Conflict and miscommunication between English as a Second Language (ESL) parents and teachers has had a major impact on educational policy, but few empirical studies examine it as discourse. This study examines communication between ESL parents and high school ESL teachers in a "Parents' Night" (PN) event organised to increase understanding of the…

In this article, the authors present parent-educator conversations, which were selected to illustrate common communication patterns and provide links to some of the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children's recommended practices for communicating and collaborating with parents. Using conversation analysis, researchers…

This article describes the significance of 3 entities--the family, the school, and the university--working together to assist young Latino children succeed in school. In an effort to increase parental and teacher communication regarding school expectations, the Family Institute for Early Literacy Development was created. It uses principles of…

This paper presents a comparative case study involving eight teachers from two Reggio-inspired schools that focuses on how teachers negotiate a Reggio-inspired approach in the American context. This study first identifies the struggles these eight teachers faced in applying the philosophical beliefs borrowed from this Italian-born approach. With…

President Obama has a cradle-to-career plan to reform the nation's schools. He also is calling on parents to take responsibility for their child's success. His vision includes the belief that all children can and will succeed, and that parents are the bridge to this success. Parents, guardians and caregivers can help children by connecting with…

Teacher research served as both the content and frame of analysis for this study. Parallel teacher research projects took place over the course of a year as preservice teachers engaged in their first experience with teacher research as part of an infant-toddler development course and the first author (their instructor) engaged in teacher research…

Since the election of the Labour government in 1997, England has seen policy changes leading to increased rights for students with special educational needs (SEN), including those with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD), to be educated in mainstream schools. The present paper reports on the findings of a small-scale study…

The ability to use language (speak, read, write) is not something that children suddenly or automatically develop. It is rather a culmination of experiences with language that begin at birth. Sharing stories (oral storytelling, books) and "story experiences" (conversations, songs, poems, rhymes) with infants and toddlers is critical to building…

This report summarizes many of Austin Independent School District's parent and community involvement activities for the 2007-2008 school year.

The purpose of this study is to bring forth preschool teachers' and parents' views on both established and future forms of cooperation between the preschool and home. The empirical sample is based on both individual and focus-group interviews. Results show that cooperation mainly revolves around the individual child. The form of cooperation that…

The research reported here forms part of a UK study that investigated the impact of interpersonal interaction on teaching and learning outcomes, in the context of learning a musical instrument. This article presents the findings relating to parents, exploring how parental involvement, self-efficacy and personal satisfaction were influenced by…

Parent involvement in preservice teacher education is an important component of that preparation. Parents' stories of their everyday experiences having an infant/toddler with disabilities can bring insights to future interventionists that no one else can provide. How do we get parents into the university classrooms? How do we help them tell their…

The theory upon which this study is based led to four predictions: (1) the small number of pupils in small schools creates opportunities to develop close teacher-pupil relationships and enables teachers to consider pupils' individual needs; (2) small schools can provide opportunities for fruitful co-operation among staff and, consequently, create…

The importance of parent-teacher communication has been widely recognized; however, there is only limited research on teaching effective listening skills to education professionals. In this study, a pretest-posttest control group design was used to examine the effect of instruction on the active listening skills of preservice education…

Parent/professional partnerships have been credited with improving outcomes for children and enhancing satisfaction for both parents and professionals. Family involvement in preservice programs is minimal and often limited to parent panels or parent involvement in a class activity such as an interview. Preservice students who have had multiple…