Kentucky Parent Advisory Council Issues Recommendations and Rubric for Parent Involvement

The Commissioner's Parents Advisory Council (CPAC), a group that advises the Kentucky education commissioner on policy issues, has issued a ground-breaking report that sets a state standard for family and community involvement focused on improving student achievement. The report, The Missing Piece of the Proficiency Puzzle, contains six standards-based objectives, a sweeping set of recommendations, and a comprehensive rubric.

Upon receiving a copy of the report, Interim Commissioner Kevin Noland said, "Now we know what parent and community involvement is supposed to look like." The Kentucky Department of Education has pledged to incorporate the rubric into its standards-based accountability system.

The six objectives cover relationship-building, effective communication, decision-making, advocacy, learning opportunities, and community partnerships.

The rubric allows educators or parents to rate 39 aspects of a school's parent and community involvement, which cover these six objectives, as distinguished, proficient, apprentice, or novice, performance categories familiar to those involved with education in Kentucky.

Read or download a copy of the report.

CPAC is a standing council appointed by the Kentucky commissioner of education and meets 4 times a year. Its 37 members are selected from the Kentucky Parent Teacher Association, the Kentucky Association of School Councils, and the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership, an arm of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. The group's goal is for Kentucky to become the first state in the nation to set a standard for family and community involvement that is focused on student achievement.

CPAC recommends that the Kentucky Department of Education take four major actions to implement objectives identified by the group:

• Set high expectations and measure performance using the rubric as an audit tool.
• Help schools improve relationship-building by adopting "customer satisfaction" training modules for school districts, making involvement data available publicly, and establishing community involvement advisory councils at school, district and state levels.
• Provide resources and support through recognition of local achievement, research materials, and training.
• Build capacity through professional development for parents, teachers, school officials and community members.

Since the report's release, Noland has presented its recommendations to the Kentucky Board of Education, and the department has begun to incorporate the parent involvement rubric into its school audit process.

For More Information Contact:

Bev Raimondo, Director, Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership/Center for Parent Leadership (859) 233-9849, ext. 227 raimondo@prichardcommittee.org or

Anne T. Henderson, Senior Consultant, Community Involvement Program, Annenberg Institute for School Reform 202 882-1582 Henderam@aol.com