For years, Denton Independent School District schools offered the typical parental involvement activities Dr. Karen L. Mapp of Harvard calls “random acts of parent involvement” in her article, Unlocking Families’ Potential. Our schools had good intentions, but the results didn’t always quite live up to expectations. While the events weren’t bad in and of themselves, activities were a one-time event and not necessarily sustainable. When I learned of what ReadyRosie offered, a product unlike any I’d ever seen, I knew we had uncovered a way to link parent and family engagement to student learning and development, the essential component of an effective program. Not only did ReadyRosie strengthen engagement, it helped address a number of requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act in our efforts to improve student achievement. September 20th at 12pm CT we will be hosting a free webinar to share more about how Denton ISD is using ReadyRosie to meet ESSA requirements in a meaningful way.

1. ESSA Parent & Family Engagement:
Beyond Checking the Box
Red Tape
When dealing with government rules and regulations, it’s easy to get lost in the bureaucracy buried under the
red tape. But I think it is absolutely essential for us as federal programs directors to remember the purpose of
these funds.
Rather than simply complying for compliance sake, let’s really consider the spirit and intent of the things
included in ESSA law and the reasons why we do these things starting with the LEA, or local education agency,
written parent and family engagement policy.
Written Local Education Agency Parent and Family Engagement Policy
While ESSA requires a local education agency (LEA) to craft a district written parent and family engagement
policy and obligated to “outreach to all parents and family members” to implement “programs, activities, and
procedures for the involvement of parents and family members,” the policy is only the beginning. The magic
isn’t in the composing the right words or the language that complies with the law; it’s what you do with to
really address the spirit and intent.
Multiple times, I’ve done a thorough Google search for these policies. Interestingly, I’ve found many states to
provide similar policies.

2. There is the sample template I lifted from the USDE non-regulatory guidance document
(https://www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/parentinvguid.doc) or any number of examples posted online by
LEAs across the country using this template.
In Denton ISD, we’ve opted to create a user-friendly brochure outlining the various legal requirements
outlined in ESSA Section 116. While we address the purpose and research regarding parental involvement and
engagement (posted to https://www.dentonisd.org/Page/56277),
we specifically offer ways parents can be involved including ReadyRosie as a component of our policy.
The law states all written policies are to provide support in “planning and implementing effective parent and
family involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance.” What
better resource is there than ReadyRosie in addressing this mandate?
Written School Parent and Family Engagement Policy
Like the LEA parent and family engagement policy, schools are to develop a written school parent and family
engagement policy as well. In our district, campuses craft their own policy off this same template, and include
campus specific information including ReadyRosie as it offers not just the importance of family engagement,
but actually offers a tool families can use to really do it. Words on a page are empty unless we give families
ways to be involved and engaged.

3. Wholeheartedly, I believe families are doing the best they can with the tools they have. Some families only
have a hammer because it’s all they know.
Others have a whole Sears Craftsman toolbox. We use ReadyRosie to level the playing field and to expand
upon the tools families have at their disposal. I believe all parents have the capacity; and by equipping them
with more than a brochure or a sheet of paper that says what they can do, we offer them real-life examples of
activities for families to engage and interact with one another connected to student learning outcomes.
Annual Title I Meeting
Campuses that receive Title I are to “convene an annual meeting “to explain the requirements [of Title I],” in
addition to informing parents of the right to be involved. The meeting is to include “timely information about
[Title I funded] programs,” as well as a “description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school.”
I learned early on as a newbie principal, you do not schedule this meeting as a standalone. My first annual
Title I meeting had all of one parent in attendance, and she was in school studying to be a principal. I hope she
took note of what NOT to do from me that evening. After that epic fail, I always scheduled these meetings in
conjunction with a choir performance or parent-child activity night; and prior to the event, I’d stand to say,
“Before we begin…”
ESSA outlines much of what is to be covered in this annual meeting; and in this session, when describing the
curriculum, our principals take this time to note how ReadyRosie supports content standards

4. and is aligned to state standards. (See the Curriculum and Alignment Maps in the Resource tab when logged
into ReadyRosie.)
One can use this time to remind parents and family members to continue to use ReadyRosie emphasizing how
it will help their children meet the challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic
assessments.
And if the meeting is the first time introducing ReadyRosie to families, you can use the newly created Give Me
10 session, Introducing ReadyRosie, a ten-minute presentation pre-made for you available in the Resource tab,
which comes with a PPT slideshow and facilitators guide with the words to say for each slide you click.
School-Parent Compacts
Like the written parent and family engagement policy, each school served under [Title I] is required to “jointly
develop with parents for all children served a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire
school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the
means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the
State’s high standards.”

5. In another extensive Google search, I found a number of school-parent compacts that addressed the letter of
the law. Most address what the school will do, what the parents is to do, and how the student is to contribute.
Interestingly, in my first year as principal, teachers pulled out this sheet of paper during parent conferences,
gave it quick lip service, parents signed, and then took it away from the parent so we could store it in a box for
7 years for the unlikely event that the state asked us to reproduce a copy.
I thought it silly to do so; and from then on, we printed the compacts on duplicate paper so parents could at a
minimum, walk away with a copy of what they’d agreed to.
Let’s consider the purpose and intent of the school-parent compact. In essence, it is designed to highlight the
roles of both the school and the parent. To me, ReadyRosie addresses what compacts were designed to do
and it goes beyond merely agreeing to what is important. It offers models of how to do so in everyday
situations. Thus, our emphasis became one of action, not compliance.
I researched, studied, and read ESSA law. (Yes. I’ve read ESSA all the way through.) Nowhere did it say
compacts had to be printed or even signed.

6. So I decided to create an electronic compact (online at https://www.dentonisd.org/compact), which we now
distribute via email and online.
For those who worry of lingo to be addressed, we treat it as an end user license agreement. You know when
you download an app, and it asks you to scroll through pages and pages of legalese written by some attorney…
You all read every word, right? No? Neither do I. I just click I agree and start playing with the app I
downloaded. In our school-parent compacts, I’ve included in 8-point font the legalese I thought necessary to
address; and campuses share the document with families.
Additionally, ReadyRosie encourages two-way communication through the comments section in which
teachers and parents can converse about the activities families are doing at home.

7. Since compacts are to be discussed in parent-teacher conferences, be sure to use the new Parent-Teacher
Conference materials in the Resource tab.
Building the Capacity for Involvement: Materials and Training
Early in my principalship, I picked up on the language of NCLB, which rolled over into ESSA. To ensure
“effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the
community to improve student academic achievement,” each LEA and school “shall provide materials and
training to help parents to work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy
training and using technology as appropriate to foster parental involvement.”
What better tool is there to give parents and caregivers than modeled moments on how to support their
children’s learning?
I see a ReadyRosie video where the dad says at the table in a restaurant, “While we’re waiting on our food,
let’s estimate the number of sugar packets it would take to measure the lengthy of the table.” I think back to
when my own children were young. Despite the fact I majored in early childhood education, I never thought to
do that kind of activity with my children. Had I had a model, I absolutely would have done so!

8. Same goes for the video of the grandmother who is doing an activity using a Matchbox car with her grandson
while waiting for the bus.
Thankfully, every Monday, families receive these types of modeled moments all wrapped around curriculum
standards, which builds the capacity for the involvement of parents and families.
In addition to the video activities for parents and families to work with their children in everyday places such
as the home, playground, grocery store, etc.,
ReadyRosie offers a number of videos that offer families tips and tools from experts in the field to provide
educators and families with information on the topics they care about most.
Further, ReadyRosie provides a series of Family Workshops for schools to offer families after school to build
the capacity for involvement.

9. Building the Capacity for Involvement: The Value and Utility of Contributions of
Parents
ESSA requires LEAs and schools to “educate teachers, specialized instructional support
personnel, principals, and other school leaders, and other staff, in the “value and utility of contributions of
parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners.”
The ReadyRosie professional development workshop modules gives educators the tools, knowledge, and
confidence to strengthen the family–school partnership and see student outcomes improve as a result.
Additionally, educators have access to professional development videos on a host of topics.
As an aside, I’ve crafted a document on the value and utility of the contributions of parents on my Denton ISD
website under the For Parents tab.

10. Building the Capacity for Involvement: Language Parents Can Understand
ESSA requires LEAs and schools to “ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings,
and other activities is sent to the parents of participating children in a format and, to the extent practicable, in
a language the parents can understand.”
ReadyRosie aims to make its content accessible to all families by providing modeled moment videos in English
and Spanish. Closed captioning is also available with subtitles in Arabic and Vietnamese.
Transition from Preschool to Elementary
ESSA addresses planning for the transition of students in early childhood education programs to local
elementary school programs.

11. As a part of this process, we use ReadyRosie to support families in this transition in both the preschool using
Ready K and in the elementary school using the ReadyRosie elementary videos.
Further, ReadyRosie offers downloadable game boards, printable playlists, summer learning videos, and full
home learning packets to promote fun learning all summer in the Summer Soar section of the Resource tab.
Reservation of Funds
Districts receiving at least $500,000 are required to “reserve at least 1 percent of its [Title I] allocation to
assist schools to carry out [parent and family engagement] activities and strategies consistent with the LEA
parent and family engagement policy.”
Many LEAs and schools are using its 1 percent set-aside to provide ReadyRosie to families at no cost. This has
been our primary use of this set-aside.
Evidence of Implementation/Evidence of Effectiveness: Data
In Texas, we use the terms evidence of implementation, how do you know a program has been implemented,
and evidence of effectiveness, how do you know it is working, into our campus improvement planning
process.

12. ReadyRosie recently announced an evaluation done by University of Pittsburgh, who evaluated the best
practices that schools and programs are implementing to see the highest results and outcomes from
ReadyRosie.
Additionally, data can be accessed to see how parent and families are engaging in the program. In the weeks
ahead, ReadyRosie will host a webinar on data usage, so I won’t’ steal their thunder and leave you with a
reason to come back next time.
Are you able to tie back to student learning outcomes; linked to learning in a sustainable manner beyond the
one-shot activities we’ve previously labeled involvement?
Are we merely looking to meet the letter of the law so we can check the box or are we more interested in
doing something meaningful that actually has impact? Are we telling parents and families what we are going
to do or are we going to do something? This is the crossroad I found myself; and I decided I wanted to go
beyond the bureaucracy and do something that mattered.

13. Know I am an open book. I’ve had the pleasure of talking to people across the country who stumbled upon my
Denton ISD federal programs website who’ve asked, “Can I have a copy of…?” And my answer is “Yes. We’re
all in this together.” All of what I’ve talked about is available on my website at
www.dentonisd.org/federalstate. If I can support you, reach out. If ReadyRosie can support you, reach out.