This Reflection on Practice is based upon a change in the undergraduate course "Family and Community Relations." Historically, this course has been taught on campus in a lecture format, as well as small and large group activities. However, during a spring semester at a midsized Midwestern University, it was altered to provide more direct…

In a collaborative partnership between a public school district in the northeast United States and university faculty, social-emotional/behavioral (SEB) screening was implemented across the district at three elementary schools serving students in kindergarten through second grade. Although both parents and teachers served as informants in SEB…

This webinar explored how the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provide an instructional framework to support professional growth and inform teacher evaluation systems for science instruction. This Q&A addressed the questions participants had for Dr. Wilson and Jody Bintz following the webinar. The webinar recording and PowerPoint…

This report examines the variety of attitudes, actions, inactions, and beliefs that have created barriers to effective implementation of parent participation mandates of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Data were drawn from the monitoring experience and direct involvement with administrative complaints and litigation of the…

Missouri is the only state with a statutory mandate to provide parent education and family support services in every school district. Parents as Teachers is designed to enhance child development and scholastic performance by reaching out to families before a child is born. (Author)

This ERIC Digest asserts that parent involvement is critical in facilitating children's development and achievement and in preventing and remedying educational and developmental problems. Topics briefly discussed are benefits to children and to parents of parent involvement, effective approaches to parent involvement, problems in involving…

This brief paper describes the "Brookline After School Special:" a program created to meet the after-school needs of older elementary school-age children throughout the city of Brookline, Massachusetts. The rationale for the program, a discussion of aspects considered in implementing the program, and reflections on the first year of…

The Assessment-Confrontation-Strategizing Model for developing parent and community involvement in school decision-making consists of three stages. In the assessment stage parent perceptions of the permeability of the school's psychosocial boundaries are examined and the differing educational values held by teachers, administrators, and…

A parent of a kindergarten child in Texas began observing her child's classroom when she noticed that the whole language instructional approach described to parents before the beginning of school was apparently not being implemented as stated. The parent was surprised when her child's teacher suggested, after only six weeks of instruction, that…

To help New Jersey parents and other citizens increase their involvement in schools, this handbook describes school-site management, a form of decentralized administration that can help broaden effective citizen participation in educational management. Part 1 first defines school-site (or school-based) management--a type of school governance in…

Many parents are currently struggling to balance job and family responsibilities. Such attempts bring about changes in work and individual attitudes. This report presents the status of work and family in 1992, as well as the nature and direction of workplace changes to accommodate families. The report indicates that large United States companies…

Discusses the importance of determining the educational needs of a group before implementing a program. (JOW)

A parent objected to a district's replacement of the gifted pull-out program with gifted-talented clusters in regular classrooms. Teachers would be trained to work with special-needs students, but not to differentiate curricula for advanced students. He agreed to advance his daughter a grade, but deplores reforms' transitional effects. (MLH)

San Francisco sculptor Ruth Asawa discusses her own artistic development and describes the Alvarado Arts Workshop, a community-based arts education program begun by herself, other parents, and community leaders in the San Francisco schools. (Author/SJL)

If early childhood systems are to be effective at the population level then they must be able to provide family-centered care to all the racial, ethnic and cultural groups that they serve. Despite major policy driven and technological advances in healthcare, health disparities across different races and ethnicities persist. For example, the infant…