This article describes how first-grade students create meaningful communication with families and help build the student-teacher-parent relationship through journaling. Journals are a useful tool to bridge school and home. A journal can communicate learning goals, develop scientific vocabulary, and create dialogue through oral and written…

Interactive meetings between New Mexico Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) teachers and Extension personnel (county Home Economics agents and state FCS specialists) were conducted to promote collaboration between the two parties. Based on pre- and post-meeting surveys, both parties showed similarities in almost all perceptions and expectations…

Systemically trained counselors have a distinctive set of skills that make them well suited to prepare teachers to work with students' families. In this article, we discuss our experiences as family counselors in developing and teaching a required course in family-school collaboration to elementary teachers in training. We first describe the…

Background: This paper describes the creation of a theatrical commons that aimed to broaden and deepen democratic engagement between diverse citizens in one public school community in Manitoba, Canada. Purpose and method: The researchers considered how Forum and Image Theatre provided former refugee youth, guardians, parents and the general public…

Parent engagement plays an essential role in student achievement and well-being, but not all families are able to participate in their children's education. This article focuses on strategies for reaching and supporting parents who face challenges to engagement such as poverty and cultural diversity. Five district-level parent engagement projects…

Some researchers claim that reflection helps student teachers to better understand their practice teaching. This study aims to explore how deliberate reflection by student teachers is encouraged as a way to prepare, analyse and evaluate their practice. A total of 104 student teachers in primary education participated in this study during their…

The aim of this study was to determine the organizational characteristics and behaviors that contribute to sustaining a culture of academic optimism as a mechanism of student achievement. While there is a developing research base identifying both the individual elements of academic optimism as well as the academic optimism construct itself as…

THE FINAL REPORTS OF TWO RESEARCH PROJECTS, INVESTIGATING THE METHODOLOGICAL AND CONCEPTUAL ASPECTS OF INTRA-FAMILY RELATIONS AS THEY RELATE TO FAMILY SOCIALIZATION EFFECTIVENESS, ARE PRESENTED. PART I IS DEVOTED TO FOUR TASKS--(1) THE PRESENTATION OF AN OVERVIEW OF THE SOCIALIZATION PROCESS IN GENERAL, AND THE FAMILY AND SCHOOL AS PARTICULAR…

The report documents the progress and accomplishments of the SEFAM (Supporting Extended Family Members) Program, which developed model programs for fathers, siblings, and grandparents. The first section summarizes staff efforts for five project objectives: (1) to develop, expand, test, and refine the pilot "Fathers and Infants/Toddlers"…

Research with 49 families identified key variables that indicate why some families assist disabled persons to reach appropriate, rehabilitation goals. With early intervention, such coping mechanisms as denial, appropriate use of information, outward-directed activities, and positive expectations improved the family's ability to facilitate the…

Reviews concerns that college students expressed about sibling relationships in open-ended questions submitted for class discussions. Some questions suggested the relevance of quasi-parental role performance, and others suggested the effect of subgroup and gang formation on family power distribution in the family. (JAC)

Notes that close friends of someone who dies grieve and mourn as much as do family members, yet tend to be excluded from legitimate and open grief and mourning rituals. Argues that close friends are denied grief rights to prevent them from exercising their property rights, allowing family members to make claims unimpeded. (Author/NB)

Achievement and disciplinary inequities between students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds and their White peers have been documented for decades in U.S. public schools. Researchers have documented that some racially and ethnically diverse students enter school with weaker academic skills than their White counterparts. Further,…

In this age of data based decision making and accountability, parent involvement and data collection are paramount. This study represents a significant contribution to educational research by extending the understanding of home-school communication media with specific regard to daily progress reports. The purpose of this study was to compare…

Living in a supportive neighborhood can contribute to the successful development of children and youth. This fact sheet examines whether children living in a supportive neighborhood have an advantage in terms of connections to family, peers, and community. Results indicate that, yes, children who live in high-support neighborhoods are more likely…