Encourages close communication between parents and early childhood teachers. Initial contacts and contacts throughout the school year help to convey general information about the school to parents. Visits, notes, and telephone calls can be used to provide specific information about individual children. (GH)

A third-grade classroom teacher describes five methods of communication between parents and teachers: (1) the weekly folder, (2) the informative notice, (3) weekly visits by parents, (4) the daily note, and (5) after school assistance for students, with parents discussing students' progress with the teacher when they pick up their child. (DB)

This article discusses the advantages of student-led conferences for students with and without disabilities and their families, including increased student involvement, student goal-setting, student reflection, and student responsibility. It describes the steps and positive results from one school district that has adopted the student-led…

Notes that two roles teachers assume that often cause tension and hard feelings are those of family therapist and parent expert. Discusses how teachers share in children's development, how to recognize emotional or difficult situations with parents, and how teachers can help parents find the help they need without adopting those helping roles…

This article reviews literature on the use of interpreters and offers recommendations that will promote effective communication among family members, service providers, and interpreters who speak the family's language, but have not been trained formally as interpreters or special educators. The complexity of the interpretation process is…

Lessons to plan, meetings to attend, bulletin boards to keep up on, and students to educate are just a few of the challenges encountered during the first year of teaching. For many teachers, it is not the hours or workload that cause the most stress, but rather the very people they are trying to help. These people are the parents of the students.…

This field research report examined the efficacy of the Spectrum Assessment Model (SAM), a measure used to provide teachers and parents with a broad profile of preschool children's abilities, skills, and interests. The measure was developed by educators at Harvard and Tufts Universities in 1984 and assesses young children's cognitive abilities in…

The Parent Involvement Research Program assessed the extent of parental involvement in the educational process of handicapped children in Kansas, and implemented three training models in urban and rural areas to increase parent participation levels. The three training models were teacher-to-parent contact, parent-to-parent contact, and community…

University Child Care at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst uses written policies, a personal safety curriculum, and parent-teacher dialogues to prevent child sexual abuse. This paper discusses aspects of these three components. Discussion of written policies focuses on the mandated reporter status of caregivers, state laws, procedures for…

Research has shown that parents can make significant contributions to the education of their severely emotionally disturbed children if given appropriate guidance by education professionals. To actively engage parents in educational processes, educators need to be skilled in effective communication strategies. Working with parents on one focused…

A parent-teacher conferencing procedure is described, and the results of a survey designed to determine the attitudes of parents and teachers toward components and outcomes of conferences are presented. The procedure involves a 20-minute conference at the end of the first marking period (November), with report cards sent for the three remaining…

This pamphlet guides parents of children with disabilities through the procedures for acquiring special education services in the state of Washington. Following an overview of special education, the pamphlet presents information on notice and consent procedures, confidentiality of records, individualized education programs (IEP), the placement…

Forty-four randomly selected parents of handicapped students from two New England school districts described their level of participation in special education referral, planning, and placement process by responding to questions either in writing or orally in a telephone interview. Among responses were the following: 93% of parents were notified of…