Kindergarten through 12th grade school administrators and educators are tasked with the challenge of ensuring every student is consistently attending school. Balfanz and Byrnes (2012) and Henderson et al. (2014) stated that either students cannot attend school because of multiple factors, students will not attend, or students do not attend because…

A Dissertation in Practice was conducted which connected theories of action and Yosso's (2015) community cultural wealth framework to address the absence of diverse parental perspectives and oversight at Freedom Middle School in South Texas. Platicas with seven parent volunteers and a parent engagement survey available to all Freedom Middle School…

Inequities in exclusionary discipline result from a complex process involving students, families, and school personnel. However, little research has explored the topic from parent perspectives. This study used parent survey data from New York City to investigate the link between school-family relationships and students experiencing exclusionary…

Purpose: This study explores the community-building practices of a school leader at a middle/high school in a Latino/a and African American community. I analyze how the principal leveraged his immigrant identity and experiences to connect with immigrant families and adapt to their needs to form a sense of belonging in the school and neighborhood.…

Close home-school communication benefits children, their families, the teacher, and the school community. Throughout the school year, teachers interact with families in a variety of ways, in person and electronically. In this study, the researcher investigated how twenty-two middle and high school urban teachers initiated and maintained…

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the parent-report Short Form Positive Family Support Strengths and Needs Assessment (PFS-SaNA). The PFS-SaNA is designed to reduce the time and burden of collaborative mental health screening. Parents of 245 students in the Northwest completed the screener at third, fourth,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the parent-report short form of the Positive Family Support Strengths and Needs Assessment (PFS-SaNA). The PFS-SaNA is designed to reduce the time and burden of collaborative mental health screening. Parents of 245 students in the U.S. Northwest completed the screener at…

This report from the field shares information describing a pilot program that addressed the literacy needs of middle school culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. One of the authors played a key role in designing and implementing the Building Bonds family literacy program. This program was made to engage these students and their…

At the local level of the problem, the District (pseudonym) had three middle school campuses with Title I funding status. There was little or no research related to middle school principals' perceptions of family engagement. The purpose of this multifaceted three-dimensional narrative inquiry was to explore middle school principals' perceptions of…

Students and their families living in poverty need support to reach their potential through education. In small, rural communities, such as the Appalachian area of Ohio, strong partnerships work to mutually support educators, families, and students. Educational service centers work with governmental agencies, state grants, local community…

Family-school partnership interventions can effectively address behavioral concerns in students (Smith et al., 2020). However, little is known about factors impacting successful delivery of behavioral strategies by parents and teachers in the context of such interventions, particularly for adolescent populations. This study used a mixed methods…

School connectedness is important for students' current and future outcomes but may decline in the middle school years. This mixed methods study investigated the impact of a school garden project on 6th-graders' school connectedness. Surveys were completed by 46 middle school students at the beginning and end of a garden unit. In addition,…

The number of students struggling with chronic absenteeism, while on the rise prior to COVID-19, appears to have increased dramatically since the onset of the pandemic. This dissertation explores the challenges faced in a suburban middle school in Western New York throughout and following the COVID-19 shutdown. Data from the district's student…

The article explores developmental tensions in Finnish adolescents' accounts of their different worlds. By understanding tensions experienced by students, educators can develop their pedagogical practices to address those tensions. Building on cultural-historical activity theory, we analysed 12 interviews of 8th graders, focusing on their…

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.…