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Strategies
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Currently Exists?
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Action Steps
Needed to Implement
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Family Involvement
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Provide information to all families who want or need it, not just to the few who attend school workshops or meetings.
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Understand child and adolescent development and home conditions that support students at each age and grade level.
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Enable families to share information with schools about background, culture, children's talents, goals, and needs.
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Make all information for families clear, usable, age-appropriate, and linked to children's success.
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Clear and Frequent Communications
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Make all memos, notices, and other print and non-print communications clear and understandable for all families.
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Consider parents who do not speak English well, do not read well, or need large type.
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Obtain ideas from families to improve the design and content of major communications such as newsletters, report cards, and conference schedules.
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Establish an easy-to-use two-way channel for school-to-home and home-to-school communications.
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Building a Volunteer Base
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Recruit widely for volunteers so that all families know that their time and talents are welcome.
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Make flexible schedules for volunteers to enable working parents to participate in assemblies and other events.
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Provide training for volunteers, and match time and talent with school needs.
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Learning at Home
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Design and implement a regular schedule of interactive homework (e.g., weekly or bi-monthly) in which students discuss important subjects they are learning with their families.
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Coordinate family-linked interactive homework assignments if students have several teachers.
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Involve families and their children in all important curriculum-related decisions.
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Systematic and Inclusive Decision-Making
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Include parent leaders from all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and other groups in the school.
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Offer training to enable parent leaders to develop skills to serve as representatives of other families.
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Include student representatives along with parents in decision making groups.
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Operating Within the Community
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Solve “turf” problems of roles, responsibilities, funds, and places for collaborative activities.
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Inform all families and students about community programs and services.
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Assure equal opportunities for students and families to obtain services or participate in community programs.
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Match business and community volunteers and resources with school goals.
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