The Countdown to Kindergarten (CTK) program was developed to increase family awareness of kindergarten expectations, create a positive relationship with families, and support smooth school transition and kindergarten readiness for children who were from diverse backgrounds and/or had adverse experiences. We used a mixed methods design to study the…

The YuePu project was a community-based shared book-reading philanthropic project implemented in rural China. This literacy project utilized spaces in the rural community and invited parents and teachers to participate in free-of-charge shared book-reading activities with their children on the weekend. The reading activities and instructions were…

Many adult learners are spouses, significant others, parents, and/or employees with conflicting priorities while they pursue a higher education degree. The attainment of a higher education degree can be difficult for any learner regardless of age and education experience. To find balance in life, one must inventory his or her life activities and…

Family support is essential for academic success and the creation of resilient learners. Support is a complex and contested terrain that is variously described based on disparate philosophical lenses through which it is viewed. It cannot be denied that learners are bound to encounter several challenges during their educational expedition that…

Using semi-structured qualitative interviews, this paper explores the forms of cultural capital single Black mothers use to advocate for their children with autism in special education settings. Using a modified grounded theory approach interviews were coded for several domains of non-dominant cultural capital found in the literature, including…

This study examined the book selections of middle-class Korean immigrant mothers for their children's learning and school participation in the U.S. Once a month for six months, data about their book selections were collected from interviews, observation, and artifacts. The findings showed that they preferred informational books as a way of…

This hearing from the Subcommittee on Children and Families of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions examines the support of mental health in the transition from high school to college. Opening statements were presented by: (1) Honorable Robert Casey, Chairman, Subcommittee on Children and Families; and (2) Honorable Bill…

Home-school partnerships in mathematics are increasingly seen as a significant contributor to learners' success in school mathematics. Partnering with learners' families can, however, be challenging for schools. This study focused on an exploration of home-school partnership practices in one culturally diverse, low socioeconomic school in…

Sandwich programmes are an innovation in teacher education geared towards the production of high quality manpower. They are organized during school vacations so that teachers working full-time would also have the opportunity to advance academically and improve professionally. However, the intensive nature of the programme jeopardizes the…

This study focuses on development of an instrument to measure teacher efficacy in online classrooms. Two focus groups were conducted to explore K-12 online teacher beliefs about challenges, capacities, and constraints of teaching online. Compared with traditional efficacy measures, participants placed more emphasis on relationships with family and…

This paper explores the potential for book-gifting programs to initiate cooperative learning between a dynamic whole group composed of children, parents and teachers. It uses the results from a series of book-gifting program evaluations (three Randomized Controlled Trials with N=1694 participants in total) and investigates whether the pattern of…

Positive authentic partnerships value those developing the building blocks for successful transition of students beginning their early years at school. A Learning Management System (LMS) encourages new community members to observe and interact as they get a 'feel' for school through genuine communication online in a 'third space'. This research…

Establishing and maintaining sustainable levels of success within any school setting commences with a culture of connectedness between teachers, students and parents. This is an expression of their alignment and commitment to a shared set of core educational and community values. My research explored these relationships from the perspective of…

This document is from a featured presentation at the 2018 annual conference of the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT). The public schools are a fundamental element of our democratic society, and they have been the pathway to opportunity and a better life for generations of Americans. But at present, the American public school system is…

Family Star Montessori School is well acquainted with "under-three" child care having served 3000 children over the last twenty-three years. Many of the children come from below the poverty line and bring strong diversity to the enrollment of the program. More than half of our faculty are also diverse, coming from Peru, Bulgaria,…