Culturally diverse minority groups make up 40 percent of America's deaf and hearing-impaired school population but only 14 percent of special education teachers. In addition, 90 percent of deaf students have parents who can hear, and one-third reside in rural areas. Although they are primarily Euro-American, hearing, and untrained in deaf…

This practicum report describes an intervention to improve children's experiences of transitions to and from a day care center and from one activity to another throughout the day. Training workshops for parents and staff were held for 32 weeks. The purpose of the training, which included lectures for large groups and meetings for small groups, was…

This book describes a sharing classroom community where first-grade children and teachers think and learn together. The book describes how a sense of trust was fostered; how the daily schedule, classroom space, and materials were organized; how the children participated in shared literacy; how the children practiced and shared what they learned;…

This practicum was designed to strengthen preschool and elementary school teachers' abilities and commitment to working with parents and including them as active participants in the education of their children. It sought to help teachers identify beliefs about involving parents in the classroom and school, and to develop materials and activities…

This paper reports on how teachers and principals in Maine schools perceive current and desired involvement of parents, community members, and students in school decision making. A survey assessed decision making in four basic areas: (1) mission, goals, and objectives; (2) curriculum, from specific learning outcomes to development of curriculum…

This book contains a discussion of the resource program concept for students with special needs, the roles of the resource teacher, and directions for implementing and operating resource programs. Part I outlines a rationale for resource programs, their historical development, types of resource models, research-based effectiveness of this…

This guide instructs parents on how to maximize their children's educational opportunities at home and in school. A detailed agenda is given to help children and their teachers foster real learning, learning that is more than memorizing data or competing for grades. Real learning is discovering how to think, expressing creativity, and developing…

Research has demonstrated that parent involvement has many beneficial effects for students. This action research project designed and implemented a program to raise the academic achievement of second-grade students by increasing parent involvement. The students attended two second-grade classrooms in a west-central Illinois school. The problem of…

This paper provides a discussion of definitions, historical precursors, and prevalence figures for children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and highlights relevant medical and behavioral characteristics. It also addresses the educational implications of working with children with FAS in terms of instruction and curriculum. Educators are urged…

This module presents the philosophical perspective that the fostering of family/professional partnerships is an integral part of effective service delivery to young children with disabilities. The module addresses the issues involved in nurturing the development of dynamic working relationships with families. The issues include: (1) understanding…

This document describes four states' approaches to increasing the involvement of families in schools. It discusses the strategies used by the states to: (1) enhance teachers' capacity to work with families; (2) encourage local school districts to develop family involvement programs; (3) encourage efforts that use family involvement as a component…

This set of instructional materials consists of a 12-page leader's guide and 75 activity sheets to be used in adult literacy programs by parents who want to help their children learn. The leader's guide explains the purpose of the materials and offers suggestions for use of the materials one on one, in a class group, and outside the class or…

One of nine competency-based training modules for personnel preparation in early childhood special education, this guide focuses on family collaboration. All modules are adaptable for use with a general audience, direct service personnel, or administrators and are based on the following principles of the Ohio Department of Education's Division of…

Teachers from eight East Harlem (New York) day care centers were trained in a program called Literacy Through Love, that was designed to prepare day care center teachers to initiate family reading workshops at their centers. The five-session training program focused on stories, folktales, nonfiction, wordless picture books, and poetry. Each…

This guide for teachers explores the dynamics of successful parent involvement with their children's education. The guide is centered on 10 keys to family involvement: (1) creating a new definition of parent that includes alternative caregivers; (2) moving toward "family involvement" rather than just parent involvement; (3) devising new…