3. Give my child a quiet place to study. unless I am sick.
child’s needs. 4. Spend at least 15 minutes each day 3. Return corrected work
3. Regularly communicate reading with my child. to my parent/guardian.
with you and the regular 5. Attend open house and parent 4. Pay attention and do
classroom teacher about conferences. my work.
your child’s progress. 6. Make sure my child gets enough sleep 5. Be responsible for my
each night. own behavior.
__________________________ ____________________________________ ______________________
Teacher Signature Date Parent/Guardian Signature Date Student Signature Date

12. What Is Supposed To Be In a Compact?
1. A. Link to the goals of school improvement plan
B. Explain what teachers will do to support family learning
2. Describe strategies families can use at home to strengthen students’
skills
3. Describe what students will do to reach their achievement goals
4. Describe activities that support partnerships for learning at this school
5. Develop with meaningful input from families
6. Communicate with families about student learning
7. Write in family-friendly language

13. The Myths
The Compact…
 must be signed by
teachers and
parents
 is a good place to
teach parenting
 is the place to
correct student
behavior

14. STUDENT DATA
District and School Improvement Plans
School-Parent Compact
Grade Level Strategies
Parent-Teacher
Conferences
Home
Learning

18. Why do compacts matter?

19. What Happened?
Compliance Culture
+ Little experience with families
_______________________________
= Boiler plate compacts aimed
at “fixing” parents

20. Revitalize Your Title I School-Parent Compact
Prioritize “Bang for Your Buck” Strategies
That Was Then: This is Now:
 Generic Student Data
 Boilerplate School Improvement
 Whole School Grade Level Specific
Co-Developed
3rd
Focused on Behavior Linked to Learning
Compliance Partnership

21. The “10 Steps to
Success” Toolkit

22. CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
First Two Steps to Success
1. Motivate and get buy-in from staff
• Explain at a staff meeting what School-Parent Compacts
are and how they contribute to student success
2. Designate a leader
• Pick a person with leadership skills: math/literacy coach,
assistant principal, data team leader, home-school
coordinator

23. CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Step to Success #3
3. Align the Compact with school improvement plan
• Review and analyze school data and school improvement
goals to identify the skills we want to focus on

24. CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Step to Success #4
4. Get grade-level input on skills that need to
improve in each grade
• Data teams identify three goals/grade level and draft
home learning ideas to discuss with parents

25. A Principal’s Perspective
Tom Hunt
Forest Elementary School
West Haven, Connecticut

26. CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Step to Success #5
5. Reach out to Families
• Meet by grade level to discuss how to work together
(workshops, class meetings, math night).
• Two-way conversations!

27. CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
It’s All About the Conversations!
• Recruit parents to fun events -- then break into grade
level groups with translators.
• Ask: How can the school help YOU support your
children’s learning?
• Type up and circulate parents’ideas.
• Teachers meet at each grade level to respond, draft
Compact plan.
• Parents approve.

28. CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Step to Success #6
6. Don’t forget the Students
• How will they take responsibility for their learning?
• What do they want teachers and parents to do to
support them?

29. CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Next Two Steps to Success
7. Pull it All Together
• Create an attractive, family-friendly Compact with input
from all
• Design a roll-out plan

32. CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Step to Success #8
8. Align All Resources
• Budget
• Parent Workshops
School-Parent Compact • Staff Development
• Volunteers, Tutors and
Grade Level Strategies
other Partners
• Title 1 Evaluation
School Action Team for Partnerships

33. CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Last Two Steps to Success
9. Market the Compact
• Get the word out at every opportunity
• Refer to the Compact at parent-teacher conferences and
meetings
10. Review, Revise, Celebrate Progress
• Discuss what worked, what needs to improve, then
develop new plan
• Celebrate success and ask students to show off!

34. Technical Assistance

47. CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Quality Indicators
 Link actions to goals in the school improvement
plan and to school data
 Connect activities for families to what students are
learning and doing in class
 Include follow-up steps to support parents and
students
 Consult with parents on communication strategies
that work best for them
 Translate into families’ home languages

48. CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Remember:
It’s all about
the
Conversations!

49. What do Teachers Say?
”After collaborating with families on our
school compact, we teachers looked at
parents differently, appreciating how much
they were willing to help. We realized that
we never were specific about the learning
skills and strategies that we wanted parents
to do at home, and often assumed that there
was no support. Wow, were we
wrong!! Our relationship with families grew
stronger and finally, we were all on the
same page to strengthen student
achievement.”

50. If you want to go fast,
go it alone.
If you want to go far,
go with others.

51. For More Information
www.schoolparentcompact.org
In The News
Making the Most of School-Family Compacts.
Educational Leadership, May 2011.
Family-School-Community Partnerships 2.0:
Collaborative Strategies to Advance Student Learning. NEA
Priority Schools Campaign, November 2011.
http://neapriorityschools.org
Turn Forgettable Title I Compacts into Remarkable
Reform Tools. Title I Admin.com, February 2, 2012.
Turn Title I Compacts into Dog-Eared Documents. Title
I Admin.com, February 23, 2012.