This book discusses ways in which special-interest groups influence the content of textbooks used in public and private schools throughout the United States. The book focuses on recent federal lawsuits involving attempts to censor or ban reading, literature, science, and social studies textbooks. Recreating the story behind each lawsuit, the book…

This practicum developed a support group for parents of learning-disabled adolescents at the high school level, to explore career opportunities, adolescent behavior, and postsecondary academic settings. The practicum project surveyed parents concerning their interest in a parent support group, formed volunteer parent committees, arranged for guest…

The Families Involved in Schools and Community (FISC) Project was a federally funded project to develop and demonstrate the use of a model Individualized Family Service Plan process for young children with challenging needs and their families. The model emphasizes an individualized family systems perspective, informal nonintrusive assessment and…

New York City's Special Education School Articulation Program, which fosters informed student and parent choice about available high school program options, is described. Initial program objectives for the 1990-91 school year included hiring of school articulation coordinators and development of specific articulation plans by middle and high…

Many parents of children at risk for failure do not participate in school-related activities. Some parents have a negative view of all school contacts. This practicum examined ways to engage parents of children at risk of failure in informative and self-help experiences that helped the parents feel more connected with the school experience. Eight…

Designed to help parents in their important role as their children's most powerful guide to reading and learning, this book contains directions, guidelines, and activities to build a positive environment and a relationship that promotes learning. Chapter titles are: (1) Helping Children with Reading and Learning; (2) Creating Interest and Positive…

This study examined whether infants with Down syndrome (N=32) undergoing early motor training would benefit from their parents observing a clinician implement an intervention program with their child. Parents of half the children remained in the room while the clinician implemented motor stimulation techniques, while parents of the other half were…

Designed to tap the rich collection of instructional techniques in the ERIC database, this compilation of lesson plans offers practical suggestions to help elementary school students discover the fun involved in becoming and being literate. The 40 lesson plans in the book are divided into sections entitled "Classroom Reading Strategies and…

This manual provides documentation and guidance for users of the public release data files for the Early Childhood Education (ECE) component of the 1991 National Household Education Survey (NHES:91). Information is presented about the purpose of the study, the data collection instruments, the sample design, and data collection and data processing…

The National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) is the third in a series of longitudinal studies sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics. The NELS:88 is being conducted in several waves, beginning with a base year experience of approximately 25,000 eighth graders. This report profiles the family characteristics and…

Findings of a case study that investigated immigrant bilingual and English-speaking parents' views on education are presented in this paper. The study was undertaken to analyze the relationship between cultural knowledge and the parents' attitudes toward schooling. Participant observation and interviews were conducted with 3 teachers and 13…

The Infant Follow Along Program (IFAP) is an interagency effort to improve the identification of infants and toddlers who may experience health or developmental problems because of medical or environmental risk factors. The program also facilitates data collection and referral for services for infants and families. The program is in use in an…

In 1991 World Book and the National Elementary School Principals conducted a study of over 8,700 elementary school principals concerning attitudes they felt were important about the parental role in education. The current study compares the perceptions of principals with the opinions of parents through a national random telephone survey of 830…

This report presents evaluative information of the effectiveness of the Career Awareness and Resource Education (Project CARE) program in New York City. The program served 346 students of limited English proficiency. Participating students received instruction in English as a second language ESL, native language arts (NLA), the content areas, and…

Educational technology is a significant resource for meaningful, active, sensory, and relevant instruction for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in the elementary grades, particularly those students who are educationally disadvantaged. It is suitable for bridging the instructional gap in bilingual education so these children can have the…