This final report summarizes a six-year project, the Northern California Coalition, which sought to provide information and training to families within their communities and to increase the capacity of community-based parent groups. The coalition was a collaboration of three parent-directed agencies serving families of children with disabilities…

Even the best educational leaders can be unprepared for the responsibility of spending and accounting for the thousands of dollars that pass through school's books each year. Without a solid understanding of school financial management, administrators may find it a serious distraction from their primary pedagogical mission. They also risk damage…

This resource guide, consisting of pages downloaded from the DB-LINK Web site, is designed to assist parents, professionals, and others in identifying services that hold the potential for supporting and improving the lives of children and youth who experience combined vision and hearing loss. Information is provided on: (1) the American…

Author feels the need for parent-teacher groups will continue, since they are the means of communication between school and community. (SP)

Parents want to know what their children are doing in school; how well they are doing, and how they, as parents, can help. This article is reprinted from PTA Today, September, 1978. (Author/SJL)

A teacher in a day school for students with hearing impairments recounts development of a parent support group, including special problems and evidence of effectiveness. The article offers guidelines for other schools regarding preparation for meetings, conducting meetings, and possible meeting topics. (DB)

This article reports results of a national survey of 629 veteran and 704 referred parents participating in Parent to Parent programs, noting the program's role as part of comprehensive family-centered services for parents of young children with special needs. The survey collected information about where programs are, services they provide, and…

This survey of 11 presidents of professional education associations and parent organizations in Mississippi found that all responded positively to the idea of including gifted education workshops and presentations in future conference programs. Strategies for working with organizations and associations interested in gaining information on the…

Describes different home-schooling options available to children with disabilities. Services of a special-education consultant are reviewed, along with services of the Home School Legal Defense Association, an umbrella school that provides consulting services to home-schooling families, and a public school home-instruction program. (CR)

This paper explores the relationship between parents and schools. Over the last 30 years the importance attached to parents' views on education has increased significantly throughout the Western world. Policy-makers encourage parental participation and involvement through the creation of councils in which parents have a say. In Flanders in Belgium…

A practicum was designed to increase parents' participation in the education of their children by involving parents and teachers in a concentrated program of experiences and activities. The setting for the practicum was an elementary school for kindergarten through third grade, where teacher surveys, parent meetings, workshop attendance, and…

This paper examines issues of special needs advocacy in an international context and describes BRUSH (Brussels Support for the Handicapped), an advocacy organization in Brussels, Belgium. The possibility that advocacy is a culturally determined concept is raised. BRUSH is a group of families from the international community of Brussels who provide…

This resource packet presents some of the arguments for, and research about, parents playing an active role in the education of their children--not just by being supportive at home, but also by being involved in the school. The issues covered include: (1) the need for parent involvement; (2) goals of parent involvement; (3) types of parent…

The author describes the Parent Advisory Council for Exceptional Children of Baltimore City, an urban center program designed to increase active parental participation through formal and informal training which emphasizes Black student/parent rights and due process. Parents participate in a 6 week intensive training program with activities…

There are a number of reasons for the lack of parent interest in Title I Parent Advisory Councils (PAC). There are too many officials charged with implementing Title I who do not want to be bothered with an effective PAC. In addition, many officials do not seriously consider the experiences parents bring to their membership and do not have the…