The PTA continues to be engaged in projects and programs which relate to parents' and children's perception and understanding of the world of work, education, and career development. Current activities include a project focusing on television's effects on children and youth, the national PTA's Urban Education project determining issues in public…

Concerned with mental retardation as a social product, the following topics are discussed: mental retardation as a social phenomenon, the concept of the retarded as surplus population, labeling and incompetence in relation to life chances, mental retardation as deviance and as incompetence, and findings on the prevalence of retardation in the…

Decentralized decision-making is an important characteristic of effective schools. Effective decentralization requires that teachers, parents, students, and the community be involved, despite the various problems they face. The creation of school improvement councils is one step towards implementing the massive structural change needed to improve…

This guide for parents of gifted children in Texas is intended to provide general information and sources of additional help. Section 1 examines the meaning of being gifted and talented and provides the Texas definition of giftedness, lists of characteristics and concomitant problems of gifted and talented children, and a discussion of the highly…

This report is a series of interviews with fifteen citizens experienced in school community relations at five different sites across the nation. A background section presents the rationale for and the design of these interviews and introduces the participants. The greater portion of the report presents a summary of and commentary on the interviews…

Public control of the schools has steadily eroded in recent years. Population growth and widespread consolidation of school districts, depoliticization of school board elections, adoption of the business model of professional school management, development of a multilevel school bureaucracy, and unionization of teachers all have combined to…

This handbook is a compilation of information and source material used by the California Council of Parent Participation Nursery Schools in organizaing and constructing their system of nursery schools, in which the parents participate in the education of the children. The handbook is designed to help new schools get started or to anticipate or…

This text is designed to enable parents to become powerful advocates for their gifted children at school and at home. Chapters 1 through 5 focus on becoming an advocate at home. Chapter 1 discusses three broad characteristics of giftedness, the difference between bright and gifted children, and other dimensions of giftedness. Chapter 2 provides a…

This handbook discusses different types of disorders, mental health services, and school services. The first section highlights the importance of parental advocacy and family support networks. This is followed by a discussion of the plight of parents who have a child with an emotional or behavioral disorder and the perspective of a child with…

Noting that a growing number of men are not fulfilling their financial, moral, or social responsibilities to their children, this report aims to provide a rough "map" of the main elements of an emerging fatherhood movement along with a discussion of related policy and program initiatives. The report also provides selected examples of innovative…

This guide for parents of children with disabilities in Alberta (Canada) focuses on the role of the parent on the educational team. Part 1 describes the rights of parents, the responsibilities of parents, and where parents can go for information and help. Part 2 discusses schools as partners, including information for parents on how to procure…

Designed to respond to the information needs of parents of children with disabilities, this digest includes articles on coping with and raising a child with a disability. In the first article, "You Are Not Alone" (Patricia McGill Smith), a parent of a child with a disability speaks candidly about the emotions that many parents of…

This is the executive summary of the first of a series of planned studies on progress in the desegregation of the public schools in Boston, Massachusetts. The report covers the legal mandate, objectives, monitoring process, and findings for each of 12 areas which State officials are charged with monitoring: (1) student assignments; (2)…

Described is an action research program in four elementary schools in disadvantaged areas of Quincy, Illinois. This educational improvement effort focused on parent involvement and enrichment during and after school as well as in the summer. Curricular modifications and enrichment included field trips, development of listening skills, puppetry,…

This book is composed of six separate but interrelated chapters. The first presents a historical view of education through an exposition of four propositions: (1) success produces problems, (2) historically, people have supported schools because it was in their self-interest, (3) the schools' success and the serving of the public's self-interest…