This book helps parents develop good working relationships with their children's teachers and become involved with the school. Suggestions are provided for dealing with school bureaucracy and individual teachers. Emphasis is placed on parent empathy with the teacher's role. Topics discussed include: skills specific to effective communication with…

Student-led parent conferences allow students to gain significant insights about themselves as learners in ways traditional parent-teacher conferences do not. This guide draws on two teachers' experience to help other teachers implement student-led parent conferences that will enhance parent involvement and student learning. Chapter 1, "Why…

The purpose of this practicum was to broaden and strengthen the classroom assessment of literacy development in a third grade. Goals were to implement authentic assessment techniques, to involve both students and parents in goal setting and ongoing evaluation processes, and to develop writing portfolios exhibiting a wide range of student…

The parent-teacher conference offers an opportunity to improve communication between home and school. In addition, it is an ideal time for discussing how the home environment can compliment and reinforce the work accomplished at school. Thus, when parents ask what they can do at home to help, the teacher can respond with specific suggestions for…

This monograph for teachers outlines reasons for working with parents. It presents a sampling of practical strategies that teachers can use to foster parent competence and responsibility in the education of their children. It also contains answers to some of teachers' questions about getting parents to visit the school and encouraging them to…

A fourth-grade teacher designed and implemented a practicum study for the purpose of increasing parent participation in a culturally diverse, rural, upper elementary school. The central aim was to involve parents in the education of their children. To attain the objective, unique communication strategies were used to meet the needs of the…

Several strategies for improving communication between parents and teachers are explored in this handbook. Section I provides background information on parent-teacher communication. Recommendations to teachers for enhancing parent involvement in education are provided. Section II describes communication strategies for use in parent-teacher…

This issue addresses the relationship between teachers and parents of handicapped children. It explores how barriers to an effective parent-teacher relationship arise and how best to work toward a better relationship, one in which parents can positively influence the teacher's involvement with them and, in turn, one in which the teacher can…

Effective parent-teacher conferences have the potential to be the single most educationally valuable event for the student during the school year. With increased parental involvement in the day-to-day operation of the schools and greater parental awareness of the educational process, it becomes apparent that educators need to be prepared to…

This guide suggests a fresh perspective for families and professionals working together to develop Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students with disabilities living in Maryland. It begins by explaining the purpose of IEPs and by providing the principles for IEP development in Maryland. Information is then provided on how the IEP is…

Discusses ways in which schools can get parents more actively involved in the education of their children, such as work in the classroom, a community resource file, library help, and personal contacts with parents. A case study presents the way in which one school involved parents in the school program. (DN)

Offers suggestions for both teachers and parents about how they can best work together in a new partnership. (Author/JM)

Courtesy of new technologies, such as student information systems (SIS), districts are opening new channels of communication, giving parents anytime Internet access to information they need to track their child's progress--and affording them the opportunity to make a tremendous impact on their child's learning growth. Take what is happening at…

This report describes a project that sought to ascertain the educational expectations and actual levels of participation by Black, low to low-middle income parents of 36 regular and special education students entering three Baltimore (Maryland) public schools. The parents' initial expectations and the development of these expectations over the…

A survey was conducted of 50 school districts in the seven state region (Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin) to determine the types of support available to parents of children with disabilities and their satisfaction with these supports. Responses of 3,558 parents and guardians (11.9% of total sample) in 41 school…