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Major state and federal education reform efforts emphasize the importance of family
and community involvement to increase student achievement and strengthen public
schools. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 requires the adoption of district
and site-level family involvement policies to support students in attaining high academic
standards and family-school compacts that express the shared responsibilities of
schools and parents as partners in students’ success. As required by state law, the
California Department of Education (CDE) identified model compacts that were
approved by the SBE. Samples of family-school compacts are available on the Parent
Involvement Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/pf/pf and are intended to assist school
districts and schools in developing and using the compacts to encourage a closer
working partnership between home and school.
NCLB also requires a variety of parental notifications that cover topics such as the
professional qualifications of the child’s teacher; services provided by and qualifications
of paraprofessional staff; notification when the child has been taught for four or more
weeks by a teacher who is not highly qualified; the level of achievement of the child in
required state academic assessments; English learner program requirements; the
parental involvement policy; and program improvement status and related options, such
as choice and supplemental services. A brochure, Parental Involvement in Title I
Schools, is available from the Title I Policy and Partnerships Office at (916) 319-0854
and on the Title I Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/sw/t1/titleIpf.asp.
The CDE has created a Family Area Network (FAN) to assist educators, families, and
community-based organizations, in addition to other governmental agencies, to
implement laws and regulations on family involvement; to identify best practices for
involving families in the education of their children; and to identify and develop
partnership strategies. An e-mail mailing list, FANmail, is maintained to disseminate
information through e-mail to interested parties who sign up on the FANmail Web site at
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/pf/pf. Resources about parental/family involvement are
available on the Parent Involvement Web site at
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/pf/pf/resources.asp.
For the second time in as many years, the CDE has been awarded the National
Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) Partnership State Award. The award is
conferred for excellent leadership in developing family, school, and community
partnership programs, designed to help students succeed in school. The California
Department of Education has been a member of NNPS since 1998. The NNPS was
established by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and
brings together schools, districts, and states that are committed to developing and
maintaining comprehensive programs of school, family, and community partnerships. To
obtain more information about the NNPS, visit the NNPS Web site at
http://www.partnershipschools.org.
William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Program
The William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Program provides low-income
families with integrated literacy services for parents and their young children (birth
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