(2) MEETING REQUIREMENTS.-Funds reserved under section 1003(a) or appropriated under section 1002(f) shall be used to meet the requirements of this section. In addition to such funds a State educational agency may use State administrative funds reserved under section 1603(c) to meet such requirements.

(b) REGIONAL CENTERS. Such a statewide system shall work with and receive support and assistance from the comprehensive regional technical assistance centers under part A of title XIII and the educational regional laboratories under section 941(h) of the Educational Research, Development, Dissemination, and Improvement Act of 1994.

(c) PROVISIONS.-The system shall include at a minimum, the following:

(1) SCHOOL SUPPORT TEAMS.

(A) Each State educational agency, in consultation with local educational agencies and schools, shall establish a system of school support teams to provide information and assistance to schoolwide programs and to assist such programs in providing an opportunity to all students to meet the State's student performance standards.

(B) If funds are sufficient, school support teams shall provide information and assistance to

(i) schools

(I) in which the number of students in poverty is equal to or greater than 75 percent of the total number of students enrolled in such school; and

(II) identified as in need of improvement under section 1116(c)(1); and

(ii) other schools in need of improvement.

(C) Each such team shall be composed of persons, including teachers, pupil services personnel, representatives of organizations knowledgeable about successful schoolwide projects or comprehensive school reform (especially distinguished educators described in paragraph (3)), and other persons who are knowledgeable about research and practice on teaching and learning, particularly about strategies for improving the educational opportunities for low-achieving students (including alternative and applied learning), such as representatives of institutions of higher education, regional educational laboratories or research centers, and outside consultant groups.

(D) A school support team shall work cooperatively with each school and make recommendations as the school develops the school's schoolwide program plan or school improvement plan, review each plan, and make recommendations to the school and the local educational

agency.

(E) During the operation of the schoolwide program or during school improvement activities, a school support team shall

(i) periodically review the progress of the school in enabling children in the school to meet the State's student performance standards under this part;

(ii) identify problems in the design and operation of the instructional program; and

(iii) make recommendations for improvement to the school and the local educational agency.

(2) DISTINGUISHED SCHOOLS.—

(A) Each State shall designate as a distinguished school any school served under this part which, for three consecutive years, has exceeded the State's definition of adequate progress as defined in section 1111(b)(2)(A)(i), and, any school in which

(i) virtually all students have met the State's advanced level of student performance; and

(ii) equity in participation and achievement of students by sex has been achieved or significantly improved.

(B) Schools designated under this paragraph may serve as models and provide support to other schools, especially schoolwide programs and schools in school improvement, to assist such schools in meeting the State's student performance standards.

(C) States shall use funds reserved under section 1003(a) and funds made available under section 1002(f) to allow schools identified under this paragraph to carry out the activities described in subparagraph (B) and may use such funds to provide awards to such schools to further such school's education programs under this part, provide additional incentives for continued success, and reward individuals or groups in the school for exemplary perform

ance.

(D) A local educational agency may also recognize the success of a distinguished school by providing additional institutional and individual rewards, such as greater decisionmaking authority at the school building level, increased access to resources or supplemental services such as summer programs that may be used to sustain or increase success, additional professional development opportunities, opportunities to participate in special projects, and individual financial bonuses.

(3) DISTINGUISHED EDUCATORS.—

(A) In order to provide assistance to schools and local educational agencies identified as needing improvement and schools participating in schoolwide programs, each State, in consultation with local educational agencies and using funds reserved under section 1003(a) and made available under section 1002(f), shall establish a corps of distinguished educators.

(B) When possible, distinguished educators shall be chosen from schools served under this part that have been especially successful in enabling children to meet or make outstanding progress toward meeting the State's student performance standards, such as the schools described in paragraph (2).

(C) Distinguished educators shall provide, as part of the statewide system, intensive and sustained assistance

to the schools and local educational agencies farthest from meeting the State's student performance standards and to schoolwide programs as such programs develop and implement their plans, including participation in the support teams described in paragraph (1).

(d) IMPLEMENTATION.-In order to implement this section funds reserved under section 1003(a) and funds made available under section 1002(f) may be used by a State for release time for teachers and administrators, travel, training, and other related costs.

(e) ALTERNATIVES.-The State may devise additional approaches to providing the assistance described in paragraphs (1) and (3) of subsection (c), such as providing assistance through institutions of higher education and educational service agencies or other local consortia, and the State may seek approval from the Secretary to use funds reserved under section 1003 and funds made available under section 1002(f) for such approaches as part of the State plan.

SEC. 1118. [20 U.S.C. 6319] PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT. (a) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY POLICY.—

(1) IN GENERAL.-A local educational agency may receive funds under this part only if such agency implements programs, activities, and procedures for the involvement of parents in programs assisted under this part consistent with the provisions of this section. Such activities shall be planned and implemented with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.

(2) WRITTEN POLICY.-Each local educational agency that receives funds under this part shall develop jointly with, agree upon with, and distribute to, parents of participating children a written parent involvement policy that is incorporated into the local educational agency's plan developed under section 1112, establishes the expectations for parent involvement, and describes how the local educational agency will

(A) involve parents in the joint development of the plan under section 1112, and the process of school review and improvement under section 1116;

(B) provide the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist participating schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement;

(C) build the schools' and parents' capacity for strong parent involvement as described in subsection (e);

(D) coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies under this part with parental involvement strategies under other programs, such as Head Start, Even Start, the Parents as Teachers Program, the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters, and State-run preschool programs;

(E) conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parental involvement policy developed under this section

(i) to determine the effectiveness of the policy in increasing the participation of parents; and

(ii) to identify barriers to greater participation by parents in activities authorized by this section, giving particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background; and

(F) use the findings of the evaluations described in subparagraph (E) in designing strategies for school improvement and revising, if necessary, the parental involvement policies described in this subsection and subsection (b)(1).

(3) RESERVATION. (A) Each local educational agency shall reserve not less than 1 percent of such agency's allocation under this part to carry out this section, including family literacy and parenting skills, except that this paragraph shall not apply if 1 percent of such agency's allocation under this part (other than funds allocated under section 1002(e)) for the fiscal year for which the determination is made is $5,000 or less.

(B) Parents of children receiving services under this part shall be involved in the decisions regarding how funds reserved under subparagraph (A) are allotted for parental involvement activities.

(b) SCHOOL PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY.

(1) IN GENERAL.-Each school served under this part shall jointly develop with, and distribute to, parents of participating children a written parental involvement policy, agreed upon by such parents, that shall describe the means for carrying out the requirements of subsections (c) through (f). Such policy shall be updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school.

(2) SPECIAL RULE.-If the school has a parental involvement policy that applies to all parents, such school may amend that policy, if necessary, to meet the requirements of this subsection.

(3) AMENDMENT.-If the local educational agency has a school district-level parental involvement policy that applies to all parents, such agency may amend that policy, if necessary, to meet the requirements of this subsection.

(4) PARENTAL COMMENTS.-If the plan under section 1112 is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the local educational agency shall submit any parent comments with such plan when such local educational agency submits the plan to the State.

(c) POLICY INVOLVEMENT.-Each school served under this part shall

(1) convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to which all parents of participating children shall be invited and encouraged to attend, to inform parents of their school's participation under this part and to explain this part, its requirements, and their right to be involved;

(2) offer a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening, and may provide, with funds provided under this part, transportation, child care, or home visits, as such services relate to parental involvement;

(3) involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of programs under this part, including the school parental involvement policy and the joint development of the schoolwide program plan under section 1114(b), except that if a school has in place a process for involving parents in the joint planning and design of its programs, the school may use that process, if such process includes an adequate representation of parents of participating children;

(4) provide parents of participating children

(A) timely information about programs under this part;

(B) school performance profiles required under section 1116(a)(3) and their child's individual student assessment results, including an interpretation of such results, as required under section 1111(b)(3)(H);

(C) a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of assessment used to measure student progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet;

(D) opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions, share experiences with other parents, and participate as appropriate in decisions relating to the education of their children if such parents so desire; and

(E) timely responses to parents' suggestions under subparagraph (D); and

(5) if the schoolwide program plan under section 1114(b)(2) is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, submit any parent comments on the plan when the school makes the plan available to the local educational agency.

(d) SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HIGH STUDENT PERFORMANCE. As a component of the school-level parental involvement policy developed under subsection (b), each school served under this part shall jointly develop with parents for all children served under this part a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the State's high standards. Such compact shall

(1) describe the school's responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables the children served under this part to meet the State's student performance standards, and the ways in which each parent will be responsible for supporting their children's learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, and television watching; volunteering in their child's classroom; and participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children and positive use of extracurricular time; and

(2) address the importance of communication between teachers and parents on an ongoing basis through, at a mini

mum

(A) parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools, at least annually, during which the compact shall be dis