At the beginning of each school term, bulletin boards sport fresh ideas and desks glisten, but will students entering the classroom have their expectations met? Will they be engaged in the learning? How can teachers utilize resources and enlist others to provide an even stronger and more effective learning environment? In this article, the author…

A local Early Head Start parent recently traveled to Washington, DC, to share a new parent engagement strategy with White House officials. Nastassia Jackson and her children's teachers hope the time is ripe for the idea to catch on. Their pitch: A parent board, like a miniature local school council, that "administrates alongside the teachers" and…

The author experimented with a different type of parent involvement that turned out to be surprisingly positive and constructive by changing how parents, teachers, and the principal interact with one another. The initiative, a math parent volunteer program, followed a parent survey that highlighted the need for differentiated instruction in the…

Schools flush with students' parents showing up and helping out have long been the envy of those where classrooms echo on back-to-school night. But in recent years, incidents reported in the news media have dabbed shadows on that glowing picture of parent involvement, raising issues about whether demanding adults have made teachers' jobs harder…

Educators need to help kids help others so that they can help themselves. Volunteering does not involve competition or grades. This is one area where students don't have to worry about measuring up to the expectations of parents, teachers, and coaches. Students participate in charitable work to add another line to a college transcript or job…

Describes the program, initiated in 1980, to improve national literacy in Nicaragua by sending student volunteers to the countryside and adult volunteers to the urban slums as teachers. (Condensed from "Interracial Books for Children Bulletin," No. 2, 1981, p3-7.) (Editor/SJL)

Never underestimate the points in public relations which a school can earn from its volunteers. Just for starters, volunteers help to reinforce a healthy school climate. These volunteers must be constantly recognized. Here, the author presents several tips offered from the point of view of both colleagues at school and seasoned volunteers…