Understanding how to respond to cultural diversity is one key to successful interaction with young children and their families. This book for early childhood professionals introduces the strategy of Skilled Dialogue, a field-tested model for respectful, reciprocal, and responsive interaction that honors cultural beliefs and values, and that will…

This article provides guidelines to help school personnel establish and maintain productive relationships within the legal framework governing special education. Special attention is given to conflict resolution, especially in cases of disagreement on students' individualized education plans. The role of parents in these team efforts and relevant…

This book is intended to transcend the gap between parents and teachers so that they may work together to benefit the youngsters they share. The intent, focus, and direction of the book are all highly connected and recursive. The intent of the book is to diminish the differences between the roles of parent and teacher so that they may become…

Librarians and teachers can tap a powerful source for motivating children to read by involving parents and creating a partnership between home and school. This guide shows educators how to encourage literacy and reading by establishing a book club for parents, teachers, librarians, and students. Chapter 1 discusses directions for starting a book…

Establishing and maintaining effective partnerships with families and members of the community are among the most challenging tasks facing educators today. This book explores why these partnerships are difficult to create and how they can be established. The book attempts to help educators understand that they have little control over changing the…

This text presents an approach to the teaching of students with learning disabilities which places teachers in the development phase of instruction rather than serving as implementors of "canned" curriculum. The thematic approach presented allows the current curriculum of any school or school system to be adapted to the needs of students. It…

These four issues of the English Leadership Quarterly represent those published during 1993. Articles in number 1 deal with parent involvement and participation, and include: "Opening the Doors to Open House" (Jolene A. Borgese); "Parent/Teacher Conferences: Avoiding the Collision Course" (Robert Perrin); "Expanding Human…

Following mention of the literature and pioneers in the field of at-risk family involvement in education, this document discusses the history of the term "at risk" and its use, identification of children at risk, and the two major risk factors: poverty and minority status. The important connections and assets missing from the at-risk child's world…

Four issues of the quarterly publication of the Association of New York State Educators of the Emotionally Disturbed are brought together in this document. Each issue includes an editorial, articles, ideas from classroom teachers, letters to the editor, and abstracts of recent literature. Titles and authors of major articles include: "Providing…

This guidebook's aim is to encourage the development of good working relationships between parents and service professionals for the benefit of children or young people with disabilities. It begins with a list of reasons for partnership and a discussion of the needs and strengths of families. It then examines the essence of partnership, which is…

A four-phase positive discipline plan, based on William Glasser's "Reality Therapy" concepts and designed for grades K-5, is described. The goal of the plan is to teach the students to assume responsibility for their own actions; discipline is instructional, as opposed to punitive. A record is kept for each child upon which all serious behavior…

The need to provide elementary school teachers with effective parent involvement strategies for hard-to-reach parents was addressed by designing an inservice for teachers which presented research-based strategies. Strategies included using a positive, non-threatening approach, employing personal, two-way communication, providing guidance and…

A review of research data focused on the effects of parental involvement on children's reading achievement and ways in which parents can help promote children's reading achievement. The review included 35 studies (which are briefly summarized) of (1) parents' attitudes about their involvement in their child's education, (2) the positive effects of…

Based on sound developmentally appropriate theory, this revised guide is designed to help early childhood teachers deal with common problems that arise in all aspects of their work. Following an introduction and a list of the 20 most important principles for successful preschool teaching, the guide is divided into nine parts. Part 1 addresses…

Noting that everyone who interacts with a young child is a teacher, this booklet for preschool teachers and child care providers draws from scientifically based research about what they can do to help children develop their language abilities, increase their knowledge, become familiar with books and other printed materials, learn letters and…