Engaging families in the academic lives of their children continues to be an area that needs improvement in public education. Furthermore, public educators continue to fail at establishing two-way communication practices, as well as providing educational opportunities for parents on the various ways they can help their students outside of school.…

Research shows a decline in U.S. adolescent mental health over several decades. It also suggests that higher levels of life satisfaction lead to better mental health outcomes in this population. The purpose of this study was to investigate correlations between adolescent life satisfaction and eight developmental attributes that can be fostered by…

District leaders have invested widely in the creation of parent portals, but have paid less attention to ensuring that they are achieving their purpose in providing information that parents can use in supporting their children's academic success. This study, based on qualitative field note data from a larger four-year study of a continuous…

Parental involvement is widely acknowledged as a critical factor influencing the college choice process among families. What is not clear, though, is whether this parental driven factor also takes place at the school level along with school related factors. Using a national sample of 9th grade students drawn from about 900 schools, we found that…

District leaders have invested widely in the creation of parent portals, but have paid less attention to ensuring that they are achieving their purpose in providing information that parents can use in supporting their children's academic success. This study, based on qualitative field note data from a larger four-year study of a continuous…

Improving ninth grade course passing rates has been shown to be crucial in improving high school outcomes. Yet at this critical transition to high school, family engagement has tended to decrease. This study explores how increasing use of the parent portal could potentially help to reduce ninth grade failure. Using automatically generated…

Improving ninth grade course passing rates has been shown to be crucial in improving high school outcomes. Yet at this critical transition to high school, family engagement has tended to decrease. This study explores how increasing use of the parent portal could potentially help to reduce ninth grade failure. Using automatically-generated…

Research has begun to show that certain schoolwide characteristics--such as student-centered learning environments, leadership, and safety--can be important for improving student outcomes. In keeping with these insights, school improvement efforts around the country are becoming less narrowly focused on the performance of individual students and…

Research has begun to show that certain schoolwide characteristics--such as student-centered learning environments, leadership, and safety--can be important for improving student outcomes. In keeping with these insights, school improvement efforts around the country are becoming less narrowly focused on the performance of individual students and…

This case study provides an overview of a family outreach intervention that supports student retention in school through a school-home communication link. This intervention structure, which employs staff appropriately called parent involvement facilitators (PIFs), is one that school districts have employed to facilitate family engagement in…

This study focused on a lately constructed survey instrument that was intended to test the family perspective on a home visiting program and school. The four areas investigated were parent-teacher communications, student-teacher interactions, the parent's perception of the school and the parents' understanding of the home visiting program. The…

In the present online survey, 158 teachers in regular and special education teaching in grades six to nine were asked to rate the importance of probable reasons for problematic school absenteeism. On average, the teachers estimated that among their students, 19 students had presented with problematic school absenteeism over the last five years.…

Despite continued efforts by researchers, a gap still exists in our understanding of the psychological, social, and emotional adjustment of gifted students. Historically, research and education of the gifted has focused on cognitive variables, with less attention given to the social and emotional needs of these students. The current study used…

Pediatric school psychology is a relatively new subspecialty in the field; however, few specific, prescribed roles have been articulated, and fewer have yielded preliminary efficacy data. In this exploratory study, the acceptability and potential efficacy of conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) as a model for linking families, schools, and…

This study assessed the effects of a modified version of Check & Connect, a comprehensive student engagement intervention, on the attendance, behavior, and academic performance of secondary African American females with violent and aggressive behavior problems. In addition, the Student Engagement Instrument (SEI) was used to assess cognitive…