Suggestions for teachers conducting open houses, in which parents see the progress and work of their children, are presented. Various ways to display student work, make a positive impression, and elicit parent participation are described. (CJ)

Reviews the Schools Reaching Out programs in New York City and Roxbury (MA). Describes and recommends three successful aspects of these programs: the parent center within the schools, home visits by teachers, and teacher action research teams. (DM)

Describes a weekly meeting of a collaborative elementary school teacher support group in Ohio. Triangular conferencing, which involves parent-teacher-student and is student-led, is the subject of the meeting. Also describes visits to elementary classrooms where new ways to teach reading and writing are implemented with input from Regie Routman,…

An Illinois school district describes seven ways it has successfully encouraged parent participation at school events. (MD)

A parent center supported by the Albuquerque Public School System and the University of New Mexico promotes cooperation between parents and educators to serve exceptional children. The center was based on assumptions about money, time, personnel, parent heterogeneity, and needs/strengths as delineated in the "Mirror Model of Parent Involvement."…

A fourth-grade teacher explains how she began planning for retention possibilities as soon as the Fall achievement test results became available by notifying parents immediately, working with them throughout the school year to help their failing children, and involving them in the promotion/nonpromotion decision. (SJL)

Getting along with parents can sometimes be tough, but a little tact can go a long way. Good communication skills are important in any profession, but for the successful teacher, they are essential. Drawn from their new book, "Teacher Talk!" (Jossey-Bass, 2005), the authors present some snapshots of typical conflicts with parents, paired with…

The Parent-Teacher-Student Network Model was developed to aid in development of open communication among parent, teachers, and students. A description is given of this model for parent-teacher-student conferencing which was designed to allow participants to discuss educational goals, resolve conflicts, plan strategies for achievement, and evaluate…

Describes the action research process and provides practical guidelines for using the process to improve the education of children with disabilities and increase parental involvement. Laying the groundwork for action research, recruiting parents to participate in the research, and involving parents in each step are discussed. (CR)

A third-grade classroom teacher describes five methods of communication between parents and teachers: (1) the weekly folder, (2) the informative notice, (3) weekly visits by parents, (4) the daily note, and (5) after school assistance for students, with parents discussing students' progress with the teacher when they pick up their child. (DB)

This article discusses the advantages of student-led conferences for students with and without disabilities and their families, including increased student involvement, student goal-setting, student reflection, and student responsibility. It describes the steps and positive results from one school district that has adopted the student-led…

Lessons to plan, meetings to attend, bulletin boards to keep up on, and students to educate are just a few of the challenges encountered during the first year of teaching. For many teachers, it is not the hours or workload that cause the most stress, but rather the very people they are trying to help. These people are the parents of the students.…

University Child Care at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst uses written policies, a personal safety curriculum, and parent-teacher dialogues to prevent child sexual abuse. This paper discusses aspects of these three components. Discussion of written policies focuses on the mandated reporter status of caregivers, state laws, procedures for…

Strategies must be developed to assist in making the parent teacher conference run smoothly. The feelings and goals of the parents need to be taken into consideration. Nonverbal as well as verbal strategies should be designed. (JN)

The phenomenon of "school-hopping" (students transferring frequently to different schools) and its effects on students is discussed. Strategies for teachers to use with parents who practice school-hopping (often to deny that their child may be in need of special help) are described. (CJ)