The parent involvement bill is based on PTA’s National Parent Involvement Standards, which were developed in collaboration with Dr. Joyce Epstein, world’s foremost authority on parent involvement. Dr. Epstein, a sociologist by training, is the director of the Center on School, Family and Community Partnerships at John Hopkins University.

According to the model developed by Dr. Epstein, there are six essential components to an effective parent involvement program. They are:

1. communication between home and school that is regular, two-way and meaningful;
2. parenting skills
3. parents and caregivers play an integral role in assisting student learning and being provided information and/or activities to  promote academic success and encouraging support  for learning in the home and school;
4. welcoming parents in the school, and seeking their support and assistance;
5. partnerships with parents in the decisions that affect children and families in the schools; and
6. the provision of community resources to strengthen schools, families and student learning.

These six components are currently part of the parent involvement section of the No Child Left Behind law, thanks to National PTA and Dr. Epstein. They currently apply to about 90% of the school districts in the United States which have at least one Title 1 school in their district.

What can you do? 
Minnesota PTA is leading an effort to get this same framework adopted in the state of Minnesota. It would require all school districts, (not just Title 1) districts to have a policy on parent involvement, using the PTA framework and definition of parent involvement as a starting point. The bill would foster local control and ownership of the policy by leaving the details up to the school district.

The bill would also establish a committee of equal numbers of staff and parents to develop and evaluate a parent involvement policy. A companion bill is pending in the Minnesota Senate and will be introduced shortly. We will keep you posted when that happens.

We need your help to get this bill passed. Please call your legislator and ask him or her to support HF 990, the parent involvement policy bill. Tell him or her, “It is a framework that works to help improve student achievement through promoting and encouraging  parent involvement in our children’s schools; at the same time fostering local control within school districts.”  

For more information, contact our Advocacy Team or call the MN PTA State office at 651-999-7320.