Parent involvement as one of the eight National Education Goals has brought heightened awareness to the importance of connecting educational institutions and their communities. This book addresses major frameworks for understanding family involvement and government support of family involvement projects. The work also presents a theoretical base…

This article presents a perspective for viewing mediation in resolving conflicts between parents and school personnel about the education of handicapped students. The appropriateness of mediation as well as its limitations are discussed, as are current uses of mediation in special education and legal problems and issues arising from its use.…

This article examines assessment practices for young children with disabilities and establishes how videotaping can effectively supplement traditional methods. It shows how teachers can use videotaping to involve parents in the process of monitoring the objectives in Individualized Education Programs and to increase parent awareness of their…

This article presents a three-step process for creating a classroom accommodations plan under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act: (1) parent and student education, collaboration, and agreement; (2) teacher input/agreement; and (3) parent training for 504 follow-up, coordination, and advocacy. Physical, instructional, and behavioral…

This guide is intended to encourage parent participation as schools move toward more inclusive programs for children and youth with disabilities. The guide covers: the importance of "person first" terminology to refer to people with disabilities; what parents want for their children; parent participation under the Individuals with…

Providing a low-key, nonthreatening way for teachers and parents to build partnerships for kids, this book presents short, concrete activities in English and Spanish to foster communication between teachers and parents and between parents and children. While the activities in the book are designed for grade 3, none of the activities have…

Intended for use in Florida training programs for caregivers of infants and toddlers with disabilities, this guide presents an overview of the Model of Interdisciplinary Training for Children with Handicaps (MITCH); offers a user's guide to the series; and provides specific information for presenting Module 11, which focuses on communication…

This brief paper offers suggestions for parents and teachers working together to develop meaningful communication skills in deaf multihandicapped children. An intervention program developed by Jan VanDijk is described. This program involves the use of environmental engineering to teach language concepts with materials such as a calendar box with…

This handbook offers suggestions for teachers who have children with learning disabilities or mild mental retardation in their regular classrooms. A brief discussion is presented on practical issues regarding mainstreaming and on the potentials and future opportunities for retarded individuals. Procedures for preparing nonhandicapped children to…

A certified teacher and preschool parent involvement coordinator working in a parochial school designed and implemented a practicum study designed to increase children's success in school and improve the ability of parents and teachers to work effectively with preschoolers. The practicum intervention involved a commitment from the school's…

Home-based consultations about homework were conducted over a 12-week period with nine families of elementary students with mild handicaps to determine the extent to which consultations increased academic responding time, and to document home and school factors that contribute to work incompletion problems. The intervention was implemented by…

The Mathematical Sciences Education Board (MSEB) is one of the nine major units of the National Research Council (NRC). It was established to provide a continuing national overview and assessment capability for mathematics education. This report describes the activities and accomplishments of the MSEB under the following headings: (1)…

This booklet describes the development and activities of the Clinton Park Elementary School Media Center, a first and second grade learning center located in Clinton, Mississippi. Following introductory materials on the establishment of the media center in September 1975 and federal funding of media center projects from 1975 to 1978, information…

This guide is intended to assist teachers in planning and implementing an effective all-day kindergarten program for 5-year-olds. Section 1 provides plans for scheduling and programming the beginning days of the school year. Sample room arrangements to assist the teacher in setting up learning centers are described in section 2. Ideas for…

A survey of 904 special education teachers determined the nature and extent of parent-teacher interactions, by gathering data on number of parent contacts, time spent, communication format (written, telephone, or personal visit), nature of parent contacts in Individualized Education Plan (IEP) development, teachers' roles during IEP meetings, and…