Objective: In preparation for a pilot study to evaluate the efficacy of a school nurse-delivered intervention, focus groups were conducted to gain insight into the perceptions of stakeholders regarding the design and implementation of the intervention. Setting and Participants: Fifteen focus groups at participating schools. One hundred subjects,…

Parents are a child's first educator. A child's family and home environment has a strong impact on his/her language and literacy development and educational achievement. This impact is stronger during the child's early years but continues throughout their school years. Many background variables affect the impact of the family and home environment…

The rapid increase in the number of Hispanic students in U.S. schools demands that school personnel meet the needs of Hispanic students and their families. This study examined teachers' and Hispanic parents' perceptions of Hispanic students' literacy practices and the home literacy practices of Hispanic families. Interviews,…

Current research indicates that there is an on-going concern for the graduation rate of African American students in urban settings. This particular study sought to investigate the impact of students' self-efficacy, locus of control, and parental involvement on academic achievement via a targeted sample of urban African American high school…

Parent trigger laws, according to their proponents, give parents power. Gregory McGinity, managing director of policy for the Broad Education Foundation, calls them "a way for parents' voices to be heard." Sounds good. But is the parent trigger concept a way to put parents in charge of their kids' education, or is it part of a political agenda…

Chinese parenting emphasises parents' responsibility in training and governing children's appropriate and expected behaviors, including good academic performance. As reflected by the Attendance Ordinance and the strong involvement of parents in children's study, there is continuous emphasis on parental responsibility in children's education in…

In their last column, the authors described a Gold Standard School--a place in which all children thrive including the gifted and talented. The Checklist for a Gold Standard School, which is included in this article, highlights the main characteristics of such a school including a focus on continuous progress, talent development, policies that…

In this article, the author describes a StoryCorps project for the National Day of Listening. StoryCorps is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of their lives. The organization initiated The National Day of Listening in 2008…

Existing research rarely considers important ethnic subgroup variations in violent behaviors among Latino youth. Thus, their risk for severe violent behaviors is not well understood in light of the immense ethnic and generational diversity of the Latino population in the United States. Grounded in social control theory and cultural analyses of…

This longitudinal study investigated the cross-lagged associations between children's academic skill development, task-avoidant behaviour in the context of homework, and parental beliefs about their child's success from kindergarten to Grade 2. The participants were 1267 children. The children's pre-skills were assessed at the end of the…

This study examined parenting variables as protective factors to reduce the influence of school and peer risk factors on adolescents' aggression. Five waves of data spanning 3 years were collected from 5,581 students at 37 schools who began the 6th grade in 2001 or 2002. Class-level and perceived school norms supporting aggression, delinquent peer…

International comparative studies and cross-cultural studies of mathematics achievement indicate that Chinese students (whether living in or outside China) consistently outperform their Western counterparts. This study shows that the gap between Chinese-Australian and other Australian students is best explained by differences in motivation to…

Expressions of delight and anticipation are a direct result of a schoolwide writing program designed by teachers to develop language skills in special education students. These second graders participated in a writing project that made use of wikis to facilitate collaboration among the students, parents, teachers, and university members of their…

Family Math and Science Nights engage students and parents in active investigations tied to the curriculum in a fun, informal environment. Through this program, families actively explore math and science ideas, discover together through guided inquiry, and apply their discoveries to solve a problem at the end. All activities are hands-on, use…

Families immigrating to Australia face many challenges integrating into the educational system, including language barriers and interrupted schooling. We have qualitatively evaluated the educational concerns of Arabic migrants from Sudan and Iraq to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, a city that receives a high percentage of Australia's immigrants.…