Communication between home and school is good for kids. Keeping families up-to-date about upcoming events is important, but it's not enough to fully engage parents as partners. When schools and families really work together, that sets the stage for all kinds of benefits. The National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education reports that…

This book uses real-life situations to offer practical advice on creating positive alliances with parents. It aims to help teachers and administrators: (1) Understand family differences; (2) Forge healthy relationships with families; (3) Make the most of parent conferences; (4)Manage the difficult "five percenter" parents; and (5) Create…

A growing body of evidence suggests that family engagement matters for student success. Research shows that family engagement improves school readiness, student achievement, and social skills. Furthermore, an increasing number of innovative approaches to education leverage and connect the many settings and times in which children learn and grow to…

Outlines effective ways to establish, conduct, and followup on parent-teacher conferences. Includes a list of six rules. (MD)

For use by teachers, administrators, and counselors in working with rural secondary students who are ineligible for special services, the Unsatisfactory Grade Adjustment Plan (UGAP) is described as a conference tool for charting and pinpointing student behaviors leading to unsatisfactory grades. (JW)

Intended for early childhood teachers and supervisors, this booklet describes and illustrates a comprehensive recordkeeping system that is based on written observations. The full recordkeeping system includes daily classroom observational notes, monthly cumulative summaries, checklists, monthly plans, and bi-yearly progress reports. Daily notes…

Noting that the beginning of the school year is a key time to communicate with parents, this booklet presents accumulated knowledge and fresh ideas on school outreach strategies for this important time period. The suggestions for action within each strategy are based on broad experience, which can help even seasoned teachers, principals, and…

Under Title V, Guidance, Counseling, and Testing of the "National Defense Education Act of 1958," the Congress of the United States has recognized the value of tests as a tool which may be used to help make an early determination of the aptitudes and abilities of the students in U.S. schools. This bulletin attempts to explain the use and…

This engaging, rich resource is designed for teachers, parents, and administrators in diverse schools or districts who know there is no quick fix for building lasting partnerships among families, schools, and communities. Going far beyond traditional "parent involvement programs," this essential volume offers ideas on how teachers and parents…

This book provides a practical approach to using and developing performance assessments. There are 13 chapters: (1) "Determining Goals, Targets, and Objectives" (what students should be able to do as a result of being in the class); (2) "How Will Assessment Be Used?" (how assessment can help or hinder the instructional process…

Intended to help middle grade teachers and school leaders explore conferences as a communication strategy for school family partnerships, this booklet provides guidelines for designing or refining a conference format to meet the needs of teachers, students, parents, and families. Following an introduction, the first section examines scenarios that…

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…

This book explains how teachers can serve as facilitators as students lead their parents through discussion of their work. The 9 chapters are: (1) "Philosophy and Purpose of Student-Led Conferences" (relevance, responsibility, and reporting to parents); (2) "Roles and Responsibilities of Participants" (teacher, student, parent,…

The Student Study Team (SST) is a school site team which involves parents, students, and teachers working together to assist regular education students who are not progressing satisfactorily. The SST model aims to increase positive outcomes for students; improve the quality and efficiency of meetings; and increase personal satisfaction levels for…

This module was developed to offer direction and knowledge of resource support to elementary school teacher educators. It offers suggested objectives and resources that will enable education students and beginning teachers to achieve competence in communication with parents and other adults. The module works from the assumption that preservice and…