Hawaii-2013-HCR57-Introduced

WHEREAS, family-school partnerships are an important indicator of student success and are important in a child's cognitive, social, and emotional development; and

WHEREAS, children benefit from family-school partnerships, including at the early childhood, elementary, middle or intermediate, and high school levels; and

WHEREAS, family-school partnerships help close educational gaps between children of different socioeconomic backgrounds; and

WHEREAS, family-school partnerships in public education can help to create policies, strategies, and practices that support learning and improve student achievement; and

WHEREAS, in response to Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 145, Regular Session of 2011 (S.C.R. 145), and Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 79, Regular Session of 2012 (S.C.R. 79), the Department of Education, in collaboration with a working group comprised of family and community organizations, completed the following actions in preparation for updating and implementing statewide policies for family-school partnerships:

(1) Presenting draft revisions to the Board of Education of its Parent/Family Involvement Policy No. 2403 to more accurately reflect the nature of the relationship between students' families and their schools that the Department wishes to promote, including renaming the policy the "Family-School Partnership Policy" and including standards adapted from the National Parent Teacher Association Standards for Family-School Partnerships; and

(2) Incorporating recommendations from the working group into the Department of Education's strategic plan regarding family satisfaction with school responsiveness, and engaging parent and community stakeholders; and

WHEREAS, the following actions are necessary to fulfill the legislative intent of S.C.R. 145 and S.C.R. 79:

(1) Adoption by the Board of Education of revisions to its Parent/Family Involvement Policy No. 2403 to incorporate the suggestions of the working group, and collaboration with family and community organizations to monitor the implementation of the policy;

(2) Update and align the Board of Education's Student Support Policy No. 2203 to reflect advancements in research and practice in regard to student support and family engagement, and collaboration with family and community organizations to monitor the implementation of the policy;

(3) Incorporation of the recommendations of the working group into the Department of Education's strategic plan regarding improvement of two-way communication with families and family and community stakeholder organizations;

(4) Development of a common set of general practices across the Department of Education to ensure that families and schools have consistent expectations by which to interact and communicate effectively;

(5) Coordination of resources and training for families and schools to support family-school partnerships' effective utilization of training teams that model the family-school partnership concept through inclusion of school, family, and community members; and

(6) Improvement of the effectiveness of the School Quality Survey for Parents as a measure of school accountability in improving family-school partnerships by making the survey available in multiple languages and adding demographic data to assess accurate representation for each school's unique population; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the Senate concurring, that the Board of Education and Department of Education are requested to continue to collaborate with family and community organizations to establish, implement, and monitor statewide policy recommendations for family engagement in Hawaii's public schools; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education and Department of Education are requested to take the necessary actions described above to fulfill the legislative intent of S.C.R. 145 and S.C.R. 79; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education and Department of Education are requested to report their findings and recommendations regarding the facilitation of family-school partnerships, including any proposed legislation and the status of the actions described above to fulfill the legislative intent of S.C.R. 145 and S.C.R. 79, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the Regular Session of 2014; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Education.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Education; Family-School Partnerships

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	57
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII