The widespread attitude held by school personnel of knowing needs of handicapped students better than the students or their parents is related to issues raised by R. Reger about consumer participation in the design of special teacher training programs, and offered is an alternative to the advisory committee concept. (MC)

This booklet, addressed to parents of young children, deals with preparation for and adjustment to the hospitalization of a child. Common problems and fears of children are described and suggestions are offered for dealing with them. The importance of adequate preparation of both parent and child is emphasized, and advice is given on how to obtain…

The purpose of this booklet is to provide suggestions that may be helpful to local school communities as they create their own ways of involving parents in the school. It presents a planning model that identifies seven specific steps that might be taken by any community to fashion a model appropriate for that community. These steps suggest the…

This book is one of a series of health-related publications for parents written by members of the staff of the Boston Children's Medical Center. A reference guide for parents seeking information on health, safety, and diseases affecting children, the book discusses specific diseases as well as health problems related to contemporary society.…

The subjects of this study were mothers of 8-year-old and 14-year-old boys. Each mother was presented with six vignettes, four of them depicting moderately severe problem behaviors and two of them more severe problems. Mothers rated each on: (1) how serious a problem it was; (2) what might have caused it; (3) how they would attempt to deal with…

Discussed are findings of a task force on parent-teacher-child involvement in the education of handicapped children, and described is a prescriptive approach to parent programs that focuses on assessment, planning, intervention, and evaluation. It is explained that a 4-day workshop centered on 10 modules, including parent-child dynamics,…

Reviews the theory and research on the physiological or genetic origins of parenting behavior, noting that an ethological or evolutionary analysis of parenting behavior supports the idea that primates, including man, have evolved psychological structures which are particularly adapted to respond to cues from young children. (Author/JM)

Playcentres assist women with an established role (home) and with an emerging role (work) and help women find status in society. (Published by New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Education House, 178-182 Willis Street, Wellington, New Zealand.) (Author)

To investigate the development of children's concepts of marriage and the family, 43 preschool children were interviewed and their parents were asked to complete a questionnaire. Interviews were structured to determine whether the children had formed an appropriate gender identification, whether they had androgynous or traditional sex-role…

Five papers summarizing presentations made at the Fourth Annual Early Childhood Education Conference are included in this report. The first presentation, by Evangeline Ward, discusses cooperation, collaboration, change, and advocacy in the context of early childhood education. In the second presentation, Irving Lazar identifies social trends…

The handbook is designed to help parents and advocates understand their roles in the education of handicapped children. Topics covered in separate chapters are (sample subtopics in parentheses): family supports (other parents as support, advocacy, resources, parent group organizations, typical parents' feelings); screening (cautions, notification…

Two contrasting predictions regarding the effects of dual- versus single-career marriage on children's sex-role identification were tested: (1) the relative lack of sex-role differentiation in dual-career marriages should promote relatively androgynous sex-role identification in children from such families; and (2) the presence of two…

The present and future of the American family are discussed in a collection of four papers. The first paper, by Mary Jo Bane, identifies trends in demographic and structural features of families, including fertility rates, marriage trends, divorce rates, household headship rates, and the proportion of women in the labor force. Societies' changing…

This annotated bibliography focuses on the subject of voluntary childlessness. The first section lists studies, papers, and dissertations completed after 1970 that examine individuals who have chosen to remain childless and the psychological and social implications of their decision. Another section highlights comparing childless couples to those…

This report outlines the rights of parents as consumers of educational programs as they are described under Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs which receive Federal financial assistance. The report concentrates on what parents can expect from a school district in relation to the school's legal and…