The present study focuses on current efforts underway in one western US state to prepare educators' for meaningful participation with families. Directors and faculty from 43 accredited Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) preparing pre-service teachers, administrators, and student support personnel were asked to complete an online survey…

This being the 20th volume in the series of Advances in Early Education and Day Care, it encourages reflection on previous volumes. Family involvement has been an issue in early education going back to Pestalozzi almost two centuries ago. Although the issue has been discussed in many different ways since then, there are still areas where we have…

Family literacy involves factors beyond what is done at home between parents and children. To help preservice teachers develop their understanding of the multiple dimensions of family literacy, this study uses the five pillars of family and community engagement (FACE)--early literacy, family involvement, access to books, expanded learning, and…

Title I schools that serve a large population of low-income students often view families through the lens of an outdated paradigm of family engagement in education, assuming parents are mostly uneducated, ill informed, and much in need of training and support to be good parents. "Comunitario" projects in the Rio Grande Valley of south…

Concerns regarding the overrepresentation of minority groups, particularly African Americans, in special education date back many years. While practices such as culturally responsive teaching and response to intervention have been implemented to combat the erroneous placement of students in special education programs, an important focus that…

The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2021, one of four U.S. students will be Latino. Research points to an increase in students identified as English Language Learners (ELLs), thus providing a glimpse of tomorrow's demographics and framing the reality of the classroom of the future. Schools are examining their partnerships with families from…

For many decades, the social imbalances had a significant impact on the academic success of African Americans. High school completion rates for African American students were disproportionately lower when compared to their Caucasian counterparts. This purpose of this qualitative study was to display factors that contributed to African American…

This article offers a variety of strategies for pre-service and beginning teachers to utilize in order to create positive and effective relationships with families that are built on clear communication and trust. It is crucial for new and veteran teachers to understand the importance of successful communication with parents and families of…

Family involvement in a child's education is vital to student success. This article presents qualitative findings from a more extensive study that examined family participation within a Response to Intervention (RtI) framework for K-1 grade students receiving Tier 2 reading interventions. RtI is a problem-solving tiered framework designed to…

Parental involvement in children's school activities is beneficial for children's academic and social competence. However, parental involvement tends to decrease as children become older and it is therefore important to promote parental involvement at the secondary level, especially in middle schools. Frequent, positive home-school communications…

This report presents a new framework for designing family engagement initiatives that build capacity among educators and families to partner with one another around student success. Based in existing research and best practices, the "Dual Capacity Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships" is designed to act as a scaffold for the…

Students' reading achievement is influenced by the amount of reading they actually do. In this column we present a workable and engaging model to increase the volume of student reading at home. A detailed outline of how teachers and schools can work with parents to implement the model is presented. (Contains 1 figure.)

This policy statement from the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education (ED) provides recommendations to early childhood systems and programs on family engagement. Family engagement refers to the systematic inclusion of families in activities and programs that promote children's development, learning, and wellness,…

Researchers have found that cultural factors may lead to lower rates of diagnosis in Hispanic children with autism and that parents lack the knowledge of therapies and practices used in the treatment of the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Five research questions guided this phenomenological study. The focus of the first two questions was how…

This study explored how parents and families perceive their own engagement in early years services in three communities in Ontario, Canada. Using an Appreciative Inquiry approach, focus groups, and questionnaires with parents, we investigated parent views of the strengths of early years supports and perceived outcomes of early years services in…