Home and family are important predictors of student attitude and achievement. However, the coercive assimilation policies of the past have left a legacy of barriers between schools and Native parents. Parent participation in schools goes beyond a supportive role and includes activities influencing decision making. Key issues for Native parents…

This report describes and evaluates the first year of the "Parents Sharing Books" project, a parent outreach program for Indiana middle and junior high schools. The project focuses on increasing interaction between parents and middle school children with books that they read together, encouraging parents and children to share books and…

This report presents final (fifth year) results of Project Recurso, a federally funded project which provided 147 Spanish-speaking special education students (grades 3-5) in 12 New York City schools with instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL), Native Language Arts (NLA), and bilingual content area subjects. The project also provided…

An effort to foster intergenerational bilingual literacy by setting up technology-mediated partnerships between geographically distant parents of school children is described. The ethnic and linguistically minority parents who participated were from San Diego; Denver; and Caguas, Puerto Rico. This partnership between distant parents is part of a…

This booklet presents excerpts from a discussion by a panel of educators and policymakers brought together by the Academy for Educational Development (AED), an organization that addresses human development needs through education, communication, and information. Participants shared their experiences in creating opportunities and procedures which…

This report presents final (fifth year) results of 17 longitudinal studies on the costs and effects of providing alternative types of early intervention services to handicapped children. Part I summarizes activities undertaken by the project and outlines the contextual, theoretical, and historical factors underlying the conceptualization, design,…

A study was conducted to determine the reading habits and attitudes of parents and their children and to determine parents' familiarity with Reading Rainbow (a television program intended to stimulate young children's interest in reading for pleasure) and their attitudes toward the program. A total of 707 questionnaires were completed by parents…

A teacher action research study, undertaken as part of the larger Schools Reaching Out (SRO) project, sponsored by the Institute for Responsive Education, is described in this report. The project is based on the concept of the urban school, family, and community partnership as a means to improve all children's academic achievement and social…

This survey of 85 parents of children with handicaps (ages 14-25) assesses the involvement of parents in the transition process of the young person from home to work or independent living, the kind of involvement they desire, and responsibilities they would be willing to assume in order to be involved. Findings show that although more than…

The finding of positive effects of developmentally sensitive interaction on children's physical health is discussed and expanded in terms of five propositions. The first is that development requires participation in progressively more complex reciprocal activities on a regular basis over an extended period of time, with at least one person…

Education for citizenship in a constitutional democracy has been a long-standing goal of schools in the United States. To achieve this goal, students must learn their civil rights and responsibilities in a free society. This ERIC Digest discusses: (1) the importance of teaching about the responsibilities of citizenship; (2) deficiencies in…

This report is one of three resulting from a 50-state survey on the development of family policies through the implementation of Public Law 99-457 (Part H) and focuses on the Interagency Coordinating Council (ICC), the participation of family members, parental access to services, the identification of family strengths and needs, and family…

This guide offers suggestions for cooperation between the school or child care center and the home, and provides guidance to parents for their participation in centers and schools. It describes the necessary steps in planning for varied parent involvement and includes examples of parent involvement activities. Topics addressed in planning the…

The study described in this summary explores school and community factors that encourage parent participation in decisions that affect the quality of children's schooling. Its primary objective was to identify and compare factors that foster parent networks around school issues in suburban and urban areas. Five groups mobilized by middle class…

This case study deals with efforts made in one city to enhance the professional development strategies of schools by placing them under the auspices of a Successful Teacher Center (STC). The teacher center for the "Iroquois City" schools (Iroquois City is a fictitious name) was one of nine sites chosen by the Documentation and Technical…