Families facing poverty suffer from many other stresses, with children's school performance being one of the common topics. A life of poverty and the related unfavourable circumstances should not define children's life stories. Ensuring this is not the case is partly the responsibility of professionals working with families. It is important to…

A home intervention program for 18 learning disabled and educable mentally retarded elementary school children and their families included biweekly home visits during which parents were shown specific learning activities or games. Analysis of pre and post tests on the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT), the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for…

A longitudinal study measuring language, academic achievement, and social functioning was conducted of four groups of hearing-impaired children (N=23 per group). Those who had received home intervention were found to perform better in most areas than no-intervention children, with slight advantages found in those receiving earlier intervention and…

A home-based reinforcement program was instituted with three underachieving fourth graders who exhibited inappropriate behavior. Each day the children brought home a workbook assignment indicating percentage of correct responses and parents provided reinforcement for correct items and for improvement over time. Effectiveness on completion of daily…

In order to establish an initial data source for elementary level home-based intervention programs, 18 dyads of second-graders and their parents were divided into three mutually exclusive achievement groups and observed while completing an instructional tool introduced into the home by the childs' school. Parent/child interactions were stimulated…

This presentation discusses longitudinal results of a home-based program for low SES black and white children whose parents received weekly visits designed to chart children's individualized enrichment when they were from 2 to 5 years of age. The program drew upon school and community resource personnel when appropriate, to provide parents with…

This paper describes procedures used to stratify and refine an original sample of 951 families with preschool children living in the Appalachia area, for a study to provide information on the target audience for Appalachia Educational Laboratory's Home-Oriented Preschool Education Program (HOPE). The procedure was to force-match the sample…

Evaluates a two-year intervention program for low income families in which a toy demonstrator modeled verbal interactions with children ages two to four. Contrary to earlier results, finds no detectable program effects in children's IQ, achievement, or school adjustment three years post-program. Considers problems of ensuring that samples are…

This paper summarizes evaluations of 28 preschool intervention programs designed to train parents to prepare their young children for school achievement. Evaluations selected for review were internal assessments by program staffs. The summary is organized around three questions: (1) Do parent training programs affect children's cognitive…

This study examines the effectiveness of three levels of reading materials (second, fifth and eighth grade) and two types of illustrations (decorative and instructional) on Appalachian parents' ability to complete a prescribed set of home teaching activities. The study was used in the development of parent materials for the Appalachia Educational…

This is an executive summary of the interim report on National Home Start Evaluation. Home Start, a federally-funded 3-year (1972-1975) home-based demonstration program for low-income families with 3- to 5-year-old children was designed to enhance a mother's skills in dealing with her own children and to provide comprehensive social-emotional,…

This is a demographic survey of families with preschool children in the Appalachian area conducted to provide information concerning the target audience for the Appalachia Educational Laboratory's Home-Oriented Preschool Education Program (HOPE). HOPE is an integrated approach to education for preschool and kindergarten children using home, group…

The Consortium for Longitudinal Studies was formed to answer the question of whether early education programs have measurable long term effects on the performance of children from low income families. Every early intervention study that had a specific curriculum, focused on children from low income families, was completed prior to l969, and had an…

The general purpose of this study was to gain information from the 1970 U.S. Census on the social and educational characteristics of rural Appalachian families with preschool children so that effective programs could be planned to meet their educational needs. More specifically, the data were needed to determine if Appalachia Educational…

This followup study of the effects of the Mother-Child Home Program developed by the Verbal Interaction Project (VIP) measures the school performance of nine groups of 162 third grade children from low income families. The program of 92 home sessions spaced over two school years focused on the mother and child as a socially interactive dyad, and…