Maintains that middle school is a crucial time to select challenging courses to maximize the high school experience and to open the widest range of choices for college and careers. Advocates college preparatory mathematics and science courses and describes a tool kit to help schools improve mathematics achievement. Suggests raising community and…

Examines ways to strengthen the middle school's relationship with parents of special needs adolescents. Focuses on establishing a transition plan between elementary and middle school, maintaining ongoing communication with families, providing a variety of advisory options, and generating a school climate of acceptance for all students and…

This paper highlights four books that examine issues related to public schools: who public schools belong to, why Americans fund public education, and what is public about it. The paper discusses the major themes of the books, noting existence of a general sense that education matters. (SM)

Studied perceptions and attitudes of fathers and mothers about their own and their spouse's parental roles, and identified relationships between those perceptions and variations in fathers' actual involvement in child rearing. Found mothers' perceptions of their partners' investments in parent, spouse, and worker roles were best predictors of…

Discusses how the early childhood program environment can be more sensitive to biracial children of black and white heritage. Considers the history of blacks in the United States; ethnic identity development in biracial children; and planning the early childhood environment, including structuring the curriculum, securing information about the…

This study examined the relation of parental involvement and empowerment to elementary student test performance. Surveys of parents and data on student achievement and on school and student characteristics indicated that parent involvement consistently correlated with student test performance, even when controlled for school or student…

A case study of Aboriginal education in Geraldton, Western Australia, looked at the cycle of low educational attainment, unemployment, and poverty; national and state programs to support Aboriginal students and parent involvement; and community attitudes toward existing programs and proposed improvement strategies. A 1-year plan is detailed for…

Examined parental satisfaction with and involvement in intervention services of Child Development Centre at City Hospital in Birmingham, England. Found general satisfaction, but also that parents want more of a role in the initial assessment meeting, welcome the chance to help decide upon service quality, and appreciate help with issues such as…

Describes an in-class activity where children and their parents are invited to an undergraduate child development class. The children's ages match the developmental stages that the class is studying. The parents/children discuss various issues with the students. Briefly outlines some of the discussion patterns that occur. (MJP)

Researchers used data from 8,100 high school students participating in the High School and Beyond Longitudinal Study to test a model of at-risk students' school learning. Results indicated that ability, quality of schooling, student motivation, and enrollment in academic coursework were important predictors of academic achievement. (SM)

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;…

A higher education consortium (HEC) in early intervention (EI) is described. An evaluation of the model found that benefits to faculty of HEC participation included development and implementation of EI coursework, development of interdisciplinary collaborative relationships, increased knowledge of state resources, and enhanced knowledge of EI…

Reviews findings on the long-term effects of early childhood care and education (ECCE) programs outside the United States. Focuses on three issues of policy debate of concern to the United States: (1) long-term benefits of ECCE programs; (2) using ECCE programs to reduce educational inequities; and (3) benefits of parent involvement in ECCE…

Case studies of six high schools identified eight features that promote the success of language-minority (LM) students: (1) respect for students' languages and cultures; (2) teachers' high expectations of students; (3) LM as a leadership priority; (4) staff development; (5) LM-specific courses; (6) counseling; (7) parent involvement; and (8)…

Presents a statement to the Montgomery County (Maryland) Council concerning the issue of all-day "whole" kindergarten--combining education and child care--for five-year-old children. (BB)