Collaborative ventures between families and schools can result in children being successful both academically and in life (Henderson & Berla, 1994; Jackson & Davis, 2000; Mapp, 1997). The most successful predictor of student achievement is an encouraging home environment, high expectations from parents, and parental involvement (Epstein, 2001;…

Noting that parents are children's most important teachers, this guide provides parents and children with weekly activities for all parts of the year that are intended to enhance children's eagerness to learn. The suggested activities, carefully chosen by Medina County, Ohio, kindergarten teachers, were designed to reinforce skills introduced in…

The goals of the 2-day interdisciplinary conference covered in these proceedings were to: (1) present a spectrum of program models, curriculum, and knowledge related to parent education, parent involvement, and parenting; (2) provide in-depth training in parent education; and (3) promote interaction and exchange of ideas. Included in the…

Family literacy programs have arisen in an attempt to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and illiteracy. Numerous federally-supported family literacy programs have recognized the importance of instructing parents and children in a home setting. The legislation of Even Start seeks to integrate parenting education, adult basic education,…

The Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) is a free 2-year family oriented early childhood education and parent involvement program for parents with limited formal education to help them provide educational enrichment for their 4-year-old and 5-year-old children. As of 1996, HIPPY programs serve over 15,000 economically…

Two things in particular could change the status of students of color in our elementary and secondary education system and make improved academic achievement possible. One is providing role models that students can relate to in the classrooms, and the other is getting families involved in their children's education. A study on family life and…

The forms of parent involvement explored by researchers are varied, ranging from parents' encouragement of their children in the home to intense parent-school partnerships in which parents are involved in every aspect of the educational process. This paper summarizes selected studies of parent involvement which fall within the following three…

Findings of a study that examined the impact of parent involvement on student performance in Catholic and public schools are presented in this paper. Methodology involved regression analysis of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) database, which contains information on 1,035 schools (802 public and 233 private schools) and…

Bringing together the home, school, and community in the task of developing children's abilities to read and appreciate literature, this book presents annotations of over 400 books suitable for children ages two through seven. Titles annotated in the book represent classic and contemporary picture books, story books, and concept books, as well as…

The study described in this report was intended to provide researchers with comprehensive, longitudinal baseline data on average children and their families. The study focused on positive growth and development by identifying a national sample of children and families for researchers to study. The children were examined in five main areas: (1)…

Reviews of research, studies of early readers, and investigations of emergent literacy uniformly conclude that parents' beliefs, aspirations, and actions affect their children's growth into and embracing of literacy. However, conflicting results call into question the utility of simply correlating race or various socioeconomic factors, such as…

The evaluation of the Albuquerque Public Schools' 1985-86 Homestart Program, funded by Chapter 1 of the Evaluation Consolidation Improvement Act, employed surveys and interviews to address the impact of the programs on the home environment and on the child's experience in school. Data were gathered from Chapter 1 Cognitive Language Development…

Several ways in which the culture of the home in a traditional society differs from the culture of the school, as well as obstacles to efforts to coordinate school and home, are identified prior to a discussion of the educational function of the home and functions of the school. It is pointed out that, whereas in traditional societies education…

The low level of family involvement in school affairs has become a predominant explanation for a wide variety of school problems. Although there is little data to support the two underlying assumptions of this causal relationship, i.e., a decrease in family involvement, and the efficacy of parent participation in enhancing student performance,…

This pamphlet describes ways for children and caregivers to plan, cook, and eat together, blending practical health suggestions with sound educational philosophy. The ideas and concepts children can learn from cooking are outlined (e.g. motor skills, language, mathematics, executive abilities, etc.), and the importance of eating with children,…