(a) The department of education shall establish in no less than two (2) public schools a three-year pilot program to improve parent-teacher engagement in any grade from kindergarten through grade two (K-2). Public schools interested in participating in the program shall apply with the department. The department shall strive to select public schools that satisfy the following criteria:

(1) One (1) school from each grand division of the state;

(2) At least one (1) urban, one (1) rural, and one (1) suburban school;

(3) At least one (1) school that primarily serves a minority population; and

(4) At least one (1) school in which eighty percent (80%) or more of the school's student population is eligible for free or reduced price lunch.

(b) The program shall begin with the 2018-2019 school year. Each school selected by the department to participate in the program shall be trained using a best practices model in the summer before any school selected to participate in the program is scheduled to begin classes for the 2018-2019 school year. The department shall organize a meeting with administrators from each of the schools selected to participate in the program, at which time the schools shall agree on the criteria to be used for the program from the chosen best practices model.

(c) Teachers participating in the program shall not be required to use the teacher's individual planning time or duty-free lunch or planning periods provided by § 49-1-302(e) for any duties or activities associated with the program.

(d) The department is authorized and empowered to contract with one (1) or more entities to provide parent-teacher engagement training to the teachers and principals of each school selected by the department to participate in the program.

(e) Throughout the program, the department shall collect and analyze:

(1) The number and percentage of parents who participated in the program and how many steps of the best practices model criteria they completed;

(2) The number and percentage of students meeting any academic goals established by the student, parent, and teacher as part of an initial parent-teacher conference or meeting;

(3) The academic performance goals met by students in any grade from kindergarten through grade two (K-2) whose parents and teachers participated in the program compared with the academic performance goals met by students in any grade from kindergarten through grade two (K-2) whose parents and teachers did not participate in the program;

(4) Data collected from a parent survey designed to gauge parent satisfaction with the program and to obtain suggestions from parents for ways to improve the program or to improve parent-teacher engagement in any grade from kindergarten through grade two (K-2); and

(5) Data collected from a teacher and principal survey designed to gauge teacher and principal satisfaction with the program and to obtain suggestions from teachers and principals for ways to improve the program or to improve parent-teacher engagement in any grade from kindergarten through grade two (K-2).

(f) The department shall submit an annual report on the outcomes of the pilot program to the education committee of the senate and to the education committee of the house of representatives no later than July 31, 2019, for the first year of the pilot program, and no later than July 31 of each remaining year.