Comprehensive Parent Involvement Plan Research Papers Example

Hillcrest High School

Parent Involvement Plan
2015-2016
Introduction
The school believes in actively involving all stakeholders in the school activities and considering their views and suggestions on matters arising. The school’s policy for parental involvement is crucial to the wellbeing of the school as it encourages academic growth and bonding between parents and their children and with the school as a whole. It is a holistic method of running a school successfully.
The mission of the school is to provide high standards of learning to all students and assist in their character and emotional growth with the support from parents and the entire community.

Strategies for Parental Involvement

Developing a Parental Involvement Plan
The school will develop a parent involvement plan for the entire school with involvement of all parents in drafting the plan so that their views are considered. The key activities considered in the plan will include:
1. Educational Forums
There is a need for establishing an open forum where parents can contribute to key decisions and get relevant information on the current activities of the school. This forum can be in terms of occasional meetings held within the school premises (Luyten, Hendriks, & Scheerens, 2014). Some of the key issues on which parents will get expected to contribute are what the students are expected to learn by the end of their school calendar year and how student assessment shall be carried out. The forums will also cover the parent’s expectations for their child’s education. Participants will be equipped with knowledge of how they can make a difference in their child’s education. To effectively manage this, there shall be a parent’s needs survey conducted every beginning of the year to identify their concerns and desires concerning their children’s education,
2. Timely Information Relay
For the Parent involvement plan to be successful, information relating to current school programs and activities will be sent to all parents so that they are up to date with the current happenings in the school. Information will be relayed through emails, memos and circulars.
3. Volunteering
There shall be a volunteer exercise in the school, for which parents will be expected to actively participate. A Volunteer book will be compiled, and it will have details of all upcoming events and parents who have previously participated in the events previously held at the school. That is all in an effort to encourage parent’s involvement in their children’s schoolwork. To motivate parents into registering as volunteers, the school shall prepare annual trainings for all parents who have previously volunteered in school-based activities. These trainings shall be geared towards influencing skills in parents on how they can assist to improve their children’s academic achievements. The parents will be taught how to understand their children’s report cards, progress reports, and their co-curriculum activities. Parents will have access to the ministry of education’s website together with the school website where they can evaluate the key emerging issues discussed and thereby develop proposed solutions.
4. Complaints and dissatisfaction handling forum
In line with the School’s policy concerning prompt and efficient handling of all disputes and concerns arising within the school community, a committee to address parent’s complaints, and concerns will be formed. It shall comprise of both parents and a few of the teachers. Together, the committee will review all cases presented and recommend solutions (Bireda, 2009). The procedure for solving complaints shall be guided by the school handbook. It outlines the first person to approach in case of a complaint and how to develop solutions.
The school shall undertake shared responsibilities between the staff, students and parents. Both the faculty and parents will have the shared responsibility for ensuring high student performance (Paslay, 2011). It is the combined responsibility of the school faculty, staff and parents to ensure that students attain the highest levels education and equally perform well especially in relation to their counterparts in other schools in the region. The responsibilities will be shared between all parties involved with a signed agreement for each to meet their end of the bargain. The agreements to share responsibility shall be revised annually and parents involved in the revision process. Information concerning this strategy will be communicated to all stakeholders involved through newsletters and the company website.
5. Ease and Accessibility to Information
There is a need for Ease in accessibility to information concerning the school. The teachers will be responsible for relaying information to parents through the right communication channels such as newsletters, emails and memos, the school website or through telephone calls. The essence of these communications is to ensure that all parents are made aware of upcoming events so that they can participate or volunteer their services for successes. Some of the functions that are likely to be recurrent in each year’s school calendar and require parents participation include; a parent night, parent-teacher conferences, opening days and tour days, parent breakfast, and whenever necessary a literacy day.
A parent involvement plan is necessary for effective running of any school to achieve set goals of high performance and student’s excellence.

References

Bireda, S. (2009). A look at community schools. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress.
Luyten, H., Hendriks, M., & Scheerens, J. (2014). School Size Effects Revisited: A Qualitative and Quantitative Review of the Research Evidence in Primary and Secondary Education. New York: Springer.
Paslay, C. (2011). The Village Proposal: Education as a Shared Responsibility. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Education.