Federal Programs Department Overview

The purpose of the Federal Programs Department is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments. This purpose can be accomplished by:

1. Ensuring that high-quality academic assessments, accountability systems, teacher preparation and training, curriculum, and instructional materials are aligned with challenging State academic standards so that students, teachers, parents, and administrators can measure progress against common expectations for student academic achievement;
2. Meeting the educational needs of low-achieving children in our Nation's highest-poverty schools, limited English proficient children, migratory children, children with disabilities, Indian children, neglected or delinquent children, and young children in need of reading assistance;
3. Closing the achievement gap between high- and low-performing children, especially the achievement gaps between minority and nonminority students, and between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers;
4. Holding schools, local educational agencies, and States accountable for improving the academic achievement of all students, and identifying and turning around low-performing schools that have failed to provide a high-quality education to their students, while providing alternatives to students in such schools to enable the students to receive a high-quality education;
5. Distributing and targeting resources sufficiently to make a difference to local educational agencies and schools where needs are greatest;
6. Improving and strengthening accountability, teaching, and learning by using State assessment systems designed to ensure that students are meeting challenging State academic achievement and content standards and increasing achievement overall, but especially for the disadvantaged;
7. Providing greater decision-making authority and flexibility to schools and teachers in exchange for greater responsibility for student performance;
8. Providing children an enriched and accelerated educational program, including the use of school wide programs or additional services that increase the amount and quality of instructional time;
9. Promoting school wide reform and ensuring the access of children to effective, scientifically based instructional strategies and challenging academic content;
10. Significantly elevating the quality of instruction by providing staff in participating schools with substantial opportunities for professional development;
11. Coordinating services under all parts of this title with each other, with other educational services, and, to the extent feasible, with other agencies providing services to youth, children, and families; and
12. Affording parents substantial and meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children.

Source: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg1.html

Knox County Federal Programs Schools (2024 - 2025)

Federal Programs Department

School Wide School Committee (SWSC)

All of the KCS receiving Federal Programs funds are considered school-wide programs. These programs utilize allocated funds from the federal, state and local levels to improve the school’s entire academic performance as reflected in the School’s Improvement Plan. As a school wide program, there is no need to identify specific eligible students for services. The schools must use ongoing assessments and other tools to ensure timely identification of students’ academic difficulties, and to track student progress.

Principal responsibilities include but not limited to:

• Attending all Federal Programs Dept meetings.
• Identifying school-wide committee members who are representative of all stakeholders.
• Providing leadership in developing and executing the school-wide plan including but not limited to facilitating the collection of needs assessment data, overseeing the execution of the programs, and assigning or selecting personnel in the school-wide programs.
• Using the Federal Programs Dept Request for Funds Form to review and approve all justifications and requisitions for materials, equipment, supplies, and staff development.
• Scheduling or assisting in scheduling school-wide planning committee meetings.
• Facilitating parent and family engagement activities.
• Responding appropriately to communications from the Federal Programs Dept office.
• Ensuring that required Federal Programs Dept documentation is maintained for monitoring and auditing purposes.
• Communicating to the appropriate Title I Supervisor about time and location of SWSC meeting.

The SWSC members’ responsibilities include but not limited to:

• Attend all school-wide planning committee meetings and sign the sign-in sheet.
• Making suggestions and recommendations to the committee.
• Reporting the discussions and decisions from the committee meetings to the group the member represents.
• Assist in writing the school-wide plan

Parental Notification

Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended in Dec. 2015 by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) makes it clear that Congress expects local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools receiving federal funds to ensure that parents are actively involved and knowledgeable about their schools and their children’s education. The law requires schools to give parents many kinds of information and notices in a uniform and understandable format and, to the extent practicable, in a language that the parents can understand. Listed below are some of these required notices that must be made to parents by school districts or individual public schools.

Teacher Qualifications and Highly Effective Teachers

At the beginning of each year, an LEA shall notify parents that they may request, and the LEA will provide, information regarding whether professionals are highly effective, including the qualifications of the student’s teachers and paraprofessionals. This includes information about whether the student’s teacher:

1. has met state qualification and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction;
2. is teaching under emergency or other provisional status through which state qualification or licensing criteria have been waived;
3. is teaching in the field of discipline not of the certification of the teacher; and
4. is teaching alongside paraprofessionals and, if so, the paraprofessional’s qualifications [ESSA § 1112(e)(1)(A)].

Student Privacy

Districts must give parents annual notice at the beginning of the school year of the specific or approximate dates during the school year when the following activities are scheduled or expected to be scheduled:

• activities involving the collection, disclosure, or use of personal student information for the purpose of marketing or selling that information;
• administration of surveys containing request for certain types of sensitive information; and
• any nonemergency, invasive physical examination that is required as a condition of attendance, administered by the school, scheduled in advance, and not necessary to protect the immediate health and safety of the student.

A district must develop and adopt policies regarding the rights of parents to inspect:

• third-party surveys before they are administered or distributed to students;
• measures to protect student privacy when surveys ask for certain sensitive information;
• any instructional materials;
• administration of physical examinations or screening of students;
• collection, disclosure, or use of personal information from students for the purpose of marketing or selling that information; and
• the parental right to inspect any instrument used to collect personal information before it is distributed to students.

Districts must give parents annual notice of an adoption or continued use of such policies and within a reasonable period after any substantive change in such policies [20 U.S.C. 1232g].

Public Release of Student Directory Information

Under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), an LEA must provide notice to parents of the types of student information that it releases publicly. This type of student information, commonly referred to as “directory information,” includes such items as names, addresses, and telephone numbers and is information generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. The notice must include an explanation of a parent’s right to request that the information not be disclosed without prior written consent.

Additionally, ESSA requires that parents be notified that the school routinely discloses names, addresses, and telephone numbers to military recruiters upon request, subject to a parent’s request not to disclose such information without written consent [§8025].

A single notice provided through a mailing, student handbook, or other method that is reasonably calculated to inform parents of the above information is sufficient to satisfy the parental notification requirements of both FERPA and ESSA. The notification must advise the parent of how to opt out of the public, nonconsensual disclosure of directory information and the method and timeline within which to do so [20 U.S.C. 1232g] [ESEA §8025].

Military Recruiter Access to Student Information

Districts receiving federal education funds must notify parents of secondary school students that they have a right to request their child’s name, address, and telephone number not be released to a military recruiter without their prior written consent. Districts must comply with any such requests [ESEA §8528(a)(2)(B)].

Parent and Family Engagement

A district receiving Title I funds must develop jointly with, agree on with, and distribute to, parents and family members of participating children a written district-level parent and family engagement policy. Each school served under Title I must also develop jointly with, agree on with, and distribute to, parents and family members of participating children a written school-level parent and family engagement policy. If an individual school or district has a parent and family engagement policy that applies to all, it may amend the policy to meet the requirements under the ESEA [ESEA Title I, Part A, §1116(a)(2)] [20 U.S.C. §6318(b); (c)].

Parents shall be notified of the policy in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language the parents can understand. Such policy shall be made available to the local community and updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school [ESEA Title I, Part A, §1116(b)(1)].

School must:

hold at least one annual meeting for Title I parents;

• offer a flexible number of meetings;
• involve parents and families in an ongoing manner in the planning, review, and improvement of Title I programs;
• provide Title I parents and families with timely information about the programs, a description and explanation of the curriculum, forms of academic assessment and expected levels of student proficiency;
• if requested, provide opportunities for regular meetings to discuss decisions related to the education of their children; and
• develop a school-parent compact that outlines the responsibilities of each party for improved student academic achievement [ESEA Title I, Part A, §1116(c)].

Report Cards on Statewide Academic Assessment

Each school district that receives Title I, Part A funds must prepare and disseminate an annual report card. Generally, the state or district must include on its report card information about public schools related to student achievement, accountability, teacher qualifications and other required information, as well as any other information that the state or district deems relevant.

These report cards must be concise and presented in an understandable and uniform format accessible to persons with disabilities and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language that parents can understand. In Tennessee, these requirements are met through the state’s report card [ESEA Title I, Part A, §1111(h)(1) and (h)(2)].

Achievement on State Assessment

All schools must provide to parents, teachers, and principals the individual student interpretive, descriptive, and diagnostic reports, which allow specific academic needs to be understood and addressed, and include information on the student’s achievement on academic assessments aligned with state academic achievement standards [ESEA §1111(b)(2)(B)(x)].

National Assessment of Education Progress

Districts, schools, and students may voluntarily participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Parents of children selected to participate in any NAEP assessment must be informed before the assessment is administered that their child may be excused from participation for any reason, is not required to finish any assessment, and is not required to answer any test question. A district must make reasonable efforts to inform parents and the public about their right to access all assessment data (except personally identifiable information), questions, and current assessment instruments [ESEA Title VI, Part C, §411(c)(1); (d)(1)–(2))].

Schoolwide Programs

An eligible school operating a schoolwide program shall make the comprehensive plan available to the LEA, parents, and the public. The information contained in such plan shall be in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language that the parents can understand [20 U.S.C. §6314][ESEA Title I, Part A, §1114].

English Learner Programs

A school district that uses federal funds to provide a language instruction education program for English learners must no later than 30 days after the beginning of the school year inform the parents of each child identified for participation or participating in such a program:

• the reasons for the identification of the child as an English learner;
• the child’s level of English proficiency;
• how that level was determined and the status of the child’s academic achievement;
• methods of instruction used in the program in which their child is participating and methods of instruction used in other available programs;
• how the program will meet the educational strengths and needs of their child;
• how the program will specifically help their child learn English and meet age-appropriate academic achievement standards for grade promotion and graduation;
• the specific exit requirements for the program;
• in the case of a child with a disability, how the program meets the child’s IEP objectives; and
• information about parental rights detailing the right of parents to have their child immediately removed from such program upon their request and the options that parents have to decline to enroll their child in such program or to choose another available program or method of instruction.

For a child not identified as an English learner prior to the beginning of the school year, the district must notify parents within the first two weeks of the child being placed in such a program [ESEA Title I, Part A, §1112].

Homeless Children

To be eligible for McKinney-Vento funds, the school must provide written notice at the time any child seeks enrollment in the school, and at least twice annually while the child is enrolled in the school, to the parent or guardian or unaccompanied youth that, shall be signed by the parent or guardian or unaccompanied youth; that sets forth the general rights provided; and specifically states:

• the choice of schools homeless children are eligible to attend;
• that no homeless child is required to attend a separate school for homeless children;
• that homeless children shall be provided comparable services, including transportation services, educational services, and meals; and
• that homeless children should not be stigmatized by school personnel.

If the district sends a homeless child to a school other than the school of origin or the school requested by the parent or guardian, the district must provide the parents a written explanation for, including notice of the right to appeal, the decision. The information must also be provided whenever a dispute arises over school selection [ESSA Title IX, Part C, §722(g)(3)(B)].

Each LEA liaison for homeless children and youth shall ensure the parents or guardians of homeless children and youth are informed of the educational and related opportunities available to their children and are provided with meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children [ESSA Title IX, Part C, §722(g)(6)(A)(iv)].

Public notice of the educational rights of homeless children and youths is disseminated where such children and youths receive services under the McKinney-Vento Act, such as schools, family shelters, and soup kitchens [ESSA Title X, Part C, §722(g)(6)(A)(v)].

21st Century Community Learning Centers

A program or activity funded as part of a 21st Century Community Learning Center providing before and after school activities to advance student academic achievement must undergo periodic evaluation to assess its progress toward achieving its goal of providing high-quality opportunities for academic enrichment. The results of evaluations shall be made available to the public upon request, with public notice of such availability provided [ESEA §4205(b)(2)].

Waiver Request

If a school district requests the U.S. Secretary of Education to waive any provision or regulation of the ESEA, it must provide notice and information about the waiver to the public in the manner in which is customarily provides public notice [20 U.S.C. §7861(b)(3)(B)] [ESEA Title IX, Part D, §8401(b)(3)(B)(ii)].

Parent and Family Engagement

Knox County Schools Parent and Family Engagement Policy

GENERAL EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL SCHOOLS

The Knox County Board of Education understands the value and importance of, and encourages the highest level of, engagement by parents and families at the school and the system level. The Knox County Schools System (KCS) is governed by the statutory definition of parent and family involvement as cited in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Under that act, a school system is required to develop a parent and family engagement policy, which is to be incorporated into the district’s plan, establishing KCS’ expectations and objectives for meaningful parent and family involvement. The plan is to describe how KCS will:

1. Involve parents and family members in jointly developing the district’s plan and the development of support and improvement plans;
2. Provide the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist and build the capacity of KCS schools in planning and implementing effective parent and family involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance, which may include meaningful consultation with employers, business leaders, philanthropic organizations, or individuals with expertise in effectively engaging parents and family members in education;
3. Coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement strategies, to the extent feasible and appropriate, with other relevant federal, state and local laws and programs;
4. Conduct with the meaningful involvement of parents and family members, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parent and family engagement policy in improving the academic quality of KCS schools, including identifying:
   1. Barriers to greater participation of parents, with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background;
   2. The needs of parents and family members to assist with the learning of their children, including engaging with school personnel and teachers; and
   3. Strategies to support successful school and family interactions;
5. Use the findings of such evaluation to design evidence-based strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary, the parent and family engagement policies described in this section;
6. Involve parents in the activities of schools, which may include the establishment of a parent advisory board comprised of a sufficient number and representative group of parents or family members served by KCS to adequately meet the needs of the population served for the purposes of developing, revising, and reviewing the parent and family engagement policy; and
7. Incorporate elements of Tennessee Department of Education 2013-2014 Parent Involvement Standards (results of 2009 TN Senate Bill No 293):
   1. Standard One: Welcoming All Families in the School Community. Families are active participants in the life of the school, and feel welcomed, valued, and connected to each other, to school staff, and to what students are learning and doing in class.
   2. Standard Two: Communicating. Families and school staff engage in regular, meaningful communication about student learning.
   3. Standard Three: Supporting Student Success. Families and school staff continuously work together to support students’ learning and healthy development both at home and at school, and have regular opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and skills to do so effectively.
   4. Standard Four: Speaking Up for Every Child. Families are informed and enabled to be advocates for their own and other children, to ensure that students are treated fairly and have access to learning opportunities that will support their success.
   5. Standard Five: Sharing Power. Families and school staff are equal partners with equal representation in decisions that affect students and families and together inform, influence, and create policies, practices, and programs.
   6. Standard Six: Collaborating with Community. Families and school staff work together with community members to connect students, families, and staff to expanded learning opportunities, community services, and civic participation.

KCS and its individual schools, to the extent practicable, shall provide opportunities for the informed participation of parents and family members (including parents and family members who have limited English proficiency, parents and family members with disabilities and parents and family members of migratory children), including providing information and school reports in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language such parents understand.

TITLE I SCHOOLS

Parents and family members of children receiving Title I services shall be involved in the decision regarding how Title I funds reserved for parent and family engagement are allotted for parental involvement activities. These funds shall be used to carry out activities and strategies consistent with KCS’ parent and family engagement policy, including not less than one of the following:

1. Supporting schools and nonprofit organizations in providing professional development for district and school personnel regarding parent and family engagement strategies, which may be provided jointly to teachers, principals, other school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, paraprofessionals, early childhood educators, and parents and family members.
2. Supporting programs that reach parents and family members at home, in the community, and at school.
3. Disseminating information on best practices focused on parent and family engagement, especially best practices for increasing the engagement of economically disadvantaged parents and family members.
4. Collaborating, or providing sub-grants to schools to enable such schools to collaborate, with community-based or other organizations or employers with a record of success in improving and increasing parents and family engagement.
5. Engaging in any other activities and strategies that KCS determines are appropriate and consistent with its parent and family engagement policy.

Each Title I school shall jointly develop with, and distribute to, parents and family members of participating children a written parent and family engagement policy, agreed on by such parents, that shall describe the means for carrying out the requirements of subsections C-G listed above. Parents shall be notified of the policy in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language the parents can understand. Such policy shall by made available to the local community and updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school.
Each Title I school 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 the requirements of this part, and the right of the parents to be involved;
2. Offer a flexible number of 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 Title I programs, including the school parent and family engagement policy and the joint development of the school-wide program plan;
4. Provide parents of participating children:
   1. Timely information about programs,
   2. A description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the achievement levels of the challenging State academic standards, and
5. If requested by parents, opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children, and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible.
6. Jointly develop with parents a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve Tennessee’s high standards. The 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 to meet the challenging State academic standards, and the ways in which each parent will be responsible for supporting their children’s learning, 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 – parent-teacher conferences, children’s progress reports, reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in child’s class and observation of classroom activities, and ensuring regular two-way, meaningful communication between family members and school staff, and to the extent practicable, in a language that family members can understand.

Tennessee Parental Involvement Standards

In a 2009 legislative session Senate Bill No. 293 was enacted which required the Tennessee Department of Education to develop parental involvement standards in public schools. Each school district and school will be required to report compliance on these standards. The compliance for the standards will be on the Tennessee Report Card beginning with the 2010-2011 school year. In the spring of 2011 a survey from the State Department will be sent to each school district to obtain the compliance information.

The Tennessee Standards listed below are based on the PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships. These standards were adopted
by the State Board of Education on July 30, 2010.

Standard 1: Welcoming all families into the school community

Families are active participants in the life of the school, and feel welcomed, valued, and connected to each other, to school staff, and to what students are learning and doing in class and school.

Standard 2: Communicating effectively

Families and school staff engage in regular, meaningful communication about student learning.

Standard 3: Supporting student success

Families and school staff continuously work together to support students’ learning and healthy development both at home and at school, and have regular opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and skills to do so effectively.

Standard 4: Speaking up for every child

Families are informed and enabled to be advocates for their own and other children, to ensure that students are treated fairly and have access to learning opportunities that will support their success.

Standard 5: Sharing power

Families and school staff are equal partners with equal representation in decisions that affect students and families and together inform, influence, and create policies, practices, and programs.

Standard 6: Collaborating with community

Families and school staff work together with community members to connect students, families, and staff to expanded learning opportunities, community services, and civic participation.

Tools that can be used to measure compliance on the parental involvement standards include:

• TN State Report Card: http://tn.gov/education/topic/report-card
• District and School Level Planning and Grants Management System: http://tn.gov/education/topic/eplan
• Parental Involvement Policy or Plan at the district and school level
• PTA National Standards for Family-School Partnerships Assessment Guide at http://www.pta.org/nationalstandards
• Parent Surveys

For additional information, please refer to:

• TDOE: http://www.tennessee.gov/education/topic/family-community-engagement
• TN Parent Information & Resource Center: http://www.tnvoices.org/index.php?q=en/TPIRC
• TN PTA: http://www.tnpta.org/
• Toolkit for Title I Parental Involvement: http://www.sedl.org/connections/toolkit/

Source: TN Department of Education

Ten Truths of Parent Involvement

1. All Parents have hopes and goals for their children. They differ in how they support their children.
2. The home is one of several spheres of influence that simultaneously shape a child. The school must work in concert with other spheres for the child's benefit, not push them apart.
3. The parent is the central contributor in a child's education. Schools can either co-opt that role or recognize the potential of the parent.
4. Parent involvement must be a legitimate element of education. It deserves equal emphasis with elements such as program improvement and evaluation.
5. Parent involvement is a process, not a program of activities. It requires ongoing energy and effort.
6. Parent involvement requires a vision, policy, and framework. A consensus of understanding is important.
7. Parents' interaction with their own children is the cornerstone of parent involvement. A program must recognize the value, diversity, and difficulty of this role.
8. Most barriers to parent involvement are found within school practices. They are not found within parents.
9. Any parent can be “hard to reach.” Parents must be identified and approached individually; they are not defined by gender, ethnicity, family situation, education, or income.
10. Successful parent involvement nurtures relationships and partnerships. It strengthens bonds between home and school, parent and educator, parent and child, school and community.

General Information

Complaint and Grievance Procedure

(Updated in accordance with Public Law 97-35 [Sections 116.182-185])

All complaints and grievances should be channeled through proper sources before being brought to the Federal Programs Dept Review Committee. This Federal Programs Dept Review Committee shall consist of the Superintendent or his designate, the Director of Federal Programs Dept, the Chairperson of the District Advisory Council, and a third member to be named by the first two according to the nature of the complaint or the grievance, i.e. if complaint or grievance is instructional in nature, the third member might be the appropriate instructional supervisor. If the complaint or grievance is in the area of inclusion or exclusion from the program because of test scores, the third member might be the Federal Programs Dept Evaluator, etc.

The proper sources may include: teacher, principal, Federal Programs Dept supervisors. If the complaint or grievance remains unsatisfied, the matter may be referred to the Federal Programs Dept Review Committee when the following regulations are followed:

1. Each complaint or grievance must be stated in writing and submitted to the Federal Programs Dept Review Committee. The written complaint should be addressed to the Director of Federal Programs Dept or the Superintendent of Schools.
2. The written complaint or grievance should include an accurate account of the steps which have already been taken to remedy the situation.
3. Persons making a complaint will be contacted by the Director to appear before the Federal Programs Dept Review Committee at a scheduled meeting within 15 days after the complaint is received.
4. Each group should indicate only one member to serve as spokesman for the group.
5. The Federal Programs Dept Review Committee will render a decision on the complaint or grievance within 15 days after receiving the complaint.
6. If the complainant remains unsatisfied, then the complainant may carry his/her complaint to the Knox County Board of Education following the procedures enumerated in the Knox County Schools Handbook, page BCBI.
7. If the complaint has not been resolved within 30 days, the matter must be referred to the State Department.
8. The first resolution of the Knox County School Board of Education may be appealed to the State Department after receipt of the Board decision.
9. All district and school Parent Advisory Council including other interested parties must be provided information and assistance pertaining to the complaint and grievance procedures.

Unsafe Schools Parent Notification

Under the Tennessee State Board of Education’s Unsafe School Choice Policy, and public school student who is the victim of a violent crime as defined under Tennessee Code Annotated 40-38-11(g), or the attempt to commit one of these offenses as defined under Tennessee Code Annotated 39-12-101, shall be provided an opportunity to another grade-level appropriate school within the district.

Additional information regarding this option may be obtained by contacting the Knox County Schools transfer office at (865) 594-1506.

https://www.tn.gov/education/article/unsafe-schools-choice-policy 

Parental Tips

Reading Tips and Information

The home environment is an important factor in helping children learn to read. A child's ability to learn positive reading habits is affected, to some degree, by his/her experiences at home. As a result, parents can help provide an atmosphere that will encourage reading growth in their children.

The following suggestions will help you in helping your child prepare for reading success:

• Talk to your child. This is important since the more words a child hears, the more words the child will be able to use in ordinary conversation. As a result, words will have more meaning for him/her when seen on the printed page.
• Listen to your child. It is important for children to have opportunities to express themselves. The more a child talks, the better he/she will be able to develop adequate language patterns.
• Read to your child. Every time you read to your child, you are developing an appreciation for books, as well as for reading. The child who has been read to will undoubtedly be anxious to read and explore books for himself/herself.
• Help develop your child's growth in vocabulary. Vocabulary growth can be helped by an exploration of your child's environment. When your child asks questions about the surroundings, answer them in such a way that your child understands. Make sure these new words have meaning to your child. Use them in sentences...make sure to talk to your child about them.
• Help your child become aware of sounds...their differences and similarities. Example: Say three words all with the same initial sound, add a fourth with a completely different sound. This is one way to help your child to discriminate between sounds.
• Help your child develop visual skills. Point out differences in color, size, shape, form and position of things around the house and in the neighborhood. A variety of games can be developed in order to help your child develop good visual skills.
• Provide your child with activities for doing things and going places. The development of a wide range of experiences will help your child attain good comprehension of written material later in his or her academic career. Point out interesting things around you and give your child new words and meanings for words.
• Build a reading atmosphere at home. Have a variety of books, magazines, newspapers, etc. around the home to read. Show your child that reading is important and enjoyable.

Anthony D. Fredericks and David Taylor, Parent Programs in Reading: Guidelines for Success (Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association, Inc., 1985), pp. 62-63.

Math Tips and Information

Math is used in the home daily. Encouraging children to get involved with its use is an important factor in helping them learn math concepts and decreasing their anxiety levels in math class at school. A child's attitude about math is affected, to some degree, by his/her experiences at home. As a result, parents can help provide an atmosphere that will encourage math growth in their children.

The following suggestions will help you in helping your child prepare for a successful mathematical experience:

• Become familiar with the math textbook. Read the contents, look over several lessons, study the chapter reviews and tests, the glossary, and the mini-reviews.
• Become familiar with what is expected at your child's grade level. Every teacher has a list of skills that is required at each grade level. Ask the teacher to share this information with you.
• Discuss the use of math in everyday activities, such as earning money, saving money, and spending money.
• Plan time each week to discuss math homework, vocabulary, tests, and quizzes.
• Use flash cards to drill on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. These can be purchased inexpensively or homemade ones will do.
• Take a walk with your child. There are so many things in your community that can be the topic of a math discussion; for example, the sizes and shapes of things; comparing the sizes of two or more objects; reading address numbers; estimating distances walked; counting cars, houses etc.
• Use the newspaper. Chose a comic strip from the "funnies". Cut the comic strip into individual sections. Mix the sections up, then have your child try to put them back in the correct order. The advertisement page is also an excellent source for teaching math concepts.
• Shop together. Have your child rewrite your grocery list, classifying foods by categories so your shopping will be easier.
• Praise every accomplishment. The feeling of having approval and acceptance is an incentive to further progress.

How Can I Be Engaged?

Involvement comes in many forms. The following are examples of how parents can become involved in their child’s education with Knox County Schools.

Become Involved: Parents have traditionally been “involved” in their children’s educational experience in many ways. Involvement activities include volunteering as needed by classroom teachers (i.e., helping with the bulletin boards) or office personnel (i.e., answering the phone), attending school performances, assisting with fund raising events, etc. These types of activities have always been and will continue to be valued by the schools and beneficial to children and families.

Become Engaged: More parents are interested in increasing their level of involvement by becoming more engaged with activities designed to improve student achievement. Becoming an “engaged” parent involves the following:

• Learning at Home: Participating in activities designed to help parents learn strategies to best assist children with homework, study skills, and work habits at home.
• Parenting: Taking advantage of opportunities to learn the latest research about child development and solutions to parenting challenges
• Communicating: Participating in two-way communication with the school to understand more about school programs and policies, awareness of children’s progress, responding to student problems/concerns, and assertive interactions with teachers and other school staff.
• Decision Making: Actively sharing ideas and having an input on school, district, and state policies and decisions that affect children’s education by accepting shared ownership of the school.
• Collaborating with Community: Becoming aware of and taking advantage of community resources that will increase family and/or children skills and talents needed for present or future education or work, or to obtain needed family and child services.
• Volunteering: Supporting school efforts specifically designed to increase student achievement (i.e., listening to students read, reading to students and asking reading comprehension questions, etc.).

Each of these activities involves parents having a direct and positive impact on the academic achievement of children.

Become Informed

• Attend schools functions including but not limited to: Parent-Teacher conferences, Family Engagement events, School Board meetings.
• Read the Federal Programs Dept Parent Handbook.
• Take part in a parenting class.

Observe

Visit your child's classroom and see first-hand what your child is doing.

Parental Input

Federal moneys are allocated to the Federal Programs Department. These allocations are distributed to the schools for academic and family engagement resources. Parents are part of the school wide decision making team that determines how moneys will be spent.

TO PUT IT SIMPLY, AN ENGAGED PARENT IS THE GREATEST ADVOCATE THE CHILD AND THE SCHOOL CAN HAVE.

Parent Teacher Conferences

The Parent-Teacher Conference is an opportunity for a child’s parents and teacher to get together to discuss how the child can get the best possible education by meeting his/her individual needs. This two-way communication goes beyond the report card to bring out more facts and to create better understanding of the child’s progress. The parents and the teacher, together, form the ideal partnership to help the child.

Parents may ask for a conference when they want to report something good about their child, they are concerned about their child’s academic progress, they are concerned about their child’s behavior, or there are family concerns that may affect the child’s progress.
Teachers may ask for a conference when report cards are coming out, the child has made a significant accomplishment, the child has had academic difficulty, or the child is having behavioral difficulties.

In preparation of a conference, make a list of things to ask the teacher. You might ask about your child’s grades, homework, test, or attitude and/or behavior in class. Let your child know that you plan to have a conference with the teacher. When you do, tell him/her the purpose of the conference and ask your child what he/she would like for you to discuss. Finally, let him/her know that you will discuss the outcome of the conference together.

During The Parent-Teacher Conference, tell the teacher the purpose of the conference. Start the conference in a positive way. Teachers need and deserve praise. Talk about your child’s hobbies, talents, study habits and any sensitive issues (for example: weight problem, physical defects, shyness, etc.). Help the teacher to know and understand your child. Ask the teacher for an outline of what will be covered in your child’s grade or subject area. Ask questions about how your child is graded and what factors are considered in the final grade. Listen carefully and make notes as the teacher talks about your child’s progress. Plan with the teacher on how both of you can help your child become successful. Remember: Ending the conference on a positive note can strengthen the relationship between home and school.

After the Parent-Teacher Conference, talk over the results of the conference with your spouse and child. Be sure to stress the positive, strong points, and discuss the suggestions made for improvements and new goals. Make plans for these suggestions to be carried out. Let your child know how you will help him/her. Lastly, make follow-up contacts with the teacher, and continue the spirit of cooperation and interest in what is happening with your child.

Remember: You play an important role in your child’s education and that keeping in touch with your child’s teacher and his/her school will make the difference in his/her success.

Promote Good Study Skills

Steps You Can Take to Provide Good Study Conditions and Encourage Good Study Habits:

• Provide a quiet place to study. A place to study, away from family, friends and television, is most effective. The space should be free of distractions and well lighted. No less than a 100-watt bulb should be used for studying.
• Keep study materials together. Save time. Keep study materials together. If they are kept in a small bucket or box, they can be moved easily to the study area. Materials should include reference books such as a dictionary and a Thesaurus; encyclopedias and an almanac are also helpful.
• Avoid common distractions. Reinforce to your child that a quiet place reduces distractions and, therefore, helps concentration. He or she should only concentrate on one thing at a time. With television, show how important you feel schoolwork is by keeping the TV off during study time.
  It is impossible to think about a favorite song and at the same time give full attention to studies. Students who say, “I can’t study without music,” really mean, “I’m in the habit of studying with music on.” Change this habit by turning the sound a little lower each day until studying in silence becomes a habit.
• Regular study habits. Make sure your child is aware that the least effective times of day to study are right after a heavy meal or vigorous exercise. Decide together on the best time to study and then set that time aside at least five days out of every week. If there is no homework, encourage your child to review or read ahead.
  Stick to the plan you develop. Emphasize the importance of your child studying in the same place and at the same time daily.
• Encourage mood control. The mere action of settling down to work will create the mood for study. Encourage your child to get in the habit of settling down to work right away. He or she will soon learn mood control.
• Stress good posture. Make available a well-cushioned chair for your child to sit in when studying. This will help to improve concentration. Discourage your child from lying down or lounging.
• Provide study breaks. The age of your child will determine how long he or she can concentrate before a rest is needed. The length of study time before a break will vary from student to student; however, research shows that an intensive 50-minute study session followed by a 10-minute break is most effective.
• Check room temperature. When the room temperature is on the cool side of 70 degrees it will invigorate students. Beware: well-heated rooms can relax students and make them sleepy.

Eating Well Can Help Your Child Learn Better

As parents you have many concerns regarding your children. One of these is what to feed them. You want to be sure that the food your children eat includes all that is necessary and that you are not feeding them anything that might be harmful. You are concerned also about your children’s learning and success in school. Are you aware that there is a connection between what children eat and how they learn? Poorly nourished children are more likely to be ill, to have absences and thus miss instruction. When they return to school, it is hard for them to catch up on what they missed. Without daily practice, they often forget many skills they have been taught.

What Can Parents Do to Improve the Nutrition of Children?

• Parents can read and become informed about nutrition.
• Parents can be sure their children eat balanced meals, including proteins, fresh fruits, and vegetables.
• Parents can encourage their schools to include units on nutrition in the curriculum.
• Parents can work with school authorities to remove candy from vending machines and caffeine beverages from school cafeterias. They can urge that these be replaced with fruits, nuts, milk, and fruit drinks.
• Parents can request that school fund-raising projects not rely on the sale of candy or sweets.
• Parents can be alert to specific food sensitivities of their children, and consult with doctors to adjust their diets

Keeping Your Child Safe

Each year over 150,000 children in the United States disappear. The Park Davis Company of New Jersey has provided the following Tips for Parents. If you are interested in a copy of Tips for Tots, Tips for Grade School, and/or Tips for Teenagers, contact the Parent Center in your area.

1. Have your child fingerprinted, and keep the card in a safe, accessible place, along with pictures updated every six months and an accurate description, including scars.
2. Teach your children their full name, their telephone number, area code and address.
3. Show your children how to dial the operator and what to say (Tell them to stay on the line, if possible.). Practice this.
4. Know where your child is at all times.
5. Don’t let your child go to a public restroom alone.
6. Don’t leave your child alone in a car.
7. Don’t put your child’s name – first or last on hats, jackets, bikes, wagons, etc.
   Remember a child responds to a first name. A person using that name will automatically not be thought of as a stranger.
8. Teach your children to avoid strangers. A stranger is someone they don’t know very well.
9. Don’t leave your children in the toy section of a store or wandering in the mall. If they do get lost or bothered, tell them to go to the cashier for help.
10. Know your children’s friends.
11. Be involved in your child’s activities.
12. Practice with your child ways he/she may walk to and from friends’ homes or school.
13. Make it clear to your child to whose home he/she may go to play or visit.
14. Teach your child which homes are “safe” to go into near your home when you are not found.
15. Listen when your child tells you that he/she doesn’t want to be with someone. Find out the reason.

How to Keep Your Child's Self-Image Strong

1. Say something positive to your child each day.
2. Try to see that your child achieves success in some way each day by offering a variety of activities.
3. Recognize your child's effort even though it may not meet expectations.
4. Make your child feel that he belongs.
5. Listen to your child and look him in the eyes when he is talking.
6. Answer your child’s questions openly, honestly, and immediately, if possible.
7. Do not embarrass your child, especially in front of others; do not make him question his worth.
8. Compliment your child when possible on creative ideas, improvement in performing tasks, etc.
9. Encourage your child to be proud of his name, his ideas, and his work.
10. Do not set goals so high that the chance of failure prevents your child from trying.
11. Emphasize what your child does right instead of what he does wrong.
12. Treat your child as you would like to be treated.

Alternative Languages

Alternative language versions of this information are available: Arabic, Kirundi, Spanish, Swahili