The changing expectations of the families of today's college students may clash with institution's traditional philosophies of parental involvement. Article examines familial expectations and recommends strategies for developing appropriate channels for involvement. (Contains 20 references and 4 tables.) (GCP)

The legislative purpose behind Congress's enactment of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is to promote communication between institutions and the parents of students. Article revisits the historical context of FERPA and offers insights into recent amendments that redefine some aspects of the provisions in the original statute.…

The article describes an early intervention approach to aquatics for preschool children with autism. The Aquatic Nursery program successfully taught both the children and their parents to become involved in swimming. Specific programming details are provided in relation to people with autism, and particular attention is paid to aquatic skill…

This study of time-limited support groups attended by partners of individuals with visual impairments found that participation increased the attendees' knowledge of their visually impaired partners' situations, improved the quality of communication between the partners, and reduced the sighted partners' negative appraisal of their role.

This study examined data from over 300 U.S. schools on their efforts to develop high quality programs of school, family, and community partnerships. Analyses show that elementary schools, schools with greater support from parents, teachers, and the community; and schools that evaluated progress reported higher quality partnership programs over…

Families can help prevent violence through nurturing empathy in their children. This article provides the framework for supporting families in becoming active in their children's development of empathy. Strategies are provided that help parents and family implement empathy development.

In this article, Patricia Illsley and Morag Redford explore the role of one New Community School project in Scotland in its engagement with families and the wider community. They describe the use of a community learning and development approach to inter-agency working, which has enabled parents to take an active role in the project. The authors…

Family care of the elderly is key to the long-term care system, and its importance has led to an abundance of research over the past two decades. Several methodological and substantive issues, if addressed, could create even more targeted and interpretable research. The present review critically examines methodological topics (i.e., definitions of…

Although economically disadvantaged and minority students made some gains in their academic achievement performance, education reforms still fail to close the academic achievement gap between them. A discussion of the factors that influence the achievement gap is presented and provides some professional development implications. According to the…

One of the most misunderstood issues in pre-K-12 education today is how to educate children who are not yet proficient in English. When policymakers refer to these students as English language learners (ELLs)--as many school district officials presently do--or as limited English proficient students (LEPs)--as federal legislators did in the No…

This paper estimates the number of American children in grades K-12 who live without their biological fathers and examines the association of absent-father status with children's well-being. The 2003 Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (n = 12,426) shows that 28% percent of White…

Mexican American students are the fastest growing group in U.S. public schools. There is a growing body of research indicating that Mexican American families underutilize mental health services and are more likely to drop out of care prematurely when they do seek help. These findings may indicate that our health care system is not providing ethnic…

The parent-school relationship for families of students with disabilities is clearly prescribed by law and is one of the main tenets of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 2004 (Newman, Cameto, & Hernandez, 2005). The measurement of this relationship presents a challenge in the context of what is meaningful participation,…

In a global society, internationally mobile (IM) families experience challenges as well as benefits while living a transient lifestyle. Considering the human costs of relocation and transience for IM families, it is important to understand their survival strategies. A qualitative research approach was used to study 45 IM families who had children…

Researchers and policy makers have questioned the efficacy of family-involvement interventions. They believe that more studies are needed to compare outcomes of students whose families received a partnership intervention with those who did not. The author used data from the state of Ohio to compare student attendance in elementary schools that…