This manual is a resource book for organizers and leaders and parent groups who want to explore specific strategies to help children become better writers. The guide contains material necessary to conduct a 1- or 1.5-hour session on how parents can make writing more meaningful for children. The guide includes: (1) a leader's guide with…

This report describes an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Oklahoma City Public Schools' Even Start Family Literacy Project (ESFLP). The ESFLP sought to: (1) improve parents' basic literacy and employment skills; (2) enable parents to take a teaching-guiding role with their children; (3) encourage parents to become true partners with schools…

These five commissioned papers explore the relationship between educational reform and parent and community involvement for middle-grade education. The papers are: (1) "Comprehensive Districtwide Reforms in Parent and Community Involvement Programs" (Nancy Feyl Chavkin), on the resources and skills that school districts already have and…

This report assesses the quality and effectiveness of the educational services (partnership schools) provided to at-risk students in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), Wisconsin. It discusses the major themes emerging from the review of the school-by-school study and the issues that should be considered in the planning and implementation of future…

This essay describes charter school development and the 3-year Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Schools Collaborative, which worked with educators and parents to transform comprehensive high schools, increase student outcomes, and establish teacher engagement and parental involvement. Charter schools (intellectual and emotional communities of adults,…

Integrated Diverse Enrichment for Academic Learning (Project IDEAL) was an Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title VII-funded project in its first year of operation at Walton High School in the Bronx (New York). Project IDEAL served 192 students of limited English proficiency in 1992-93 with instruction in English as a second language (ESL),…

The 1968-69 school boycott in Hyde County (North Carolina) was one of the most sustained and successful protests of the civil rights movement. For a year, the county's black citizens refused to send their children to school in protest of a desegregation plan that required closing two historically black schools in their remote coastal community.…

Restructuring public education is central to the task of creating a healthy, just society. For the past 2 years, California Tomorrow's Education for a Diverse Society/School Restructuring Project has visited 32 randomly selected schools throughout California and talked with 1,000 teachers, students, parents, administrators, and advocates involved…

This study documented a kindergarten teacher's efforts to actively involve parents as partners in the literacy education of their children. In addition to the teacher, subjects of the study were her 26 pupils and their parents, all residents of rural New South Wales. Data were collected through anecdotal records, field observations, interviews,…

An evaluation was done of the participation of the core planning team members (CPTs) of 28 Phase II schools in Chicago (Illinois) in total site training provided by the Creating a New Approach to Learning Project (Project CANAL) for their schools from October 15, 1990 through January 30, 1991. The training's purpose was to assist schools to…

This practicum reports on the development of a support network for parents (n=34) of students with learning disabilities at a private rural elementary school. The program focuses on providing essential information to parents and increasing their involvement within the school setting. The program involved: (1) monthly meetings of parents; (2)…

Student Upgrading through Computer and Career Education System Services (Project SUCCESS) was an Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title VII-funded project in its third year of operation. Project SUCCESS served 460 students of limited English proficiency at two high schools in Brooklyn and one high school in Manhattan (New York City).…

Project PALS (Parenting and Literacy Skills) was designed as a model of holistic comprehensive family literacy for those families connected with a Head Start program. Forty-three of an anticipated 75 families were served. Adult students who were referred by Head Start personnel participated in classes in English as a Second Language, Adult Basic…

Given the help they want and need, families do spend time with their young children in developmentally appropriate learning activities. Following a successful experience with Family Connections 1, the Rural Excel Program at the Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL) developed a second volume of 22 colorful, four-page guides to learning, designed…

Since 1981, the Arizona Department of Education has coordinated the identification and dissemination of innovative programs and practices. A committee reviewed hundreds of submissions during the past 3 years and selected over 200 entries published in this catalogue as the best. Quality programs are broad in scope, time, and number of people…