Reporting practices used by school systems serving elementary age, educable mentally retarded children were determined and reporting techniques evaluated. All the Minneapolis-St. Paul school systems submitted specimen report cards, and 91 of a possible 124 teachers in 23 school systems completed a questionnaire appraising common reporting…

An attempt to improve procedures for reporting the progress of mentally handicapped children in special classes, the guidelines state considerations related to the intent and design of report cards and describe a survey of 188 report cards used in special classes. Four sample report cards are included, which are designed to cover identification…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between recommended administrative practices and procedures used in desegregated secondary schools to achieve integration and the quality of integration of desegregated secondary schools. A school system was chosen in the southeast. The Prime Secondary Student Questionnaire was…

This book offers an alternative to the traditional teacher-parent conference by giving the responsibility for assessment to the students. As students reflect on their own learning, seek out the views of others, and prepare their own portfolios, they come to know themselves as learners. The process combines assessment, teacher research, parent…

These four quarterly newsletter issues address various topics of interest to teachers of young children. Each issue includes articles on a specific theme, along with regular columns. The Fall 2000 issue focuses on imbuing celebrations with meaning. One article describes how one Japanese preschool adapts concepts from the Waldorf education approach…

Presents the following six articles on working with parents: (1) "Conversing with Parents through Dialogue Journals"; (2) "Reading with Your Child at Home"; (3) "Dads by the Dozens"; (4) "Parents in Your Classroom: A Valuable Literacy Link"; (5) "Inclusion: But They Still Won't Play with Me"; and…

Three articles present suggestions to help elementary teachers promote student development. The first describes games that encourage a sense of community. The second deals with making parent teacher conferences a positive experience. The third discusses how to give confused children who are involved in custody battles an alternative to acting out.…

This article describes a preservice special education teacher education course at the University of Maryland which requires students to interact directly with parents of different social classes and cultural backgrounds. Three students recount their experiences and changed attitudes as a result of this requirement. (DB)

Provides guidelines for fostering positive teacher-parent relationships. Discusses recent legislative mandates, how parent/teacher relationships are affected by current policy issues promoted by professional education organizations, and methods of constructive communication. Parents and teachers of students with learning disabilities are urged to…

Reviews eight techniques for assessing family-school connections studied by participants in a two-year school personnel training program: informal observation and discussion; examination of pre-existing data; review of places, policies, and programs; focus group discussion; mailed survey; survey at school; telephone survey; and radio call-in.…

This article reviews the assessment procedures, treatment procedures, and the advantages and disadvantages of three professional-family team models: multidisciplinary teams, interdisciplinary teams, and transdisciplinary teams. Guidelines for optimal team participation are provided. The importance of mission statements, communication, trust,…

This parent education curriculum contains a variety of materials designed to help local Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) hold meetings for parents on child rearing. The materials help organizers plan meetings on topics such as dating, drugs, and careers. The unit contains a leader's guide, which contains a description of how to plan meetings,…

A bilingual survey was developed to register the feelings of parents toward involvement in their children's preschool and kindergarten and to determine the unique needs of parents during interactions with the schools. The survey was tested with 50 parents, and the results were tabulated to determine differences between the feelings of Hispanic and…

This compendium provides 73 programmatic approaches for involving parents in their children's education. These strategies demonstrate the broad range of ways in which principals and teachers communicate with parents and work to help them support their children's learning. The strategies are organized into six categories. The first is home-school…

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…