Research has shown the importance of family-school collaboration in promoting positive student outcomes, but also the lack of satisfaction and trust on the part of both teachers and family members, especially with cross-cultural interactions. A key barrier is the lack of teacher professional development regarding research-based practices and…

There is a serious need to reconsider the adult-led, grade-centered parent teacher meetings which are standard school practice. Schools and students would benefit from elevating PTMs with student voice and formative assessment that celebrates students' efforts and motivates them to continue learning. Under a reinvented framework for meetings,…

This Data Point examines parent and/or guardian involvement in various school-based engagement opportunities before the coronavirus pandemic. This information was reported by U.S. public school principals on the principal survey of the 2017-18 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS). The NTPS is a sample survey of public and private K-12…

A body of literature on parent engagement has emerged over the past five decades (Mapp, K. 2013. "Partners in Education: A Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships." Washington, DC: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory). Regardless of this extensive research evidence and its promise for improved student…

Home-school communication is fundamental to parent involvement and student success. This essay and discussion article outlines the broad range of opportunities currently available for teachers to communicate with parents and associated strategies. The most frequent one-way modes of communication used with parents are discussed (websites,…

This report from the field presents a field-based program designed to prepare teachers to serve diverse children and families by emphasizing the "actual" practices that inform family-teacher partnerships. We argue that collaborative relationships across and among families and teachers can result in "mining gems" of knowledge…

This paper explores societal perceptions of a child's disability and bilingualism through the author's observations and reflections. Drawing from the observations of the child in different public schools in the United States, the author shares how the child has been viewed differently and similarly by school personnel. By reflecting on different…

Research shows that when parents and caregivers are involved in their child's education, children do better at school. Traditionally, the parent/teacher interview has been one way of facilitating such involvement. However, as students progress through the school system, parent and caregiver involvement in conventional parent/teacher interviews…

This paper examines the Incredible Years Parent and Teacher Programmes that have originated from the work of Webster-Stratton. It provides a brief background on the programmes and a critical analysis of the issues as identified in current literature. The issues can be grouped into four main categories, the first being government decision-making…

School conferences, in which teachers meet with parents and students, have long been criticised for being an undemocratic practice. Traditionally, such conferences have been organised and governed by the teacher. However, in recent years, student-led conferences have become more common in Swedish schools. The present article focuses on eight such…

This article highlights the parent-teacher conferences in the Swedish preschool and the talk about children's inappropriate and undesirable behaviour in a preschool setting. The focus of the article concerns how teachers talk about children's resistance to the social order in preschool and especially how children show resistance to teachers. The…

Although the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) spells out parent involvement requirements for schools in need of improvement, the majority of the Northwest Region school improvement plans reviewed failed to include such provisions. Reported findings include: (1) Despite a wide range of parent involvement practices discussed in legislation…

This document presents a summary of the larger report, "Parent Involvement Activities in School Improvement Plans in the Northwest Region." Although the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) spells out parent involvement requirements for schools in need of improvement, the majority of the Northwest Region school improvement plans…

In postwar Bosnia-Herzegovina, segregation along ethno-nationalistic lines and divergent pedagogies within the education system have presented challenges to social cohesion and the long-term stability of a society that is still struggling to rebuild, reconcile, and regain trust (Jancic, 2008). This article examines the current state of the…

This article explores the construction of parent-teacher conferences in the Swedish preschool and focuses on processes that construct and maintain these meetings. The analysis draws upon an ethnographic study in two preschools and the empirical material consists of 11 audiotaped parent-teacher conferences and observations of everyday activities…