This Reflection on Practice is based upon a change in the undergraduate course "Family and Community Relations." Historically, this course has been taught on campus in a lecture format, as well as small and large group activities. However, during a spring semester at a midsized Midwestern University, it was altered to provide more direct…

Global Family Research Project joined with four other organizations as part of the LEGO Idea Conference to take an in-depth look at letting families guide the creation of programs and services that best meet their needs. This summary of the event session, held in Billund, Denmark, includes international examples of collaborating with families and…

As states, cities, and communities take a more active role in ensuring that all children have access to high quality experiences and opportunities to learn, many are looking to museums and libraries as part of the early childhood education system. Museums and libraries can play a critical role in these efforts, and there is clear momentum and…

The purpose of this article is to present a parent's perspective on collaborating with the general education of their son with autism. It is a story of how both sides worked for the educational benefit of a child with autism.

This study discusses the results of a collaborative action research project in a multi-disciplinary school for children with disabilities. The aim was to alter practices and views of the professionals concerned in order to promote the inclusion of four children in mainstream schools. Three interrelated programmes were designed and implemented over…

Excerpt from "The Reconstruction of Patriotism: Education for Civic Consciousness" discusses civics education from Revolutionary days to present. An allegiance between schools and the military is proposed to create a national service system supplementing classroom teaching, which is currently incapable of conveying the meaning of…

In an exploration of the challenges of creating a collaborative approach to parent involvement, the beliefs of 19 African American adolescent mothers about learning and literacy were determined through peer group discussions. Data revealed a continuum of perspectives and a great deal of intergroup variability, as well as some shared goals. (SLD)

In response to the increased emphasis on parent involvement in schools, the Parent Involvement in Education Project (PIEP) conducted a comprehensive six-year study of the attitudes and current practices of teacher educators, teachers, principals, parents, and school administrators in a six state region (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New…

In order to build more effective partnerships between home/community and the public school, the Parent Involvement in Education Project (PIEP) conducted a comprehensive six-year study of the various aspects of parent involvement in education from the perspective of key stakeholder groups. This executive summary of the final report represents a…

This report discusses issues regarding the out-of-home placement of children with developmental disabilities and the need for permanency planning for these children. The document reports on a project which sought to: (1) discern practices of Colorado's Department of Social Services and Division for Developmental Disabilities which affect the…

Examined the role of two parents who helped design and implement a field-based teacher-preparation program at one professional-development school. Interviews with participants led to four main themes that illuminated the stages parents experienced: excluding breeds suspicion, holding our ground, saying the same thing, and establishing a new…

High school students, their parents, and school personnel were surveyed regarding the health and guidance related needs of adolescents. The results were analyzed and compared within both the Comprehensive School Health (CSH) and Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling (CGC) frameworks. Results suggest a need for collaboration between CSH and CGC…

Partnerships, especially the Professional Development School (PDS) model, between institutions of higher education (IHE) and public schools (PS), have become, if not commonplace, a successful model for teacher education. PDS teacher education projects in which preservice teachers and higher education faculty participate in school-based instruction…

This report examines the effectiveness of elementary school-based family literacy programs and describes the first year evaluation of a middle-school-based family literacy program in Baltimore, Maryland. In section one it reviews the literature on adult education and early childhood intervention and proposes a hypothesis of the broad pathways by…

A case study examined interactions between elementary school staff and 18 Mexican American parents during the school's conversion to a dual language program. Although parents were included in program planning, parental satisfaction and involvement declined with time. Analysis suggests that parents were alienated as educators' ideals were…