Standards of Parent Participation
CADRE believes that parents and students are too often kept away from what is happening in schools, and forced to give up their rights through the use of legal language and complicated policies. Getting our children through school now takes POWER, not just involvement. At CADRE, we want to permanently change the power dynamics between parents and schools.
Out of the findings from our 2004 report, "We Interrupt This Crisis - With Our Side of the Story: Relationships Between South LA Parents and Schools", CADRE parents identified ten “standards” of parent participation that we felt would demonstrate dignity and respect for parents. One of our primary social change goals at CADRE is to change school district policies so that all schools demonstrate as many of the following standards as possible.
CADRE Standards of Dignity and Respect for Parents
- Open and clear communication to parents about their right to visit schools and classrooms.
- Real, structured opportunities for parents to give input, have information, and help make decisions.
- Informing parents in a timely and clear fashion as to when and how to participate, with policies that ensure that all parents have equal access to and information on engagement opportunities.
- Teachers and staff adhering to an “early warning” system that identifies students’ challenges as soon as possible, and brings in parents as problem-solvers earlier.
- Parents having concrete opportunities to make recommendations to schools about parent engagement.
- Regular, parent-led school forums at which school staff must listen and respond to parent assessments.
- Policies that protect parents’ right to monitor the schools’ implementation of programs without retaliation.
- Regular parent access and referrals to trainings on effectively holding schools accountable.
- Parent-led assessments of schools to identify areas that need more accountability.
- Policies that outline clear grievance procedures parents can use to file complaints, with due process, and that establish a clear process of recourse if complaints are not resolved sufficiently or with due process.
The goal of our Standards of Parent Participation Project:
To improve the conditions for meaningful parent participation in monitoring and improving school quality.
Our objectives for 2006-2008 are to:
- Identify opportunities for new District-wide policy on parent engagement
- Mobilize community-based support for District-wide policy on parent engagement
