"Too Good for Drugs and Violence" is designed to promote high school students' prosocial skills, positive character traits, and violence- and drug-free norms. The curriculum consists of 14 core lessons and an additional 12 lessons that can be infused into other subject areas (such as English, science, and social studies). Students engage…

This conference paper discusses the results of a study that investigated the effectiveness of the Total Family Strategy (TFS), a home-based family support program funded by the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County, Florida. The program was initiated as a means of introducing a family empowerment model of early intervention into the array of…

This double issue of "The Evaluation Exchange" focuses on one of the central components of complementary learning: family involvement. As outlined in the Theory & Practice article, investments in family involvement are important across ages and settings and through the co-constructed efforts and shared responsibilities of many…

How to involve families in the formal education of their children is a question researchers and educators have been trying to answer since the first bricks were laid for the nation's public education system. A solution must be found, for family involvement has been proven to be associated with a myriad of stellar outcomes, including greater…

This document describes four states' approaches to increasing the involvement of families in schools. It discusses the strategies used by the states to: (1) enhance teachers' capacity to work with families; (2) encourage local school districts to develop family involvement programs; (3) encourage efforts that use family involvement as a component…

The multidimensional evaluation of a school project, part of an expanding system of school-linked services or "full-service" schools, is reported. Quantitative and qualitative results are presented. Discussion includes program effectiveness, social workers as mediators between home and school, and the effects of culture and immigration…

The Rural Education Improvement Project of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools presents its second annual report relative to a 5-year rural education improvement program funded by the Noyes Foundation and the Danforth Foundation. The purposes of the program are reported as (1) the identification of effective means of interrupting the…

Family literacy programs reflect a recent trend in educational reform that has proven to be a successful educational model for all members of the family unit. Based on the literature that links family involvement to student achievement, these initiatives focus on empowering parents of school children. These programs have been particularly…

The guide offers information to parents of developmentally disabled children, with special focus on services available in the State of Florida, Section 1, "A Beginning," introduces the guide and states its purposes, and serves to reassure the parents and family members. The next three sections address the needs, rights, and roles of…

Background: This applied dissertation was designed to increase the awareness of a parent resource center located in an urban community. The center had been in existence for 10 years. Due to a massive urban renewal project, the original residents were relocated to other areas of the city. When the replacement housing was constructed, a different,…