Earthquake preparedness is a critical part of developing a sustainable community concerning reducing vulnerability to earthquakes. This study focuses on reducing children's vulnerability, particularly through a school safety program, to increase their physical and emotional preparedness for children against earthquakes. A comparative case study is…

Family engagement is a critical component of school success for students. However, parents of middle and high school students are often less involved in home- and school-based activities than parents of elementary students. This article describes reasons for this decrease in parental engagement and offers specific ideas for fostering parental…

This report summarizes some of the parent and family engagement services provided by AISD parent support specialists to parents and families at their schools during the 2016-2017 school year.

Teachers do much more than instruct children in the classroom. They also play an important role in supporting learning across settings: at school, home, and throughout the community. The Families Learning Across Boundaries (FamLAB) Project surveyed 407 library professionals, 1,550 parents, and 600 pre-K through grade 8 teachers in the United…

As of March 31, 2020, the closure of schools in 192 countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in over 1.6 billion learners being temporarily forced out of school buildings. New educational inequities arose, and existing ones were exacerbated. Acknowledging that disruption may also stimulate innovation, the purpose of this qualitative…

Family engagement in middle school is essential to ensure optimal learning. Middle-level educators (typically Grades 5 or 6 through Grade 8 in the U.S.) play a pivotal role in helping to guide parents' understanding of their evolving roles in supporting their adolescents' academic success. Students particularly benefit from (a) parental support…

Culturally Responsive Restorative Practices, an innovative framework intended to counteract discipline disparities and improve school climate and culture, entered year 3 of implementation in 2020-2021. Highlights from ten participating schools included improved perceptions of school climate by students and staff and consistent participation in…

At North Middle School--a Northeastern public school with a large African immigrant population--Black males were overrepresented in disciplinary referral by a factor of three in 2017-2018. A literature review framed by network theory (Neal, J. W. & Neal, 2013) and the concept of the serial stream of discipline (Irvin, Tobin, Sprague, Sugai,…

This study sought to address the large gap in the literature regarding parents' roles and views about physical education programs. Guided by Epstein's model of parental involvement, this study investigated the effect of increased parental involvement in a child's physical education program on parents' perceptions of that program. Participants…

At the middle school level, active family engagement is difficult enough with native English speaking families but even more so with parents of English learners (ELs). Using a funds of knowledge approach in this article, we position families as knowledgeable participants with strengths who contribute significantly to their adolescent's academic…

This study describes how culturally relevant pedagogy in a project-based science class improved student engagement and comprehension. We focus on bicultural students exploring cultural objects and household inventions with family members and connecting scientific concepts to their families' funds of knowledge. We use a multiple-case study design…

Most teachers are not trained on how to support students who struggle with trauma. Childhood trauma not only impacts a teacher's ability to teach, but also threatens their students' futures. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate teachers' perceptions and actions when they participated in trauma professional development.…

Within today's multilingual communities, a growing percentage of students are emergent bilinguals--bringing to school a home language other than English and thus poised to become bilingual as they acquire the new language. As a result, school leaders need to have essential background knowledge and a wealth of strategies at their fingertips to…

In 2018-2019, the program's second federally funded year, GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) Austin served a cohort of 7th-grade students (n = 2,536) across 11 middle schools. Nearly all GEAR UP students received support services relevant to college preparation. Evaluation findings suggest that students,…

Although family-school engagement is important across child and adolescent development, most research, programs, and policies have focused primarily on elementary students and contexts. The current study extends beyond elementary settings by exploring the unique and shared contributions of developmental context on family-school engagement (i.e.,…