Whole-school or whole-class programs designed to promote positive behavior can enhance the likelihood that effective teaching and learning occur for all students. This practice guide is intended to help elementary education educators, as well as school and district administrators and parents, implement and support effective prevention-focused…

Parents of children with autism face many challenges that arise from the practical, day-to-day issues of living with autism. The specific goals of this guide are to help parents: (1) find information about autism; (2) distinguish between research-based and non-research-based information; (3) become savvy consumers of information by giving them the…

There is much discussion among families about the relationship between nutrition and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There are claims of diets that will "cure" ASD: gluten-free, casein-free, specific carbohydrate diet (SCD). There are claims of benefits by adding nutrients to the diet, such as vitamin B-6 and magnesium, vitamin B-12, or essential…

The role of play in human development has long been the subject of controversy. Despite being championed by many of the foremost scholars of the twentieth century, play has been dogged by underrepresentation and marginalization in literature across the scientific disciplines. "The Oxford Handbook of the Development of Play" marks the first attempt…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a parent training program for teaching toilet skills to children with autism and mental retardation. The study was conducted with three mothers and their children. A multiple probe design using probe sessions across subjects was used. The experimental procedure consisted of two…

The "Value-Added School Review (VSR)" is an analytical model designed to assist schools in identifying and addressing opportunities for school improvement. The model works best when it is focused purposefully on students and the student learning outcomes as defined in the "Guide to Education". It complements the processes…

The benefit of selecting educational programs based on proven research is that they can deliver what is promised if they are implemented as intended. These research-based educational programs are like the medicine that your physician prescribes. Improvement in the medical condition requires that the medicine be taken as prescribed. These…

This document defines and discusses autism and how genes play a role in the condition. Answers to the following questions are covered: (1) What are genes? (2) What is autism? (3) What causes autism? (4) Why study genes to learn about autism? (5) How do researchers look for the genes involved in autism? (screen the whole genome; conduct cytogenetic…

This publication presents changes and modifications for 2007-2008 to the "International Rules for Precollege Science Research: Guidelines for Science and Engineering Fairs." It is written to guide fair directors, teachers, scientists, parents, and adult volunteers as they pursue their work of encouraging students to explore and investigate their…

The authors examined factors influencing the return rates for attempting to collect active parental consent forms from 21,123 students in the 7th through 10th grades in 41 middle and high schools. Overall return rates from middle schools were higher than from high schools. Schools that offered high levels of staff support for collecting consent…

This biweekly newsletter contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. It is designed expressly for parents and families. This issue highlights an announcement, by U.S. Department of Education Secretary Rod Paige, of a contract to the National Institute of Statistical Sciences to convene a group of experts to review…

Behavior change interventions focusing on birth preparedness for pregnant women, their husbands, and adults in the community are common components of community-oriented Safe Motherhood programs in developing countries. Few studies have examined the effectiveness of these interventions, and existing studies are flawed due to study and sample…

This guide explains what the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database is and how it can be used by parents to learn more about schooling and parenting. The guide also presents descriptions of 55 articles and documents that can be obtained through ERIC. The cited resources are particularly relevant to parents' concerns about meeting…

With its roots in clinical and educational psychology, school psychology is an ever-changing field that encompasses a diversity of topics. "The Oxford Handbook of School Psychology" synthesizes the most vital and relevant literature in all of these areas, producing a state-of-the-art, authoritative resource for practitioners,…

Adolescent-to-parent abuse is a serious social problem that has received limited attention from researchers and service providers. Most knowledge about this type of violence in the family comes from quantitative studies that focus on intrafamilial characteristics, demographic factors, and overall rates of abuse. The aim of this article is to…