Global Family Research Project joined with four other organizations as part of the LEGO Idea Conference to take an in-depth look at letting families guide the creation of programs and services that best meet their needs. This summary of the event session, held in Billund, Denmark, includes international examples of collaborating with families and…

This year's report examines the critical role community plays in education. Integrating learning that takes place inside and outside of school has always been a powerful strategy to support student success, but it gained special relevance this year, as school closures made family and community members integral parts of students' daily learning.…

Collaboration is tough even in ideal circumstances. How do you begin to effect change when nearly half of the families in a district speak a language other than English in the home, but traditional education models rarely emphasize the strengths of cultural or linguistic diversity? Or when nearly all students live in low-income families and face…

Describes the Sumner Mobile Preschool program designed to help parents recognize the potential learning possibilities of a home-based pre-school program. Small groups of seven to ten children attend class in one of seven neighborhood homes in which the preschool meets. (CS)

Summarizes recent ERIC documents and journal articles and highlights some World Wide Web resources that discuss the efforts of states to fund prekindergarten programs. Highlights resources including information on delivery systems, coordination among various programs, analyses of policy trends, program descriptions, and models of family-school…

This article describes the Milton Keynes Home-School Link project, which provides home instruction for parents with preschoolers. Funded by the Manpower Services Commission, the project provides short-term employment for out-of-work teachers, who serve as home visitors, and unemployed young people, who act as aides. (SJL)

In Gainesville, Florida, Project CIRCLE (Cooperatively Involved Resources for Children in Low Income Environments), a model preschool center, developed an inservice training program for early childhood teachers in the school system, and involved parents and community consultants in the education of preschoolers. (CS)

In 1985-1986, the mission of Connecticut's Committee on Four-Year-Olds, Their Families, and the Public Schools was to develop strategies to alleviate structural and systematic problems that could diminish the success of expanded early intervention efforts in the state. This report of the yearlong effort begins with a review of the committee's work…

In response to recent state legislation, school districts in New York developed plans for universal prekindergarten (UPK) programs for the 1998-1999 academic year. Based on an analysis of the first year prekindergarten program plans for 63 upstate New York districts (with follow-up information on 29 districts) and 32 New York City districts, this…

A family literacy program used "Be Excited about Reading" bags, which contained quality children's books and family activities that extended the classroom theme to be taken home by at-risk prekindergarten and kindergarten students. The literacy bags reached all families, encouraged family/school partnerships promoting children's learning, affected…

This paper reports on an educational program designed to teach parents about the role of television in their children's lives and to increase use of a family video lending library intended to enhance alertness in students, decrease aggressive behavior, and educate parents. Interviews with professionals and a parent survey indicated that there was…

This model proposes a Montessori schooling approach for the children of alcoholics because this approach helps the child develop his self-esteem and concentration; acquire a sense of order, mastery and control over his environment; and separate fact from fantasy. The model assumes that alcoholic parents, responding to the dehabilitative effects of…

Describes Storytelling and Rural Areas (SARA) program for children and families at Longreach School of Distance Education (Central Queensland). SARA promotes children's oral language skills, self-confidence, and social construction. Explores ways storytelling assists this development. Notes how SARA provides links between home and school and…

This book presents findings of a study that identified and analyzed 18 recently developed programs or reform efforts in the United States that stress effective parental involvement. Chapter 1 provides a review of education literature and research on parent involvement from 1945 to 1985 and situates newly emerging efforts within the current climate…

This paper examines and summarizes information about the success of parent-centered educational intervention programs for disadvantaged preschool children. Historical shifts in the role of the family and the community in education are traced and four types of parent participation educational programs are identified. They are: (1) parents as policy…