Family Partnerships for Achievement is not a course typical of most master's programs in education. The course was designed with one overriding goal: to prepare teachers to be effective in the Boston Public Schools (BPS). This goal drives every aspect of the Boston Teacher Residency (BTR), a district-based program for teacher training and…

The overarching goal of the "Supporting Best Practices in Student Success Project" is to create, enhance, or expand successful programs that are replicable and can be scaled to greatly improve the percentage of underserved students who complete postsecondary education. In doing so, National College Access Network (NCAN) aimed to build…

Children with activity limitations are often referred to as having special needs, or being disabled or differently-abled. This simply means that they are unable to participate fully in age-appropriate activities because of chronic physical, mental, emotional or behavioral conditions. This brief examines the role of afterschool programs in…

Educators as well as noneducators often question the value of family involvement. Does it really make a difference? According to the research, the answer is yes. Sometimes, results come in more traditional measures--student achievement, attendance, or behavior. Unfortunately, efforts to increase meaningful family engagement in school are often set…

There are an increasing number of students with learning disabilities attending college. Several factors and programs have been suggested as helpful to the success of students with learning disabilities in the college setting. One of the factors which has been suggested to be helpful is attendance at a two year or junior college. Little research…

As a teacher who loves to bring botany into her preschool classroom of 4- and 5-year-olds, the author makes edible plants a regular, popular feature of her students' environment. The author is fascinated when her students become increasingly adventurous in their tastes for vegetables the more they handle and understand plants. The author decided…

Ongoing, strategic family-school partnering (FSP) is an essential component of every educational community. FSP is a multi-dimensional process in which schools, families, and communities engage in shared actions to ensure a child's academic, social, and emotional success. With this text, the authors intend to offer a practical guide that…

The author brings her counseling expertise, personal experience, and compassionate perspective to this practical resource that cultivates "cultural competence"--essential for work with diverse populations. Expanding the definition of culture, this book addresses how biases have evolved in new and challenging ways, and provides strategies to help…

Because schools are the heart and soul of a community, educational leaders have a responsibility to bring the community into the school, as well as to make the school a part of the surrounding community. This volume in the "Soul of Educational Leadership" series goes beyond administrative skills to examine educators' pivotal role of leading family…

Background: Service learning can enrich students' knowledge, skills and commitment to occupational goals while positively affecting communities. Undergraduate students in a course on obesity engaged in service learning by assisting with a family-based obesity prevention program, Getting Into Fitness Together (GIFT). Purpose: The impact of GIFT on…

This qualitative study provides information on the concerns faced by parents having children with Down syndrome in a centre-based Early Intervention Programme in Malaysia and how they coped with these concerns. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of five parents and two special educators. The interview and observation findings…

With the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the educational community has the opportunity to ensure that underserved populations, such as students of color and poor students, receive the necessary educational support to achieve academic success. Relevant data from the Education Trust (1999, 2003, 2006) suggest a growing…

This article presents the author's talk, entitled "Engaging with Parents," which was delivered as the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Distinguished Lecture at the NASP 2010 Annual Convention on March 4, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of this talk, the author believes education and psychology are involved in three…

The field of early childhood intervention for infants and young children with disabilities or delays has a rich history that spans many disciplines of practice. Both legislation and research has provided a foundation for how services are delivered to this population, and there are several recommended practices that govern service delivery to this…

This study explored the perceptions and perspectives of African American male students with regard to their experiences in a youth development initiative sponsored by a community-based organization. This examination aimed to ascertain the aspects of the program that, first, prompted the students to be a part of the initiative, but also those…