Used focus group interviews to explore parents' perceptions of school efforts at parental involvement in elementary school. Found that parents described many positive interactions with their children's schools. Positive interactions were related to attitudes of classroom teachers, communication practices of the school and teacher, and the format…

This manuscript describes the implementation of looping or continuity of care in a high-quality child care facility. Through interviews with parents and teachers, themes were identified including the advantages (stability and continuity of care, ease in transition, anticipating children's needs, parent friendships and networking) and challenges…

Teachers in Japan are no longer held in high esteem simply because of their position in the Confucian hierarchy of status and authority. Gone is the time when the word of the sensei would bring silence and order to a classroom. Ironically, the fruits of a postwar first-world nation--increased parental education, material affluence, and a…

This practicum was designed to improve communication practices among teachers and between teachers and parents in an elementary school. An emphasis was placed on utilizing the writing skills of students to link teachers and parents through a communication partnership. The partnership was accomplished through the expansion of the student reading…

The Wheelock College (MA) Family Child Care Project conducted 23 focus discussions of parents' child care experiences. Participants were groups of 8 to 12 parents in 9 U.S. cities. These groups were equal in their use of family child care (either in the provider's home, or in child care centers and preschools). This document presents a thematic…

The idea that school-family partnerships educate the modern child more completely than the individual efforts of either institution is so compelling today that it has become a national cry. This study investigated an attempt to create a Parent Attitude Change Toward School (PACTS) by including parents in a regular classroom lesson with their child…

This compilation of essays and resources focuses on acceptance of children with disabilities and cooperation between parents and early intervention specialists. The compilation includes the following items written by Jan Spiegle-Mariska (sometimes cited as Jan Mariska): "Building Effective Parent/Professional Partnerships"; "What…

This practicum addressed the problem faced by a child care center in dealing with parents from various ethnic backgrounds who possessed different views on toddler toilet training. The goal of the 10-week project was to establish an environment in the toddler program that allowed teachers and parents to approach toilet training cooperatively.…

The study described in this summary explores school and community factors that encourage parent participation in decisions that affect the quality of children's schooling. Its primary objective was to identify and compare factors that foster parent networks around school issues in suburban and urban areas. Five groups mobilized by middle class…

To investigate teachers' parent involvement practices and their effect on children, a study of teachers and parents of students in the first, third, and fifth grades was conducted in 82 elementary schools across l6 school districts in Maryland. A total of 36 teachers who strongly emphasized parent involvement in home activities and 46 teachers who…

Suggestions directed to parents and family members for turning everyday home activities into opportunities for learning are based on three principles: reading and researching; reinforcement and reward; and review and reapplication. It is proposed that establishing a good home learning environment includes setting regular, daily times to work with…

This paper describes the positive effects of the Parent Program of the University of Oregon Follow Through Program. Section I illustrates the positive effects of parent involvement in two case histories of parents' political activism directed at securing and maintaining quality education for their children. Section II focuses on parents'…

This handbook describes the seventeen most popular and effective items made in the Philadelphia Teacher Parent Center. The handbook recounts not only "how-to-do-it" strategies for use in a teacher center but also tips on how to store, present, explain, and use items. Research done on the teacher center involved two separate survey forms which…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parent and teacher estimates of a child's reading ability and to determine the relationship between the facts about a child's reading ability that a teacher wants to report and the facts that a parent considers important to learn. Other variables related to student achievement and…

This final report discusses the outcomes of a study that examined how charter school developers have used the opportunities provided by their charters to serve students with disabilities. Between March 1998 and June 1999, 32 public charter schools in 15 states were visited and 151 parents of students with disabilities, 196 teachers, and 164…