A practicum program was developed and implemented to increase parental involvement, teach parents how to help their children, reverse parents' and students' negative attitudes toward mathematics, and enhance mathematics performance of at-risk seventh-grade students. The objectives of the program were to increase parental involvement by 40 percent,…

This document reports on the purpose, implementation, and outcomes of a policy forum on strategies used to address the disproportionate number of students from minority ethnic/racial groups receiving special education. Participants included representatives of state education agencies, local education agencies, the university/research community,…

The expectations of parents of students with disabilities who transferred schools through an open enrollment option were examined in this qualitative study. In-depth interviews were conducted with parents of 18 children and adolescents who transferred their child through Minnesota's open enrollment law. Interviews addressed: the student's history…

This paper describes a field-based effort in which practicing teachers collaborated with a university researcher to develop, inaugurate, and maintain a family literacy program. In this context, family literacy is an intergenerational program serving all members of the family, meeting the needs of adult family members as individuals, not just as…

As the world becomes more diverse socially, culturally, and economically, there are growing expectations that the individual's differences and rights will be recognized, respected, and responded to in positive ways. This book provides teachers of both multi-age and diverse single-age classrooms guidance on classroom organization, curriculum…

This paper describes the effect of cultural context on the content of kindergarten curriculum in Poland, chronicling the historical changes from Communist to post-Soviet, capitalist cultures. Soviet cultural influence on early childhood education from 1945 to 1989 is described as affecting a single obligatory curriculum, strict government control,…

This paper presents a critical qualitative account and analysis of resistance and contestation over the decision-making process in a special education program. The parties involved were four parent advocates, who formed an advocacy organization, and the school administration in a rural school district in the Midwest. A subtle but powerful bias…

The persistent underrepresentation of women and people of color in science and mathematics education and careers remains a challenge to all who champion the commitment of equity and excellence in education. This is the first publication in a series produced by the Science and Mathematics Education unit at the Northwest Regional Educational…

This study (reported in separate English and Spanish versions) used a qualitative approach to identify the supportive parental behaviors of academically successful children from low income families in Even Start programs, from the parents', teachers', and children's perspectives. The sample contained 12 low income parents who had one or more…

This project, "First Teachers," studied urban African-American families' perceptions of an after school involvement program which incorporates family storytelling and writing using computers. The project also examined the development and maintenance of university partnerships with inner-city school families, families' interaction and…

This report describes a project to research and create a lesson book and audiotape cassette to help adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners acquire specific language skills, vocabulary, and oral practice for communicating confidently and effectively with their children's teachers. The report describes the procedures for development and…

This paper reports on the perceptions of rural teachers who completed the Exceptional Family course as part of a specialized rural training program at Southeastern Louisiana University. A requirement for certification or a master's degree in special education, the course aims to provide an understanding of exceptional families using a family…

This lesson plan for the first grade uses information on transportation, with sub-themes of communities and careers, to provide history/social science education for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in San Diego, California. Activities and materials from the State scholastic science kit are also used, as are songs, poems, music, and games.…

The practicum reported here addressed the difficulty some newly-immigrated Spanish-speaking, limited-English-proficient high school students experience in adjusting to a new culture, putting them at risk of dropping out of school. A program was designed for this population in a suburban high school with a substantial and increasing immigrant…

In 1991-92, over 50,000 surveys were administered to high school students, elementary school and secondary school teachers and administrators, elementary school students' parents, and graduates from the Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD). Parent responses are not published in this report, which discusses the following parameters:…