In January 1990, the Leon County (Florida) School District decided to develop an attitude survey focusing on effective school components and school improvement areas. Using focus groups, this survey was accomplished through a steering committee of parents, students, teachers, and community members, with input from school and district…

One in a series of booklets for Hispanic American parents on making the most of a child's education, this volume encourages parents to think about and decide whether college is a good option for their child. It offers practical advice and information to face the educational challenges confronting children. Section 1 looks at why a child should…

This report shows that, in low-income Mexican-American and European-American families, children's everyday learning activities at home and aspirations of parents for their children's future are key elements in home-school linkages. Two models of home-school linkages are reviewed: the cultural match/mismatch model and the two-way partnership…

Project Clinico, a federally-funded bilingual education project, served 356 special education students of limited English proficiency in its second year of operation at six elementary schools in New York City (New York). The project provided special and modified instructional services for these students, consultation and training to teachers,…

This report describes a program for increasing student effort and achievement through the use of motivational strategies. The teaching staff at a high school in an upper-middle class urban area in Illinois noted that many students in a second-year high school Spanish class appeared unmotivated, demonstrated minimal academic effort, and earned poor…

A program was designed to address the problem of parents who are uninformed or misinformed about their child's reading or learning disability, resulting in frustration and the inability to interact effectively with their child in academic activities. The program was implemented at a private reading and learning center which serves about 125…

This report of the Committee on Labor and Human Resources favorably recommends that Senate Bill 1106, Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, be passed by the Senate. Noted are the legislation's purposes: to help States facing fiscal crises stay in the Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities program (Part H); to reward those…

General issues in the development of programs for language minority children at the preschool level, ages 2-4, are discussed. Focus is on the need to meet their comprehensive needs, and the five following points are made: (1) programs should be designed to serve the child's social/emotional, physical, and cognitive development within the context…

This book discusses several types of parent-teacher conferences and issues relevant to parent-teacher conferences in 10 chapters. Chapter 1 outlines a working model for successful parent-teacher conferences. Research on parent attitudes and relationships with teachers is summarized in chapter 2. Chapter 3 discusses communication topics, including…

The Cognitive Enrichment Network (COGNET) Follow Through Project provides a community framework in which parents and preschool and primary grade teachers can help children learn. This report summarizes results of studies in a Tennessee school district on the impact of COGNET on children, teachers, and parents. The COGNET instructional model has…

This handbook for kindergarten teachers attempts to provide a foundation on which teachers can build dynamic kindergartens at the community level. The physical, social, and cultural characteristics of 5-year-olds are described. A philosophy for kindergarten is stated, and goals of kindergarten education are listed. Goals involve physical, social,…

This practicum involved 63 children of 3-5 years who were enrolled in a day care center in a city public school. The practicum addressed the children's inability to verbalize personal needs effectively. Ineffective communication skills created problems in the children's achievement and progress level, and resulted in incidents of aggressive acting…

In this document, a "two-generation program" is defined as a program "that addresses the developmental needs of children within a family support context." The rationale for Head Start as a two-generation program that includes, but goes beyond, the boundaries of the welfare reform strategy, is explored. Major program goals…

During the 1988-89 school year, the Portland, Oregon, Board of Education adopted an approach based on developmentally appropriate practices for improving early childhood education in public schools. Part of the plan for implementing the approach focused on a teachers' self-study process. The goals of the self-study project, in which three…

The Pasadena Unified School District, in northwest Los Angeles County, recognized that an early intervention program for economically disadvantaged children should be part of its comprehensive district revitalizing and restructuring plan. Consequently, staff developed the Kindergarten Program for Four-Year-Olds, which was designed to provide: (1)…