Family support programs are proactive efforts based on the assumptions that families have primary responsibility for their children's development and well-being; healthy families are the foundation of a healthy society; families operate as part of a total system; and social service agencies should assist families' efforts to raise their children…

The guidebook describes a model for a community-based adult and family literacy program for immigrant and refugee communities that draws on and enhances the strengths of community members with strong educational backgrounds who can serve as community literacy teachers and leaders (interns). Mentors from adult education programs trained the interns…

This report presents a research-based framework for identifying high-quality early childhood centers. Quality in a school-based early childhood center is identified by: (1) classroom parameters, including curriculum and adult-child interaction; (2) client parameters, relating to children, families, and communities; and (3) school structure…

This research review focuses on the effects of early intervention on the preschool children of low-income families, examining studies of intervention programs begun in the 1960s through the present. It then relates this analysis to the new Georgia Prekindergarten Program. The interventions reviewed are grouped into four hierarchical categories…

Project Mastery was a family literacy program that served 30 adults and 40 children in its first year of operation. Participants were parents and adult siblings of present and past English-as-a-Second-Language programs and students of limited English proficiency (LEP) in kindergarten through grade 5. It was designed to support English language…

In 1990, the World Conference on Education for All renewed the world's commitment to ensuring the rights of all people to education and knowledge. This theme issue of the "Coordinator's Notebook" introduces the Education for All initiative and surveys what has been done (and needs to be done) to address the education needs of young…

This booklet presents principles of Project DAKOTA, a demonstration project to provide services to infants and young children with disabilities via their families and community. Project goals are listed, including a focus on those needs considered essential by parents and the use of natural settings and resources for intervention. Guidelines are…

This ethnographic study describes the relationships involved in the Partnership for Family Reading, a collaborative project between Montclair State College and a low-income urban school district to promote parent involvement in children's literacy development. Participant observation and other ethnographic research methods were used to produce…

A coordinated continuum of comprehensive, community-based services that help Minneapolis parents meet the developmental needs of their children from birth through the fifth year is proposed as a way to increase children's readiness for school. After an executive summary and brief introductory chapter, contents of the document focus on: (1) key…

This is a report on the results of the Family Education Program, which is described as a demonstration and action program which incorporates parent education with an existing teacher training program to raise the achievement levels of intermediate students at Intermediate School (I.S.) 55, Brooklyn, New York. Methods and procedures of the program…

Family centers were used to coordinate the delivery of services in the Child and Family Reosurce Program (CFRP) in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, one of 11 demonstration sites in this Head Start-affiliated program. Cooperation between county service agencies was fostered by implementation of a task force whose members were executive directors of the…

Each year, Early Head Start (EHS) and migrant and seasonal Head Start grantees are invited to share their experiences in providing high-quality services for expectant parents and families with infants and toddlers. This report highlights how 10 Early Head Start and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start grantees respond to mental health needs of infants,…

This newsletter issue focuses on programming undertaken to address the health and educational needs of rural families in developing and developed nations. After examining the nature of rural families and rural poverty, the newsletter discusses: (1) the Mon Women's Organization in Thailand; (2) The "Contact With Kids" parent education…

Noting that the demands and expectations of parents worldwide have shifted tremendously over the last 20 years, and that parents' ability to fulfill their parental roles will affect their communities as well as their own children, this booklet examines programming for parents that is designed to support young children's development, and discusses…

The Families Matter series of papers from the Harvard Family Research Project advances the concept of family-centered child care, advocating an approach to early childhood education that addresses the development of the child and family together. Grounded in family support principles, which build on family strengths and work from a community's…