This easy-to-read booklet for parents of handicapped children, contains information on how to organize parent groups to move bureaucracies toward providing better services for handicapped children. Included are suggestions for choosing effective leaders, lobbying for results, using various media, setting up classes in public schools or starting a…

This handbook is written to give groups of parents and citizens the insight and basic tools they need to develop their leadership potential. The four chapters focus on leadership styles, strategies of a leader, group functions, and motivation. Because the development of leadership is so closely related to organizing for action, this handbook…

Describes social/historical forces related to increased social activism of organized urban women and the rise of parent involvement in progressive education from the depression years of the 1890s to World War I. Examines public school response to women's initiatives. (RH)

Data from a study of 113 elementary school principals in the Chicago metropolitan area support the proposition that non-socioeconomic characteristics of the parental community (assertiveness, responsiveness, homogeneity, and eagerness to participate) account for variations in principals' perceptions of parents. Makes recommendations for effective…

Discusses possible ways of providing continuity of care for young children of working mothers, including industry - sponsored day nurseries, cooperative nursery schools, communal clusters where working and nonworking women share household tasks and child care, and expanded neighborhood day care. (MG)

This article reports on the status and major activities of parent associations at the United States Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Europe. Strengths and weaknesses of these schools, which serve over 100,000 American children, are discussed. (PP)

Activities of Special Education Parent Teacher Associations (SEPTAs) and issues which concern their membership are reported, based on information from a survey of some of these organizations in 12 states. (PP)

A parent and the music supervisor from the Ridgewood Public Schools in New Jersey describe how parents formed the Friends of Music association to provide moral and some financial support to the district's music education program. (Part of a theme issue on the crisis in music education.) (SJL)

All parents and all parochial schools and religious education centers must join forces to design, implement and evaluate a partnership schema that will give each child an ongoing in-class and in-home demonstration that he is truly loved. (Author/RK)

The mother of a 13-year-old boy with autism discusses the symptoms of autism from birth through 18 months and 18 through 36 months and her journey out of denial. The dreaded validation of the diagnosis and the support of other parents are addressed. Her husband shares some suggestions for stepfathers. (CR)

This directory lists government agencies, advocacy groups, and reading materials on attention deficit disorder (ADD). The directory includes 19 national organizations, 37 general print information sources, 32 books and pamphlets for parents of children with ADD, 20 resources for children with ADD, 9 books and pamphlets for adults with ADD, 36…

School and family surveys were conducted to study home-school contact for families with high school students. Methods for a public high school to increase such contact are described. About 33% (108) of the teachers, counselors, and administrators at a public high school (with an enrollment of about 2,200 students) answered a questionnaire in…

This study sought to determine if parents of gifted and talented learning-disabled children differed from parents of other gifted/talented children in their expectations of educational programming and parent-school relations. Subjects included 265 parents who were members of The Gifted and Talented Association of Montgomery County (Maryland) or…

The City-Wide Educational Coalition was founded to serve the needs of parents working to effect major change in the Boston school system. An account of the program activities of the Coalition during the 1976-77 school year is presented in this document. The responsibilities and work of various projects are described. Staff members of the projects…

Presented in this paper are some suggestions for cooperation between the schools and the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) for the improvement of children's reading ability. Suggestions for how the school can inform the parents about the school's reading program include: undertaking a long range study of the reading program in the school;…