In general, youth whose parents are involved in their schooling experience better academic outcomes. Yet some parents, especially those with few resources in low-income urban communities, face barriers to becoming engaged in school and community. This report from the field describes the "Neighboring Project Parent Empowerment and Volunteer…

Planning youth and family programming in the 21st century is daunting given family members' busy schedules. This is even more challenging when planning programs in rural areas, where there are vast distances between communities. This article discusses a research and educational outreach project that uses best practices in program development…

A sex education outreach program emphasizing values, moral reasoning, and approaches to problem solving was developed in response to the rise in teenage pregnancies. Aspects of the sex education program structure included: (1) decision making regarding sex; (2) contraception; (3) parental involvement; (4) outreach volunteer training; and (5)…

Presents practical guidelines for starting a family center in a school as a place set aside for making the school accessible and helpful to family members and encouraging involvement in their children's learning. Funding, cultural sensitivity, activities, transforming the school culture, and outreach are discussed. (SLD)

An outreach strategy being used to promote parent involvement is the development of parent or family centers to provide services for parents as well as to encourage their participation. Family centers engage in a wide range of productive activities that strengthen school-family-community partnerships. (SLD)

One way to involve parents in their children's education is to create a parent center in or near the school. In an informal setting, parents can meet other parents and their children's teachers to plan activities and exchange information. The center should be in an accessible location and open when parents are most likely to visit, such as early…

Historically, land-grant university research stations focused on demonstrating successful farming methods. The land-grant mission and the principles at its foundation have broad applicability, and we believe the land-grant principles can be successfully applied in urban settings to a university's work with youth and families. In this article we…

A preliminary study reports on the possibilities for increasing the employment of people from New York City's poor neighborhoods to help children succeed in school through such nonclassroom activities as home visitation, parent education, facilitation, and coordination of parent-involvement activities, and assistance in the provision of health,…

This report presents findings from Phase 1 of an evaluation of the New York City Beacons initiative, a model of school-community-family partnerships initiated in 1991. Beacons are community centers located in public schools, offering a range of activities and services to participants of all ages, before and after school, in the evenings, and on…

Explores the advantages of beginning or continuing a home visitation program as a method for developing positive school-home relationships. Reveals that home visitation is not widely practiced due to unavailable or uncooperative parents, lack of time, and safety concerns. Addresses strategies to overcome obstacles and program management concerns.…

This technical assistance manual describes school-based outreach strategies that involve parents in preparing youth with special needs for postschool jobs and independence. A model of preventive education is featured which stresses that postschool problems of unemployment and community adjustment can be anticipated and can, therefore, be treated…

This document consists of materials developed and used by a project to research and design a prototype plan using the television program "Reading Rainbow" and the resources of the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association to cultivate family literacy. An executive summary presents findings from the six focus group discussions of…

Results of the 1981-1982 Rutland Center project in Athens, Georgia, which assists agencies in improving services to seriously emotionally disturbed children (2 to 8 years old), are presented, as are program materials, survey forms, and a newsletter. Outcome data are presented regarding therapeutic classroom services provided to 549 severely…

Library and health care professionals team up in the Born to Read partnerships in Florida to empower at-risk expectant and new parents to take an active role in the health and education of their children. Designed for Born to Read workshop participants, this manual contains the following sections: (1) General Information, including workshop…

Designed for use in facilitating sex-fairness in vocational education, this volume documents over 600 resources in the following areas: resources of interest to all educators; administrative resources; instructional resources; counseling resources; outreach, recruitment, and placement resources; inservice/preservice and student workshop resources;…