Parent-educator partnerships are an important element of effective early childhood, K-12, and special education programs (Dunst, Trivette, & Snyder, 2000; Tabors, 2008). While early childhood and other classrooms in the United States are increasingly diverse, the teachers in those classrooms are unlikely to be of the same linguistic or cultural…

Discusses student-led parent conferences at Metcalf Laboratory School. Finds that students can learn how to reflect on their learning, evaluate their progress, and communicate this information to their parents in a conference situation. Concludes that students were empowered and that student-led conferences were a good way to use guided…

As every principal knows, working with parents can be very stressful and many teachers do not have the experience or the skill to work with them effectively. Principals must train their teachers to ensure that they have the know-how to conduct successful parent-teacher conferences. These skills can be developed one-on-one or in a staff development…

A growing body of evidence suggests that family engagement matters for student success. Research shows that family engagement improves school readiness, student achievement, and social skills. Furthermore, an increasing number of innovative approaches to education leverage and connect the many settings and times in which children learn and grow to…

Sharing assessment data in schools typically takes the form of a short meeting to report results and give recommendations to school staff and parents. Such meetings are often dominated by a one-way flow of communication; i.e., from the clinician to the child's caregivers. Drawing on the theory and practice of Person-centered Planning and…

According to the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), school systems must ensure that the individualized education program (IEP) team includes the parent of the child with a disability. Teachers often report the challenges of getting parents to attend IEP meetings often assuming parents' lack of interest with involvement…

Offers some easy-to-implement suggestions for community relations programs, including parent conferences, senior citizen days, work experience programs, performing groups, luncheons with civic organizations, displays of student works, and bulletin board message centers. Communication continues to be the best source of positive reinforcement. (MLH)

The third issue of this Character Education and Civic Engagement Technical Assistance Center (CETAC) newsletter focuses on parent involvement in character education. The Partnerships in Character Education Program (PCEP), funded by the U.S. Department of Education, is currently providing support to projects that demonstrate parent involvement in…

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was created to ensure that students with disabilities receive a free and appropriate public education. One hallmark of IDEA is the promotion of collaboration between school districts and parents of children with disabilities. The letter and spirit of IDEA encourages a working relationship…

During the past three years, the author's administrative team at Milken Community High School in Los Angeles, a 7-12 school where the author is the middle school principal, has been discussing assessment. They decided that they wanted assessment to tell students what they did or did not do and enable them to self-adjust. To accomplish this, the…

This report evaluated the Harlem Parents School Community Program designed to provide individual tutorial assistance to 80 elementary school students who were two or more years below grade level in reading and mathematics. Tutoring sessions were held at a neighborhood center Monday through Thursday afternoons and evenings. Workshops and cultural…

It is argued that current school disciplinary policies are ineffective instruments for delivering moral messages: they are poorly justified; fail to distinguish moral violations (violence, vandalism, deception) from conventional school-limited violations (attendance, dress codes, eating venues), leaving the impression that dress code violations…

One of the most important factors in school performance is parental involvement. However, many parents do not have the flexibility in their work schedules or the leave policies necessary to attend school functions. As a result, legislators are creating policies to address this issue. School involvement leave policies provide parents with…

Educators from over 35 Washington State school districts and education service districts briefly describe their programs for involving parents in the schools. Compiled for Washington's six regional "Partners in Education" conferences, held in May 1981, the collection also presents Gallup Poll data on school volunteers and 115 ideas for parental…

Describes a parent-student-counselor conferences project and provides the results of evaluation data. The project provides an opportunity for middle school students and parents to examine the students' cumulative record and meet with a counselor. Nearly all comments were positive. (JAC)