Studied effects of mainstreaming on the roles of professionals in 16 inclusive preschool programs, using interviews, observation, and document analysis. Found that a sense of shared philosophy or joint ownership of children, when reached jointly rather than being lopsided or imposed from outside, produced more positive experiences, and that key…

Describes activities in a university child observation class to sensitize students to diverse parents' needs related to school involvement. Presents feedback regarding parents' needs from: interviews with adoptive parents; interviews with single parents; and interviews with parents regarding parent-teacher conferences. (KDFB)

Uses a psychoanalytic approach to examine effective ways to articulate concerns to parents about their child's difficulties. Presents methods for developing trusting relationships, planning prior to the conference, conducting the parent-teacher conference and post-conference follow-up, and meeting teachers' concerns. Describes two situations in…

A study was conducted to determine what methods of student evaluation parents felt were most effective in helping them assist in their child's efforts to develop skills and understand their child's performance in school. A survey was conducted among 168 parents in central Virginia, including parents of kindergarten through fourth grade students in…

Describes the use of student-led conferences in place of traditional teacher-parent conference. Notes that conferences reflect curricular change to reading and writing workshops and thematic studies, belief that students should take responsibility for their own literacy behaviors, and use of portfolio assessment. (TM)

Describes a field program for University of Texas teacher trainees designed to make White future teachers more comfortable with the parents of Black educable mentally retarded children. (GC)

Used focus group interviews to explore parents' perceptions of school efforts at parental involvement in elementary school. Found that parents described many positive interactions with their children's schools. Positive interactions were related to attitudes of classroom teachers, communication practices of the school and teacher, and the format…

Provides guidelines for educators to prepare for potentially difficult parent conferences and to conduct them to a successful conclusion. Suggestions include anticipating concerns, accentuating the positive, listening to parents, being truthful, being firm, being polite, offering solutions and assistance, asking for suggestions, admitting…

Parent opinions about standardized tests and performance assessments were examined systematically. Mutually exclusive but randomly equivalent stratified samples from schools participating in a study of performance assessment and control schools were used to measure change in parent opinion over time. Approximately one-third of parents (n=105)…

Compared traditional parent-teacher conferences with an alternative collaborative model that includes students (family-school conferences) in a suburban elementary school. Found that teachers and parents valued traditional conferences as opportunities for information exchange, but both groups reported anxiety that may interfere with communication.…

The author presents a worksheet designed for use in parent-teacher conferences, specifically those dealing with Attention Deficit Disorder. The worksheet was developed in response to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and is designed as a simple measure to provide parents with a way to document their children's needs. (KW)

Analyzes the discourse between Latino immigrant parents and their children's elementary school teacher during parent-teacher conferences. Finds that parents and teachers often use different criteria to evaluate children's progress, with the teacher holding more individualistic goals for the child's development and the parents' goals being more…

This is the fourth in a series of six monographs developed to help local educators use and report Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test results. Sharing MEAP test reports with parents gives them information on their child's basic skills and generates parent involvement and support for the school. This sharing should be addressed on…

Reviews eight techniques for assessing family-school connections studied by participants in a two-year school personnel training program: informal observation and discussion; examination of pre-existing data; review of places, policies, and programs; focus group discussion; mailed survey; survey at school; telephone survey; and radio call-in.…

In an effort to describe parent-teacher conferences and assess their influence on the curriculum, three researchers interviewed children, parents, teachers, and the principal of a midwestern elementary school and observed various school and Parent Teacher Association functions. High school and elementary school parents were mailed a survey.…