This article has two aims. First, it conveys the results of a questionnaire and focus-group study. This study asked parents of 3-to-5-year-old children what they would like to help support their children's development toward the transition from early childhood services to primary school. Second, it describes the process of university researcher…

This brief identifies important elements of high-quality early childhood education programs as indicated by research and professional standards. These include: (1) Early learning standards and curricula that address the whole child, are developmentally appropriate, and are effectively implemented; (2) Assessments that consider children's academic,…

This article describes how conductors of the top performing groups and music education faculty at one university collaborated to create a Family Concert Series for parents and children of all ages, including infants in arms. Recognizing the conflict between "The first three years of life are the most important for educating a young child in…

Current educational data indicate that culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students--students in the ethnic or language minority--have some of the lowest academic outcomes and graduation rates among student subgroups. Supported by more than a decade of literature, culturally relevant pedagogy provides a set of practices that teachers and…

This being the 20th volume in the series of Advances in Early Education and Day Care, it encourages reflection on previous volumes. Family involvement has been an issue in early education going back to Pestalozzi almost two centuries ago. Although the issue has been discussed in many different ways since then, there are still areas where we have…

Roughly half of all undergraduate students in the United States fail to persist to degree completion (American College Testing [ACT], 2010; Tinto, 1993; U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2013). Adult students often have higher levels of attrition than traditional-age students (Justice & Dornan, 2001;…

Across colleges and universities in the United States, few Latino men are reaching higher education. Saenz and Ponjuan call this phenomenon the ''vanishing" of Latino men in higher education. Much of the literature examining the presence of Latino men in higher education utilizes a cultural deficit approach to explain why students of color…

Family literacy involves factors beyond what is done at home between parents and children. To help preservice teachers develop their understanding of the multiple dimensions of family literacy, this study uses the five pillars of family and community engagement (FACE)--early literacy, family involvement, access to books, expanded learning, and…

Concerns regarding the overrepresentation of minority groups, particularly African Americans, in special education date back many years. While practices such as culturally responsive teaching and response to intervention have been implemented to combat the erroneous placement of students in special education programs, an important focus that…

Oregon Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) focuses its afterschool programs with middle and high school students on inventions that address key problems in developing countries, such as sustainable lighting, water transportation, water filtration, and prosthetics. With the support of a grant from the Oregon Community Foundation,…

Doctoral students leave their programs early due to lack of mentoring relationships needed to support degree completion and success. However, how mentoring contributes to Ed.D degree completion is not widely studied. In this qualitative narrative study, we sought to explore how multiple mentoring relationships reduced attrition in an Ed.D program.…

This article offers a variety of strategies for pre-service and beginning teachers to utilize in order to create positive and effective relationships with families that are built on clear communication and trust. It is crucial for new and veteran teachers to understand the importance of successful communication with parents and families of…

This brief is part of a series that shares findings from a research collaboration between the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University and Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) focused on understanding implementation of the community school model in the district. This brief highlights findings related to…

This paper describes a community-based after-school tutoring project, where families are participants together with their children. There are 50 family members involved in the project, several have multiple children enrolled, and four families were selected for an in-depth case study. The goals of this mixed method study were to determine why…

This study examined the relations among research-identified non-academic indicators of post-school education and employment measured by the Transition Assessment and Goal Generator (TAGG), student grade point average (GPA), and percentage of time students with disabilities received instruction in the general education classroom. Participants…