This report on teacher competence in the field of early childhood education is divided into six sections. The first section outlines the rationale for the study and defines its particular thrust. The main intention of the survey is to describe and define the tasks and requisite skills of early childhood teachers in supporting families in the care…

A pilot project that created a school Web site and e-mail service demonstrated the importance of information technology to Montreal (Quebec) 4th-grade students and their teachers. E-mail allowed teachers to have more efficient and less time-consuming communications with parents and allowed parents to more closely engage in their children's school…

Describes efforts of an advocacy group of parents, outdoor educators, and classroom teachers to preserve outdoor education in Peel in the face of budget cuts. Despite efforts, a task force recommended the elimination of numerous teaching positions, resulting in reduced programming at outdoor education centers. (LP)

This study examined the relationship between adolescents' perceptions of home and school partnership practices and two outcomes: grades in French and time spent on homework. The students (525 general-education and 112 special-education) completed a questionnaire based on Epstein's framework of partnership practices. For special-education students,…

This report focuses on one Nova Scotian community's efforts to maintain its school's existence in the face of service centralization. The paper focuses on the community's efforts to save the school from downsizing or closure. In spring 1994, the Nova Scotia government passed legislation allowing for the creation of school councils. Subsequently, a…

This monograph documents some aspects of school life at an Ontario school for kindergarten and first grade students. The report emphasizes some of the special features of the school, such as the use of parent volunteers; a highly individualized program based in a large measure on students' goals, interests, and readiness; a comprehensive…

The two main sections of this report describe the general model for the Volunteer Parental Involvement Program and provide the program documentation. The model is accompanied by materials developed for its implementation in in schools. These materials comprise a manual that schools are employing in developing their own Parental Assistance…

This guidebook is intended for parents of French-speaking students in Alberta. It describes French-as-a-first-language education in Alberta and provides information to help parents, in collaboration with school personnel and the wider francophone community in Alberta, to preserve and develop their children's identity as speakers of French and as…

Serving as a vehicle for raising the profile of and thereby gaining recognition for the important research and development work being conducted in Canada in support of children and families, the "Research Connections Canada" series compiles research and/or development papers as well as background papers, analytical literature reviews,…

Examines cultural conditions necessary for children's development in day care settings, using Bronfenbrenner's Ecology of Human Development. Considers the parental role in this context; also the relationship between educators and parents, with a view to creating culturally appropriate conditions for the developing child. Discusses policies and…

Examination of the role of parental involvement in the school restructuring process in three Alberta (Canada) elementary schools reveals that the roles and responsibilities of parents must be clarified, that criteria are needed for measuring success in relation to parental involvement, and that participants need support while they struggle to…

This practicum was designed to change parents' attitudes toward their children's learning, so that parents would understand the importance of student-centered and student-directed learning activities and have a better understanding of their children's actual learning activities. An initial telephone survey of four parents of students in a combined…

This booklet offers Canadian parents guidance on finding high-quality child care. The booklet begins by defining quality child care, indicating that child care should support a child's emotional, social, intellectual well-being and that child caregivers are the key to quality child care. The characteristics of quality child care settings are also…

Written for Canadian parents of young children with special needs, this handbook provides information on ways in which parents can work with professionals (physicians, teachers, other school staff, social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists) in selecting and monitoring services for their special needs child. The first section considers the…

Second-year results of the Block Plan, initiated in the seventh grade of a large junior high school in Alberta, Canada in 1980, indicate that the program is successful. The Block Plan uses the concept of a pair of teachers being assigned to two classes for the homeroom period plus four academic core courses--language arts/social science and…