This collection, with contributors from Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, addresses three important themes in the literacy learning of preschool children: children are active constructors of their own learning; families provide invaluable support in the early literacy learning of children; and preschool settings should reflect…

This essay critiques the way in which state accountability schemes reify aggregated achievement test scores and help undercut the meanings that inform properly rural sorts of education. The contemporary phenomenon of accountability is examined, along with its relation to the threatened meanings of rural life, the identity of the rural victims of…

This study aims to understand the process of collective identity, self-concept, and political development of the individual Palestinian student activist within the context of collective action in Israel. The paper addresses the complexity of the issue with the terminology for the non-Jew in Israel and the conflicting beliefs which see Israel as a…

This guide for parents, in Spanish, explains the changes in the federal special education law resulting from the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Changes related to the parent's role in decisions about the child's education and in how schools can discipline special education students are highlighted. A…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the Building Friendships project, which developed, implemented, evaluated, and disseminated an intervention to improve the social integration of students with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The project used an ongoing, informal team approach to bring together and mobilize key people in a…

This report addresses issues concerned with reporting educational results for students with disabilities, identifies principles to guide reporting practices, and offers recommendations. The report notes that there are many purposes for reporting and that reporting information on students with disabilities is important because it ensures that they…

The City College of San Francisco (CCSF) conducted a study on the participation in and effect of matriculation services for students in fall 1995. CCSF wanted to determine whether students were participating in these services, whether the services effected greater academic success, and whether students who did not participate in these services did…

This book offers an alternative to the traditional teacher-parent conference by giving the responsibility for assessment to the students. As students reflect on their own learning, seek out the views of others, and prepare their own portfolios, they come to know themselves as learners. The process combines assessment, teacher research, parent…

These five issues of selected readings for 1991-92 present annotated bibliographies of resources available from CHIME (Clearinghouse for Immigrant Education). CHIME facilitates public access to literature, research, teaching materials, and human resources to promote the effective education of immigrant students. The title topics of the issues are:…

Parental involvement in the educational process is examined as one of the elements that can raise academic achievement and allow schools to achieve success. The benefits of parental involvement are outlined, from those to students, such as improved academic performance, greater student motivation, and lower dropout rates, through those to parents…

This report describes a program for improving reading abilities and attitudes for "at-risk" students. The targeted population consists of second and fourth grade classes in a low-income community. The problem of low parental involvement, lack of books in the home, low motivation, and lack of consistency among reading programs and teachers…

Highlighting the impact of family and community involvement on student achievement, this videotape presents a satellite town meeting hosted by Secretary of Education, Richard Riley. The 60-minute video first notes the consensus in support of education, specifically higher standards, reasonable assessment, well-trained teachers, parent involvement,…

This report summarizes 48 states' current policies on the participation of students with disabilities in large-scale assessments and the accommodations noted in state policies as available for those students. In developing the summary, changes in state assessment policies were also checked. Charts in the report provide information on presentation…

Over 10 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in public schools and more than 18 percent of AI/AN students in Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal schools are eligible for or placed in special education programs. This digest addresses four selected issues in the education of AI/AN students with disabilities. First, the 1997…

This study investigated the effects of a video-based training program on the quantity and quality of family involvement in special education, perceptions of both family members and educators concerning parental competence as team members, and family members' satisfaction with their own involvement, team processes, and decisions made by the team.…