Family responses to family-school conflicts may be manifested in family interaction and/or work performance and are influenced by numerous factors including socioeconomic status, child's grade level, family structure, cultural background, financial or structural stress, and rigidity of functioning. (Author/PB)

Discusses an approach to parent-teacher conferences that involves fifth graders as equal partners with their parents and teacher. Students update their portfolios for the student-parent-teacher conferences, ask and answer questions about their achievements, and discuss their work with their parents. Parents are expected to answer questions about…

Surveys completed by beginning elementary teachers revealed that one of their greatest concerns was perceived inability to deal with parents. Attempted to apply to real world of parent-teacher conferencing that which is learned by beginning teachers in role-play situation. Suggests counselors use such inservice education with new teachers. (NB)

Teacher-parent collaborative consultation can be useful in planning appropriate vocational programs for adolescents with disabilities. Such consultation can involve informing parents of vocational opportunities, planning vocational assessment and collecting vocational information, developing vocational components of individualized education plans,…

Teachers who believe that a particular preschooler is not progressing normally can use the suggestions in this article at conferences with the preschooler's parents. Methods for getting more information to parents and working with parents to arrange for a referral are discussed. (BB)

Explains the educational rights that exist for special needs children and ways that parents can advocate to obtain appropriate services. Benefits of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) are explained as well as what to do if the parent disagrees with the IEP assessment. (GLR)

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…

This engaging, rich resource is designed for teachers, parents, and administrators in diverse schools or districts who know there is no quick fix for building lasting partnerships among families, schools, and communities. Going far beyond traditional "parent involvement programs," this essential volume offers ideas on how teachers and parents…

A study examined how a portfolio might be utilized to present student growth, or lack of growth, in narrative writing within a 12-week period. It addressed the problem of establishing specific portfolio assessment criteria for narrative writing samples, and effectively utilizing portfolios as an evaluation tool for parent/teacher/student…

This paper provides Indian parents of children with disabilities with information from the Education for Parents of Indian Children with Special Needs Project concerning communication between Indian parents and non-Indian service providers. Five basic strategies for effective communication are reviewed: (1) when you do not understand, ask for…

This book is a teachers' guide to the "Primary Learning Record." The "Primary Learning Record" is a development of the "Primary Language Record," which has provided teachers with strong support for their record-keeping of children's language and literacy progress and development. It offers a clear format for…

Parents and professionals in rural Massachusetts collaborated on a project designed to integrate children with behaviors associated with autism and pervasive developmental disorders into a community elementary school. This paper describes implementation of program features for 11 autistic children. Features of the program include family and…

This guide, in English and Spanish, presents ideas for parents to assist their child's progress at school. The contents include ten sections on the following topics: (1) getting started (the importance of attendance and health requirements); (2) report cards; (3) scheduling study time and developing study skills; (4) talking to the teacher; (5)…

Annotations from 11 documents and journals in the ERIC system deal with ways for parents to evaluate schools and how parental evaluation can be utilized to improve school quality and parent-school relations. (MLF)

Interviews with parents of fifth-graders in 153 urban and suburban Chicago (Illinois) area households provided researchers with answers to several questions about the nature of parent participation in education. The researchers considered parent participation to be an aspect of educational politics. They measured the level of participation at the…