Interest in the perception of barriers that impact parents' involvement in Central Middle Schools' Parent Teacher Organization was a result of the low P T O membership rolls. Some educational research supports that socio-economic status, family values toward education, race, and relationship to students are factors that present barriers to parent…

The contribution of parental involvement in the parent-teacher association (PTA) to schoolchildren's performance is an issue for evaluation research. To resolve the issue, it is reasonable to differentiate people who benefit and others who do not benefit from the involvement. Such differentiation relied on survey data from 289 pairs of Hong Kong…

The purpose of this research was to study and examine the perspectives of teachers and parents regarding parent involvement in an elementary school. The research method used was a quantitative analysis of data collected from classroom teachers and parents through four surveys. Four surveys were used in the study in order to: (a) gather data from…

Intra- and inter-generational social mobility have been implicit to a wide range of UK Government policies aimed at promoting social inclusion through a focus on education and employability. Framed by these policy initiatives and a critical look at widening participation in higher education, this paper reflects on the impacts of university…

This article presents an analysis of a Latino parent group and an African American parent group in California who struggled to engage with a contentious urban school reform. Using Bourdieu's cultural capital framework, the study focuses on the institutional responses to parent involvement, and the inequality in access that occurs as capital from…

Background: Research suggests that schools' capacity to successfully implement and sustain reform programs may rest, in part, with district-level facilitation. The importance of district leadership has been established for a variety of educational reforms, including school, family, and community partnerships. However, few studies have been…

Education is a powerful tool to improve lives and enhance the prospect of innovation and development of nations. While primary school enrollment has increased considerably over the past few decades in Sub-Saharan Africa, learning and the retention rate have remained low. The first two chapters of this dissertation analyze two dimensions in a bid…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Parent and Community Engagement and includes: (1) Principles of Family Leadership in Education--Putting Principles into Action…

When asked to explain why so many urban schools show unsatisfactory results on academic or social measures, principals routinely and quickly turn to descriptions of parents. In other words, when seeking to explain why work within a school is so difficult or why reform initiatives have been unsuccessful, many principals point outside the school.…

The primary role of any library is to provide resources and services for its patrons, and school library media centers are no exception. Most of the time, library media specialists think of patrons only in terms of students and faculty. However, there are a variety of ways library media specialists can expand influence and increase support from…

Part of a 10 booklet series on talented and gifted education, the booklet discusses organizing a support group for parents of talented and gifted children. Aspects described include making the contacts, developing the structure of the group, possible group projects and activities, and suggested program topics. Techniques for insuring group success…

Lessons learned over 26 years about parent power by the Gifted Child Society in New Jersey are recounted, including the importance of respecting the group that holds the power, adopting a constitution, and identifying leaders. (CL)

The need for a public relations program implemented by the International Parents' Organization is discussed. (RD)

The National Network of Parent Coalitions is composed of 23 coalitions operated by parents whose children have a variety of disabilities. The coalitions help each other in such areas as information, advocacy, peer support, and coordinated training. Members of the National Network of Parent Coalitions are listed. (CL)

Increasingly, there is advocacy for parents to be included in partnership roles with schools. Indeed, the term "partnership" seems to have acquired the connotation of an ideal form of parent-school relationship. This paper argues that the notion of partnership, with its accompanying suggestion of equality as a framework for the…