Effective transitions to kindergarten engage families and ease children into new environments. Countdown to Kindergarten (CTK), a program in a southeastern U.S. state that serves more than 1,000 children each year and is grounded in Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, partners kindergarten teachers and families to facilitate effective…

The paper begins with a challenge, namely: How do we work with families and communities to co-create the next generation of family and community engagement, providing equitable learning pathways--both in and out of school and from birth to young adulthood--that will enable all children to be successful in the 21st century? Exploring what it takes…

We describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of a comprehensive preschool to third grade prevention program for the goals of sustaining services at a large scale. The Midwest Child-Parent Center (CPC) Expansion is a multilevel collaborative school reform model designed to improve school achievement and parental involvement from ages…

This guide has been prepared to assist Chapter 1 staff in planning and strengthening a successful home-school partnership. Ten basic essentials of successful program development are listed with supplementary detail: review public law, build a commitment, provide for coordination, assess needs and strengths, utilize available resources, plan,…

The TEEM Implementation of Parent Involvement (T.I.P.I.) is a checklist of various aspects of parent involvement found in TEEM's 19 Follow Through communities. The checklist is not to be used for evaluation but rather to describe the implementation of the parent involvement program and provide a way of determining needs for future parent training.…

Establishes some basic planning strategies for creating and maintaining an effective parent program. A 60-item School/Partnership Inventory was administered in two school districts, and problems were identified in 23 areas covered by this instrument. Differences in parents' perceptions of the school-home linkages in the sample studies were based…

Nurturing children's passionate interest in writing increases the chances that they will incorporate writing into their lifestyles. Educators can help children in their journey toward success by creating a positive professional attitude about writing in school, allowing substantial time for writing, providing opportunities to become immersed in a…

Describes a program being carried out by the Faculte des Sciences Psycho-pedagogiques, Universite de l'Etat a Mons, in which controlled intervention is made to identify handicaps imposed by the social environment on education and to pinpoint the most efficient educational methods, focusing on how the project affects family-school cooperation.…

Describes an approach used in Ramsey County, Minnesota to improve quality of family day care. (CM)

A SURVEY OF PRACTICES OF SCHOOLS IN TYPICALLY DEPRESSED URBAN AREAS FROM FOUR LARGE CITIES IS PRESENTED. STAFFING AND PROGRAM PLANNING ARE DISCUSSED. PRACTICES SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED TO HELP PARENTS LEARN HOW TO PARTICIPATE MEANINGFULLY IN THE EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN. IN PREPARING THE PRESCHOOL CHILD, PARENT AID MAY BE ENLISTED THROUGH…

Since 1987 schools in Baltimore (Maryland) have been working with the Fund for Educational Excellence and the education research center at Johns Hopkins University to develop comprehensive programs of school-family-community partnerships. To understand better how these schools are building and improving their partnership programs, administrators,…

Analyzed data from a 1996 end-of-the-year survey that updated information on schools in the National Network of Partnership Schools, which was designed to build comprehensive programs of school, family, and community partnerships. Results indicated that five ingredients were crucial for partnership success: active and supportive action teams,…

Describes how urban parents and their first graders engaged in literacy activities during the school day with emphasis on combining the strengths of home literacy and school. Data from observations and interviews indicated that parents genuinely cared about their children's education. Discusses parent participation levels, teacher roles, elements…

This report is designed to help the state, local school systems, and schools plan, implement, and assess parent/community involvement programs to promote greater student success. Following an introduction and an executive summary highlighting the state team's findings, section 1 discusses research on the relationship of parent involvement to…

Poor students and parents in the East Harlem schools of New York City's Community District 4 should have the same opportunity to obtain the benefits of school choice available to the wealthy, who can afford private and parochial schools. Parental choice can provide the catalyst for educational reform by introducing a market mechanism to the public…