Within special education policy and practice, parents are expected to advocate for their children to receive appropriate special education and related services. However, the majority of parents report feeling disempowered to advocate; families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds may feel especially disempowered. Federally…

This paper discusses the results of an action-research project developed in a federation of Parents Associations (PAs) in Catalonia, aimed at helping PAs involve immigrant families. First, I nuance the idea of participation in schools to highlight some of the problems associated with participative initiatives targeting"'hard to reach"…

This study reports the findings from an exploration of K-12 administrators in a rural state about how they can more effectively engage and involve families of English language learners (ELLs). The guiding questions for this study are: (1) How does the role of administrators influence the engagement and involvement of ELL parents within K-12…

Post-school outcomes are poor for youth with disabilities, in general, but even more discouraging for certain subpopulations of individuals with disabilities, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds. The authors discuss structural inequalities in public schools which potentially contribute to the poorer…

In a context of increasing numbers of refugees and asylum seekers globally, recognition of the importance of the school environment for promoting successful settlement outcomes and inclusion for refugee-background young people is growing. Yet schools may be poorly equipped to recognise and respond to the multiple challenges faced by children and…

The Connecting Parents with Learning Project (CPLP) is an attempt to involve parents in learning standards-based content along with their children. The CPLP can be especially effective in connecting with parents of different cultures because the children teach the parents. Furthermore, it removes the mystery of what the students are studying by…

This article examines school response to bullying and youth aggression in upper/middle-class and low socioeconomic neighborhoods, and the feasibility of successfully implementing the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program in schools located in impoverished communities. The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program is one of the few programs that has proven…

One of the critical issues for schools is how to actively involve Latino parents in the schooling process. Although Latino parents are often marginalized in schools due to race, class, and cultural differences, many school personnel suspect Latino parents of not caring about their children's education. This article highlights how a small group of…

Examines the recent history of early childhood intervention efforts; discusses principles that guided the formation of intervention programs in the 1960s and 1970s; describes the Head Start program and lessons learned from its development; considers issues in evaluating intervention programs; and presents suggestions for future directions in early…

The "Families and Schools: A Global Perspective for a Multicultural Society" conference hosted over 500 people from 40 states and 16 countries who shared information and explored aspects of multicultural education. Sixty-one of the more than 100 workshop and roundtable presenters responded to the request for summaries of their…

Describes ways in which Hawaii's Kamehameha Prekindergarten Education Program (PREP) considers culture in developing program components. PREP makes connections to the home culture an ongoing process. Incorporating culture into educational activities for preschoolers occurs in three areas: making connections through familiar materials, language,…

The implementation of a parent training session with 15 culturally diverse parents in Hawaii preceding a parent-professional conference on transition planning for high school students with disabilities resulted in increased knowledge about transition by participating parents but no significant differences in transition meeting participation…