- Introduction
- ECFE Advisory Councils
- Advisory Council Membership
- Embedded Councils
- Recruiting and Training
- Responsibilities
- Meetings
- District Council Websites
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Head Start
- School Readiness
Introduction
Advisory councils are designed to give advice and counsel as their name implies. They differ from boards in that they have no legal authority for administering the business matters of the program and thus are not responsible for budgets, hiring, firing, or policy setting. This is not to say that councils are not as important or valuable as boards; they simply have different roles. Early Childhood Family Education Advisory Councils perform a variety of valuable functions as described on this page.
This page contains information and resources that will help you coordinate and lead effective advisory councils.
ECFE Advisory Councils
District Advisory Councils: Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.13, subdivision 9, states:
The board must appoint an advisory council from the area in which the program is provided. A majority of the council must be parents participating in the program, who represent the demographics of the community. The district must ensure, to the extent possible, that the council includes representation of families who are racially, culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse. The council must assist the board in developing, planning, and monitoring the Early Childhood Family Education program. The council must report to the board and the community education advisory council.
Benefits to Parents and Programming
ECFE has a well-established tradition of supporting and empowering parents. This same approach should be utilized in your advisory council work. Benefits to parent advisory council members include expanded knowledge and skills, as well as enhanced parental self-esteem, confidence, and belongingness. Parent advisory councils not only strengthen parent commitment to ECFE, but they can also foster family engagement and parent advocacy skills. Without enthusiastic, committed parents, program continuation, enhanced quality and expansion are not possible.
Since the beginning of the Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) pilot programs in 1974, advisory councils have been required by law. According to Minnesota Statute 121.882 (1984), the school board of any district establishing or expanding an early childhood family education program “shall appoint an advisory council for the area in which the program is provided. A majority of the council shall be parents participating in the program. The council shall assist the board in developing, planning, and monitoring the early childhood family education program. The council shall report to the school board and the community education advisory council.”
Advisory councils are designed to give advice and counsel as their name implies. They differ from boards in that they have no legal authority for administering the business matters of the program and thus are not responsible for budgets, hiring, firing, or policy setting. This is not to say that councils are not as important or valuable as boards; they simply have different roles. Early Childhood Family Education Advisory Councils perform a variety of valuable functions as described in this chapter.
Click here for Chapter 7 (Advisory Councils) of the ECFE Implementation Guide
Advisory Council Membership
Advisory Council Membership
The majority of advisory council membership must be parents participating in the program who reflect the demographics of the community (consult your Community Needs Assessment). The district must also ensure that the council includes representation of families who are racially, culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse. Districts should also consider the benefits of supplementing the council with local/community professionals who may be able to provide technical input and guidance.
Length of Membership
A one- to two-year commitment may be long enough for many members. This policy should be flexible, however, and adapted to the needs of your program. If a program has a difficult time recruiting members, it may not need to stipulate a minimum or maximum term length. If the program has more persons wanting to serve than positions available, it may be helpful to have term limits renewable by mutual agreement. Long- term advisory council members frequently become excellent parent leaders.
Advisory Council Size
Most advisory councils range in size from 10-20 members with size being determined by the size of the program or community and the amount of work council members are expected to do. If the council is primarily work or task-oriented, it needs to be larger to spread the jobs among more people. If the council is organized primarily to provide input, it can be smaller, as long as it is representative of the community. Depending on the district, some programs may have councils with subcommittees, site-based councils, or embedded councils.
Embedded Councils
Embedded Councils
A standalone ECFE parent advisory council is not needed in order to meet the statutory requirements. For example, the Community Education council could perform the functions of the advisory council for ECFE (Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.13, subdivision 10). Another example could be an early childhood advisory council that works on other early childhood education issues in addition to ECFE responsibilities.
Recruiting and Training
Recruiting and Training
One way to recruit new members is to solicit applications. Staff can encourage parents to apply and ask colleagues to refer other possible candidates. Current advisory council members can suggest the names of other potential members. Selection of members is based on qualifications, current membership balance, council demographics relative to community composition, and interest of the applicant. A well-planned orientation can enhance the effectiveness of council members. With training, they are ready to start work and contribute ideas immediately.
Advisory Council Responsibilities
Advisory Council Responsibilities
To ensure your advisory council operates effectively and purposefully, ECFE programs should have clear responsibilities for their councils. The responsibilities listed in statutes include developing, planning, and monitoring the ECFE program, and reporting to the board and the Community Education advisory council. The six major areas listed below provide examples of where advisory councils can be particularly helpful to the operation of ECFE programs.
- Contributing reviews and recommendations for program policies, goals, objectives, and ideas. Because advisory members represent diverse groups, they bring information from the larger community and offer a wide range of viewpoints, experience, and skills to help determine programming and solve problems facing the program. Council members can make recommendations on length of sessions, scheduling of classes, fee amounts and policies, family activities, field trips, session formats, curriculum planning, program changes, and guest speakers.
- Developing a source of volunteers and training volunteers. Council members themselves are often active in many aspects of direct volunteer service to the agency, but they can also help recruit and train a cadre of volunteers to insure smooth program operations.
- Promoting the program, outreach, and community relations. Promoting the program within the community is one of the most important functions of an advisory council. An advisory council with broad-based representation from the community acts as a conduit for information from various constituencies to the program and its staff. It also carries information from the program back to eligible parents in the community, other agencies and groups, potential donors or funding sources, and the general public.
- Assisting with the community needs assessment and program evaluation. The advisory council works with the staff to assess program effectiveness and to determine how well the program is meeting its goals.
- Advocating for families and ECFE programs in the district, community and/or state. Council members can organize or participate in public awareness and advocacy efforts to ensure program support. Members can make connections with other school district and community-based organization staff to advocate for families and young children, as well as for coordinated programming and support. Members can also join other parents statewide by becoming active in regional and state advocacy activities.
- Expanding resource development. The area of resource development includes personnel as well as fund raising. An advisory council could help participate in staff selection, if possible, within district guidelines. Some school districts encourage advisory council input on staff hiring, while others discourage involvement in this area. Although staff is ultimately responsible for preparation of proposals, fund raising projects, and presentations to school boards and funding sources, council members can be involved in all of these efforts.
Advisory Council Meetings
Advisory Council Meetings
Meetings are often co-planned by the advisory council president/chair and the ECFE coordinator. The number of meetings per year and their length may vary from district to district. It has been recommend to have no less than four meetings.
District Council Websites
Anoka-Hennepin
Big Lake
Bloomington
Delano
Elk River
Farmington
Fergus Falls
Lakeville Area Schools
NRHEG
Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan
South Washington County
Waconia
Waseca
Frequently Asked Questions
Who may serve on an advisory council?
How many people serve on your council?
Who controls the money our advisory council raises?
School Readiness
School Readiness programs are required to "involve parents in program planning and decision making" (Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.15, subdivision 3)