Parent involvement has been shown to have a positive effect on second language acquisition, student motivation and academic achievement. This is particularly true for the almost five million English learners (ELs) in our PK-12 schools today and has important implications for the preparation of pre-service teachers. This study investigated how a…

This qualitative study explores the perceptions of 24 female first-grade teachers from northern Israel regarding parental emotions during their children's transition to first grade. Using semi-structured interviews, it examines the teachers' communication strategies and their self-assessed skills and training to effectively engage with parents at…

Communication plays a critical role in building and supporting healthy interpersonal relationships. American teacher development standards recognise this and outline the importance of communication in relationship-building with both parent and student to create a successful learning environment. However, although available research points to the…

"Engaging Parents in Productive Partnerships" is an easy-to-read presentation of suggestions on how educators and service providers can effectively collaborate with parents including specific recommendations for individualized education programs (IEPs) for students who receive special education and related services. The skillful…

This qualitative research reports on the narratives of six community educators and utilizes anatomy of story as a framework. The research question directing this study was: What can we learn from the journeys and trajectories of community educators? Supporting sub-questions included: (1) what are their efforts fostering adult education? and (2)…

Parent and family involvement is a familiar topic used by many researchers in the traditional education setting yet vastly under used as it applies to the online education setting. The purpose of this study was to explore and determine if there are any differences among online teachers' perceptions of parental involvement and communication in the…

The topic of parental involvement has been widely studied but within the topic, the area of training teachers to work with parents has not. The training and preparation for teachers to work with parents are scarce and at times, non-existent. The primary purpose of this study is to examine effective middle school teachers about the steps on their…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 mandates parental involvement during Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. Several factors including previous IEP experiences, level of ongoing communication between parents and education professionals, or existence of social and cultural capital resources can impact…

Teachers' and parents' importance ratings of social behaviors for 95 preschoolers were examined using the "Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scales" (Gresham & Elliott, 2008). Multivariate analyses were used to examine parents' and teachers' importance ratings at the item and subscale levels. Overall,…

The aim of this study was to help pre-service teachers develop basic knowledge and skill for partnering with families on assessment-related issues. An assessment class for teacher educators (experimental group) participated in role-playing activities designed to expand their understanding and skill in a way that would help them learn how to…

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (N = 13,970), we examined whether two aspects of school-family connections, parental involvement and communication quality, accounted for the association between classroom composition and children's academic and socioemotional functioning following the transition to…

Parents' involvement in their children's education influences the children's educational success and is regarded as best practice in early childhood. A critical component in increasing parental involvement is effective collaboration between teacher and family. This involves being friendly, honest, and clear; listening and providing information;…

Step-by-step, schools from the elementary through high school levels are making the transition to 21st-century learning. Some have crossed the threshold almost entirely. In today's progressive classrooms, yesterday's rows of quiet listeners have given way to small groups of active learners, thoroughly engaged in discussions and explorations. And…

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) states that transition planning should begin at the earliest age appropriate and no later than age 16. IDEA requires schools to make collaborative efforts to provide students access to an array of postschool activities including integrated employment, postsecondary…

The purpose of this study was to determine parent perceptions of the efficacy of the use of three forms of electronic school-home communication used by faculty and staff in a rural high school in southern Georgia--e-mail, PowerSchool, and School Messenger. An anonymous survey instrument containing Likert scale questions, yes/no questions, and…