Discusses the need for school districts to develop lucid, comprehensive policies on family and community involvement. Discusses what teachers can do to lead the way, and what school districts can do. Discusses critical issues in such policy: budget/resource allocations, assessment of outcomes, and the collaboration process. (SR)

Argues for need to move beyond model of "parental" involvement in reading, which presently informs home/school reading programmes for linguistic-minority children in UK. First examines literature informing current model showing marked absence of studies on role played by siblings as mediators of literacy in new linguistic and cultural…

Describes a framework supporting continuity in early childhood and in turn smoothing young children's transitions, including transition to elementary school. Model's elements are families as partners, shared leadership, comprehensive and responsive services, culture and home language, communication, knowledge and skill development, appropriate…

In an approach to balancing work and personal life that benefits organizations and individual employees, managers are guided by three principles: (1) clarify what is important; (2) support employees as whole people; and (3) experiment with how work is done to enhance the organization's performance while creating time and energy for employees'…

Discusses the changing roles of early childhood educators to include collaborations with parents and families. Considers factors affecting this change in educational practice. Examines new tasks and roles for educators, and offers suggestions to early childhood educators for adapting to collaborative roles when preparation programs are not…

Presents cases of five students from diverse backgrounds and concludes that home and school are more connected for some students than for others. Suggests that learning about students' cultures and backgrounds is essential. Delineates some of the challenges that accompany learning about students. (SG)

Many older working-class women have lived a lifelong education, formally and informally, in conditions that were not conducive to learning. Employers and training providers should ensure that education and training are not oversold and expectations that cannot be met are not raised. (SK)

Describes how parent involvement and parents themselves were socially constructed within Head Start programs located in different communities. Suggests how these social practices made particular forms of involvement possible and even necessary. Argues that discourses constitute rather than merely represent. Suggests how alternative ways of…

Data from two affiliated national surveys were used to examine distribution of work-family spillover among working adults. Analyses testing family life course hypotheses indicated self-reported negative and positive spillover between work and family were not randomly distributed within the labor force. Age was found to have a persistent…

Discusses the rise of the multigenerational family and how if effects the role of school social workers. States that when working with these families, counselors can see how all social service, mental health, medical, and educational needs of children and families are intricately linked. Encourages practitioners to view the role of grandparents as…

Describes a literacy program at one Ohio elementary school in which students, parents, and school personnel share in the process of literacy development. Discusses empowering the community through literacy; ownership through shared decision making, celebrating diversity, welcoming parents as educational partners, and the school as a community…

Describes the successful effort at one middle school in the Virginia Beach city school system to establish a safe school environment by providing successful programs and effective policies, and by relying on a school, family, and community partnership. (SR)

Describes an integrated school-based mental health services model established in pilot schools in under-served areas of South Carolina. States the approach bridges preventive efforts across settings, and links interventions with youths and their families to changes in environments and systems. Reports that findings are supportive of a broad…

The second of two articles, this article describes a qualitative analysis of one family's experience during a 10-month process of assessment and intervention for the behavior challenges of a 9-year-old with severe disabilities. The impact of the positive behavioral support on the child and his family is highlighted. (CR)

Relationship of social support, role satisfaction, and self-efficacy to measures of role strain was explored in married, employed women with preschool aged children. Self efficacy in work and parental role proved to be a significant predictor of work-family conflict and role overload. Organizational support on role conflict was mediated by job…