A collaborative approach, both within and outside of the school system, will effectively and comprehensively address the barriers that hinder educational and social service delivery to homeless children. School social workers can be instrumental in assisting this vulnerable population by identifying, assessing, and developing strategies for…

Strengthening family involvement in early childhood programs became a fundamental component of the Wisconsin Early Childhood Excellence Initiative. The initiative's strategies for encouraging family involvement include: creating a welcoming atmosphere; actively involving parents, children, and other family members in the education process;…

This article discusses how students, teachers, families, communities, and government can work together using the Comprehensive Support Model (CSM) as an intervention for culturally diverse learners with exceptionalities. Embedded in the discussion are cases that illustrate functions of CSM. The incorporation of multicultural education within the…

Examines rationalization in counselors' interactions with students, parents, and teachers--provides examples of each kind of interaction. Describes the dynamics of rationalization in the schools and outlines interventions that may be used with students, parents, and teachers. Also explores counselors' use of rationalization and gives examples of…

Discusses the importance of family and community involvement to student achievement. Schools can establish an effective partnership among schools, families, and the community by providing support for families, creating family-community learning centers, supporting the community, providing opportunities for shared responsibility, facilitating the…

Researchers observed relationships between exposure to home electronic technologies and classroom disposition and performance in secondary school students. Interviews to determine computer literacy and use suggested that successful performance and richness of technological environment correlated with declared home computer use. Home use did not…

Analyzes the separate effects of father absence and mother absence on the grades and standardized test scores of high school students. Uses parents' and students' behavior and family economic status as competing intervening variables to explain the effects. Concludes that students from single-parent homes are less willing or able to meet academic…

Parent participation programs that are to effectively meet the needs of all families need to give equal consideration to the needs of all families represented in the class. Teachers are offered guidelines for planning parent participation strategies for their class. (BB)

Describes organizational conditions and social processes related to family-school interactions that are necessary to promote school-linked social service systems. Case studies of two elementary schools with students of low socioeconomic status are used to compare school policies and procedures. Policy proposals are presented for expanding and…

Describes 17 family education programs considered innovative and promising. The programs selected target low-income families with children between three and eight and are linked with public schools. All of them work with parents to enhance children's cognitive development and academic achievement. Summarizes methods used in recruitment, staffing,…

Maintains that the dimension of quality, and the dimensions related to equality, including teacher salary, types of services rendered to children, continuity, and integrity, need to be considered by those who are formulating and implementing policy changes in the field of early childhood care and education. (BB)

Presents five pictures of fifth grade low-achieving students involved in reading-writing activities. Presents two alternatives to current classroom practices for nonmainstream students: prize the culture of nonmainstream students; and view storytelling as another literacy. (MG)

Uses results from study of home child-caregivers' attitudes to examine how public/private discourses on mothering, professionalism, work, and caring contribute to providers' constructions of home child-carework. Focuses on providers' efforts to set boundaries between their business and the caring relationships developed with children and families,…

Discusses the cultural mediation of thinking and the idea of schools as special cultural settings that are never neutral. Describes an approach that mediates the school's contradiction between access to and control of literacy through a pedagogy that transcends the classroom and challenges the reductionist tendencies that characterize…

Describes the development of a yearlong plan to increase student reading in an elementary school media center. Discusses the involvement of families in literacy programs; extending services of the media center; community involvement, including readings by community leaders; students writing and publishing their own books; and reading clubs. (LRW)