Family Engagement Tool Orientation

The Family Engagement Tool is designed and developed by Academic Development Institute

The Family Engagement Tool (FET) is used by state departments of education

to assist schools in developing their school

improvement plan.

For Title I Schools the tool helps meet the letter and the spirit of

parent involvement as defined in Title I Section 1118 under the

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

Any school will benefit from using FET

Purpose

The Family Engagement Tool guides a school‐based team

through an inventory and self‐assessment of parent involvement

policies and practices.

The team may be an existing team (school improvement team) or a team formed especially to conduct the analysis.

A typical team should include the principal, school staff, and parents.

A least half of the members of the team should be parents of currently enrolled students and not employed by the school or district.

The School Team

The principal prints out the needed worksheets from the website

Makes copies for team members

The team discusses and completes the worksheets at the meeting

The principal records the completed version in the online system

Tools for the Team

The time investment necessary to complete the analysis process is

approximately 5 to 6 hours.

Time Commitment

Three meetings (one meeting for each of steps 3, 4, and 5 in the process).

Meet twice for longer amounts of time

Devote a day to the process and complete

the analysis in one session.

Meeting Options

The Principal will:1.Register the school at www.isbe.net or www.IllinoisParents.org 2.Receive the school’s login via email from Client Support

Family Engagement Tool Registration

Accessing the Family Engagement Tool

http://www.isbe.net/grants/html/parent_adi.htm#parent

OR http://www.illinoisparents.org

Main Menu

Quality resources for the school and the team

What are the 5 steps in the Family Engagement Tool?

The principal completes the School Information Form

____ Contact Information

____ Demographics

____ School Personnel

____ School Grade Levels and Enrollment

____State Assessment Scores

Step 1

The principal completes the About Your School Form and gather needed documents for review.

____Current Parent Involvement Practices

____Parent Education

____Other opportunities for families to be involved

Step 2

Step 3

The school team scores the key documents with the rubrics

District Parent Involvement Policy*School Parent Involvement Policy*Compact*Homework GuidelinesStudent Report CardClassroom Visit Procedures

*Title I documents

The School Team completes the School Community Survey

Step 4

Each member of the team completes the survey

independently.

The team discusses each survey question and

arrives at a consensus score for each question.

Discussing each question will take time, but it simplifies the development of your plan.

Sample Survey Page

The school team completes a needs assessment and develops their plan

Step 5

Needs Assessment

Needs Assessment Pages

WiseWay

s®

The Wise Ways® are one of the many evidence-

based resources available to the team while preparing and implementing their

objectives.

Did you Notice the Wise Ways?

When the Needs Assessment is

submitted a full report will be

submitted to the District Title I

Director or Superintendent

As each document is submitted, a completion date will be added to the main screen

The Planning Tool

ConnectionEducationCommunication

Policies & Practices

Shared Leadership

Ongoing two-way between school and

families

Developing a partnership through

quality learning opportunities

Face to face opportunities to

connect with families on learning goals

Guidelines that lead the way to engaging

parents

School Team, PTA/PTO, Parent Advisory Group

FET Building Blocks

FET Planning Tool

Get started by reviewing the Action Plan Resources

Quality resources are providedto help schools implement their plan.

Technical Support

We can help you to build strong school communities within the schools you serve.

Visit our website for more resources:

http://www.illinoisparents.org

Illinois State Board of Education

Academic Development Institute