2013-14 Parent Input Directions

1. 2013-14 Parent Input Directions

2. Parent Input Meeting • The District Monitoring Plan team must include a parent (from such sources as CAC, PTI, FRC, FEC). The selected parent should attend the Parent Input Meeting. • The District must conduct at least one Parent Input Meeting (they may conduct more if desired). • The target is 20 percent parent participation in providing input during the SESR. • Invitations should be sent to all parents or guardians whose children receive special education services within the District. • The District must conduct a special meeting if 25percent or more of home language surveys indicate a language other than English.

3. Parent Input Meeting • A Parent Input Meeting script, sample meeting flyer and survey form are included in the materials furnished on the CD by CDE. The flyer and survey documents are in Arabic, Chinese, English, Hmong, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. • Please note that the Parent Input Meeting’s data collection process also includes the expectation that districts will gather information about the attending parents student’s ethnicity and disability. The provided Parent Input Meeting Sign-In Sheet (in English and Spanish) will assist districts in this data collection. Note also that the Monitoring Plan provides an area for this information to be included for submission to CDE.

4. Content and Design of the Parent Input Meeting • The Parent Input Meeting is qualitative in nature. • The meeting is designed to allow any parent of a special education student within the District to provide information about the District’s special education programs and services. • The Parent Input Meeting script is designed to capture specific information that is required of districts for reporting to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). • The Parent Input Meeting script is designed to assist the District in maintaining focus on specific issues, yet does not limit a parent’s opportunity to include additional information.

5. Content and Design of the Parent Input Meeting • It is recommended that the District provide a reasonable period of time between the actual mailing of the Parent Input Meeting Invitation and the meeting date. • It is strongly recommended that when the Parent Invitation is mailed that the District include a copy of the Parent Survey. This will allow the District to cover all of the parents within the District and to allow parents who cannot come to the Parent Input Meeting the opportunity to provide input. • The District should consider the following when preparing for and conducting the Parent Input Meeting: - The meeting site should be a convenient and centralized location that is accessible and can provide reasonable accommodations to attendees who may be disabled.

6. Content and Design of the Parent Input Meeting - On an as needed basis, translators for non- English speaking parents or parents who are deaf or hard-of-hearing should be provided. - Plan on the session lasting about two hours. - That the moderator of the meeting is trained and prepared to use the structured questions as delineated on the Parent Input Survey and to help the group remain focused on the task at hand. - That a District staff member be present in order to take careful notes of the issues that are brought up by the parents. - That issues that are potentially non-compliant should be highlighted and analyzed for inclusion on the Monitoring Plan.

7. PARENT/GUARDIAN INPUT MEETING GUIDELINES Suggested Script Contents Each District is provided with a suggested script to use at the Parent Input Meeting. The use of the script is voluntary.

8. Parent Survey • The District must conduct a Parent Survey if less than 20 percent of parents participate in the Parent Input Meeting(s). The survey must be: • Mailed to all parents and guardians of children who receive special education services in the District; • Able to assist the District in meeting the minimum 20 percent parent participation target; and • Sent in languages other than English if 25 percent or more of home language surveys indicate a language other than English. • If surveys yield less than the 20 percent response target, the District must use additional means (such as phone and email surveys, surveys at other meetings, etc.) to bring the total to 20 percent.

9. Parent Survey • The Parent Survey also asks parents to provide information on their student’s ethnicity and disability. This data should be combined with the data collected in the Parent Input Meeting(s) and included in the Monitoring Plan. • Please note that the Monitoring Plan asks for information about the methods used and participation levels that resulted from the District’s efforts to gather parent input.

10. SESR Parent Survey Form The Parent Survey form consists of 27 questions to be asked parents. These are the same questions used at the Parent Input Meeting.

11. Parent Input Meeting and Parent Input Surveys Item Table Numbers

12. Note! • Along with the Invitation to the Parent Meeting, remember to include the survey with directions as to how/where to return the form if the parents can’t attend the meeting