The book is intended to help educators become leaders in encouraging interagency cooperation and other community efforts to prevent child abuse. The first chapter discusses the school's role. Subsections consider: actions after reporting, communication with child protective services, sharing concerns, communication with parents, and education for…

Urges the preschool teacher to assume the role of mental health counselor by working closely with parents. Suggests ways to deal with normal childrearing situations and with crises involving death, illness or surgery, and separation or divorce. Briefly discusses the nursery school's handling of children with psychological problems. (BRT)

Serious drawbacks can be cited for almost every form of student performance evaluation. The typical A-B-C-D report seldom tells anything really meaningful; the arguments against this system are many--unless you have straight A offspring. Written comments or reports are good if they tell, in a meaningful way, what the student is accomplishing in…

This article explains how teachers can use tact and diplomacy to minimize potential problems with parent-teacher conferences. A checklist of tips to help teachers prepare for conferences and conduct them positively is given, along with ideas for keeping in touch with parents the rest of the year. (PP)

Reports on a study of "parent evenings," or parent-teacher consultations, examining the structure using audio-recordings. Identifies similarities with doctor-patient consultations. Argues that teachers do not maintain control of the conferences and that issues of power, identity, competence, and moral conflict are at stake. (CMK)

This book helps parents develop good working relationships with their children's teachers and become involved with the school. Suggestions are provided for dealing with school bureaucracy and individual teachers. Emphasis is placed on parent empathy with the teacher's role. Topics discussed include: skills specific to effective communication with…

This monograph for teachers outlines reasons for working with parents. It presents a sampling of practical strategies that teachers can use to foster parent competence and responsibility in the education of their children. It also contains answers to some of teachers' questions about getting parents to visit the school and encouraging them to…

Several strategies for improving communication between parents and teachers are explored in this handbook. Section I provides background information on parent-teacher communication. Recommendations to teachers for enhancing parent involvement in education are provided. Section II describes communication strategies for use in parent-teacher…

Offers suggestions to help teachers plan for more effective conferences with parents. (FL)

Explains that the purpose of parent-teacher conferences is to communicate the student's progress to the parents. Provides guidelines for a successful conference, including holding the conference in an open area and using a conversational communication style, avoiding educational jargon. Includes a sample student progress report. (CMK)

This booklet provides guidelines to help teachers better understand the importance of forming alliances with the primary caregivers (birth parents, adoptive parents, step parents, foster parents, or guardians) of the children whom they teach. Specific recommendations are offered concerning the following factors: conferences in the home, in school,…

Because family and school represent the primary environments in which young children grow and develop, it is important to build and maintain strong parent participation in preschool education. Teachers can plan parent participation strategies to give equal consideration to the needs of all families represented in a class. Teachers can plan for…

The hypothesis that the relationship between the technology and social structure of a school or classroom affects teacher behavior is explored with longitudinal data from a case study of faculty who attempted to replace letter grades and report cards with individualized, descriptive student assessment. (Author/GDC)

The manual covers methods for teachers to help parents understand and deal with their handicapped children and provides suggestions for improving parent-teacher meetings. Sections address the following topics: understanding parents' feelings and dealing with such special situations as referral for further tests and suspected child abuse;…

Presents a National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Ethics Commission member's comments and suggestions about how early childhood educators can best make sound decisions about the ethical dilemma of the welfare of the child and the confidentiality of its divorced parents. (BB)