 
 CHAPTER 70--STRENGTHENING AND IMPROVEMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 
                                 SCHOOLS
 
    SUBCHAPTER I--HELPING DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN MEET HIGH STANDARDS
 
 Part A--Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies
 
                  subpart 1--basic program requirements
 
Sec. 6319. Parental involvement


(a) Local educational agency policy

                           (1) In general

        A local educational agency may receive funds under this part 
    only if such agency implements programs, activities, and procedures 
    for the involvement of parents in programs assisted under this part 
    consistent with the provisions of this section. Such activities 
    shall be planned and implemented with meaningful consultation with 
    parents of participating children.

                         (2) Written policy

        Each local educational agency that receives funds under this 
    part shall develop jointly with, agree upon with, and distribute to, 
    parents of participating children a written parent involvement 
    policy that is incorporated into the local educational agency's plan 
    developed under section 6312 of this title, establishes the 
    expectations for parent involvement, and describes how the local 
    educational agency will--
            (A) involve parents in the joint development of the plan 
        under section 6312 of this title, and the process of school 
        review and improvement under section 6317 of this title;
            (B) provide the coordination, technical assistance, and 
        other support necessary to assist participating schools in 
        planning and implementing effective parent involvement;
            (C) build the schools' and parents' capacity for strong 
        parent involvement as described in subsection (e) of this 
        section;
            (D) coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies 
        under this part with parental involvement strategies under other 
        programs, such as Head Start, Even Start, the Parents as 
        Teachers Program, the Home Instruction Program for Preschool 
        Youngsters, and State-run preschool programs;
            (E) conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual 
        evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parental 
        involvement policy developed under this section--
                (i) to determine the effectiveness of the policy in 
            increasing the participation of parents; and
                (ii) to identify barriers to greater participation by 
            parents in activities authorized by this section, giving 
            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; and

            (F) use the findings of the evaluations described in 
        subparagraph (E) in designing strategies for school improvement 
        and revising, if necessary, the parental involvement policies 
        described in this subsection and subsection (b)(1) of this 
        section.

                           (3) Reservation

        (A) Each local educational agency shall reserve not less than 1 
    percent of such agency's allocation under this part to carry out 
    this section, including family literacy and parenting skills, except 
    that this paragraph shall not apply if 1 percent of such agency's 
    allocation under this part (other than funds allocated under section 
    6302(e) of this title) for the fiscal year for which the 
    determination is made is $5,000 or less.
        (B) Parents of children receiving services under this part shall 
    be involved in the decisions regarding how funds reserved under 
    subparagraph (A) are allotted for parental involvement activities.

(b) School parental involvement policy

                           (1) In general

        Each school served under this part shall jointly develop with, 
    and distribute to, parents of participating children a written 
    parental involvement policy, agreed upon by such parents, that shall 
    describe the means for carrying out the requirements of subsections 
    (c) through (f) of this section. Such policy shall be updated 
    periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school.

                          (2) Special rule

        If the school has a parental involvement policy that applies to 
    all parents, such school may amend that policy, if necessary, to 
    meet the requirements of this subsection.

                            (3) Amendment

        If the local educational agency has a school district-level 
    parental involvement policy that applies to all parents, such agency 
    may amend that policy, if necessary, to meet the requirements of 
    this subsection.

                        (4) Parental comments

        If the plan under section 6312 of this title is not satisfactory 
    to the parents of participating children, the local educational 
    agency shall submit any parent comments with such plan when such 
    local educational agency submits the plan to the State.

(c) Policy involvement

    Each school served under this part shall--
        (1) convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to which 
    all parents of participating children shall be invited and 
    encouraged to attend, to inform parents of their school's 
    participation under this part and to explain this part, its 
    requirements, and their right to be involved;
        (2) offer a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the 
    morning or evening, and may provide, with funds provided under this 
    part, transportation, child care, or home visits, as such services 
    relate to parental involvement;
        (3) involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, 
    in the planning, review, and improvement of programs under this 
    part, including the school parental involvement policy and the joint 
    development of the schoolwide program plan under section 6314(b) of 
    this title, except that if a school has in place a process for 
    involving parents in the joint planning and design of its programs, 
    the school may use that process, if such process includes an 
    adequate representation of parents of participating children;
        (4) provide parents of participating children--
            (A) timely information about programs under this part;
            (B) school performance profiles required under section 
        6317(a)(3) of this title and their child's individual student 
        assessment results, including an interpretation of such results, 
        as required under section 6311(b)(3)(H) of this title;
            (C) a description and explanation of the curriculum in use 
        at the school, the forms of assessment used to measure student 
        progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to 
        meet;
            (D) opportunities for regular meetings to formulate 
        suggestions, share experiences with other parents, and 
        participate as appropriate in decisions relating to the 
        education of their children if such parents so desire; and
            (E) timely responses to parents' suggestions under 
        subparagraph (D); and

        (5) if the schoolwide program plan under section 6314(b)(2) of 
    this title is not satisfactory to the parents of participating 
    children, submit any parent comments on the plan when the school 
    makes the plan available to the local educational agency.

(d) Shared responsibilities for high student performance

    As a component of the school-level parental involvement policy 
developed under subsection (b) of this section, each school served under 
this part shall jointly develop with parents for all children served 
under this part a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the 
entire school staff, and students will share the responsibility for 
improved student 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. Such compact shall--
        (1) describe the school's responsibility to provide high-quality 
    curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning 
    environment that enables the children served under this part to meet 
    the State's student performance standards, and the ways in which 
    each parent will be responsible for supporting their children's 
    learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, and 
    television watching; volunteering in their child's classroom; and 
    participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the 
    education of their children and positive use of extracurricular 
    time; and
        (2) address the importance of communication between teachers and 
    parents on an ongoing basis through, at a minimum--
            (A) parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools, at 
        least annually, during which the compact shall be discussed as 
        the compact relates to the individual child's achievement;
            (B) frequent reports to parents on their children's 
        progress; and
            (C) reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer 
        and participate in their child's class, and observation of 
        classroom activities.

(e) Building capacity for involvement

    To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a 
partnership among the school, parents, and the community to improve 
student achievement, each school and local educational agency--
        (1) shall provide assistance to participating parents in such 
    areas as understanding the National Education Goals, the State's 
    content standards and State student performance standards, the 
    provisions of section 6311(b)(8) of this title, State and local 
    assessments, the requirements of this part, and how to monitor a 
    child's progress and work with educators to improve the performance 
    of their children as well as information on how parents can 
    participate in decisions relating to the education of their 
    children;
        (2) shall provide materials and training, such as--
            (A) coordinating necessary literacy training from other 
        sources to help parents work with their children to improve 
        their children's achievement; and
            (B) training to help parents to work with their children to 
        improve their children's achievement;

        (3) shall educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals 
    and other staff, with the assistance of parents, 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, implement 
    and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between home and 
    school;
        (4) shall coordinate and integrate parent involvement programs 
    and activities with Head Start, Even Start, the Home Instruction 
    Programs for Preschool Youngsters, the Parents as Teachers Program, 
    and public preschool programs and other programs, to the extent 
    feasible and appropriate;
        (5) shall develop appropriate roles for community-based 
    organizations and businesses in parent involvement activities, 
    including providing information about opportunities for 
    organizations and businesses to work with parents and schools, and 
    encouraging the formation of partnerships between elementary, 
    middle, and secondary schools and local businesses that include a 
    role for parents;
        (6) shall conduct other activities, as appropriate and feasible, 
    such as parent resource centers and providing opportunities for 
    parents to learn about child development and child rearing issues 
    beginning at the birth of a child, that are designed to help parents 
    become full partners in the education of their children;
        (7) shall ensure, to the extent possible, that information 
    related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other 
    activities is sent to the homes of participating children in the 
    language used in such homes;
        (8) may involve parents in the development of training for 
    teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the 
    effectiveness of such training in improving instruction and services 
    to the children of such parents;
        (9) may provide necessary literacy training from funds received 
    under this part if the local educational agency has exhausted all 
    other reasonably available sources of funding for such activities;
        (10) may pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with 
    local parental involvement activities, including transportation and 
    child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related 
    meetings and training sessions;
        (11) may train and support parents to enhance the involvement of 
    other parents;
        (12) may arrange meetings at a variety of times, such as in the 
    mornings and evenings, in order to maximize the opportunities for 
    parents to participate in school related activities;
        (13) may arrange for teachers or other educators, who work 
    directly with participating children, to conduct in-home conferences 
    with parents who are unable to attend such conferences at school;
        (14) may adopt and implement model approaches to improving 
    parental involvement, such as Even Start; and
        (15) shall provide such other reasonable support for parental 
    involvement activities under this section as parents may request.

(f) Accessibility

    In carrying out the parental involvement requirements of this part, 
local educational agencies and schools, to the extent practicable, shall 
provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited 
English proficiency or with disabilities, including providing 
information and school profiles in a language and form such parents 
understand.

(g) Parental information and resource centers

    In States where parental information and resource centers have been 
established pursuant to section 5911 \1\ of this title (to provide 
training, information, and support to parents and individuals who work 
with parents), local educational agencies and schools receiving 
assistance under this part shall assist parents and parent organizations 
by informing such parents and organizations of the existence and purpose 
of such centers, providing such parents and organizations with a 
description of the services and programs provided by such centers, 
advising parents on how to use such centers, and helping parents to 
contact such centers.
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    \1\ See References in Text note below.
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(Pub. L. 89-10, title I, Sec. 1118, as added Pub. L. 103-382, title I, 
Sec. 101, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3550.)

                       References in Text

    Section 5911 of this title, referred to in subsec. (g), was repealed 
by Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, Sec. 1000(a)(4) [title III, Sec. 310(i)], 
Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1535, 1501A-265.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 6394 of this title.
