This paper presents a review of the literature relating to hard-to-reach families which has been published over the last 12 years in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. The purpose of the review was twofold: to gain insights to understandings of the term "hard-to-reach" within these services--education, health and social--which might be…

This study attempted to determine how much parents were involved in Western Australian secondary schools and how satisfied they were with their involvement. Subjects included almost 2,000 families with children in one of sixteen secondary schools that were a sample of schools of differing sizes, in several types of communities in both rural and…

This paper addresses five issues in consideration of family contributions to teachers' work and students' success. The five issues include change, partnerships, students' learning, value systems, and international networking. A review of studies and programs illustrates implications for policy and practice for teachers' professional development.…

Findings of an investigation of parents' perceptions of early childhood service quality identified limitations in staff-parent communication which inhibit the development of a shared parent and staff approach to children's care and education. These findings have informed the development of an accretion model of communication for crossing the…

Explores the proposition that young children need to discover and actively participate in adults' theories of childhood. Reveals ways in which children collaborate in and sometimes contest the need to display precompetent identities, and briefly discusses the consequences, for enculturation in general and for schoolwork in particular, of failing…