Reframing notions of parent involvement (being present in the school building) to parent engagement (viewing multiple constructions of how parents are involved) is the purpose of this paper. The authors highlight the knowledge gained from data collected from a series of family and staff focus groups regarding parent and staff perceptions of…

Parental engagement is an area of school life that school leaders often aspire to increase, but it can be a challenge. This is especially so when trying to attract parents whose engagement is already low or absent. Science presents opportunities for engagement from which other subjects may not benefit. The collaborative nature of science and the…

Public policies have actively responded to an emergent social and neuroscientific evidence base documenting the benefits of targeting services to children during the earliest period of their development. But problems of low utilization, inconsistent participation, and low retention continue to present themselves as challenges. Although most…

Preschool children could be helped to make early adjustment to a school environment before normal schooling begins. Transition from home to school represents one of the biggest changes that children undergo in the first eight years of life. This change may be likened to that which a seedling undergoes when transplanted from one place to another.…

Researchers, policymakers, and educators have long recognized the role of parents in shaping student achievement. A large body of observational studies documents the strong relationship between family background and educational outcomes, but to date there have been very few experimental studies in this area. In this study, the authors offer a…

This updated second edition of Parent ­Friendly Early Learning brings to life real scenarios that care providers face in today's world. We know parent engagement is important for a child's success, but how do you turn parent ­provider relationships into partnerships? Parent Engagement in Early Learning will help you: (1) Improve parent-­teacher…

This study evaluated a model of parent involvement in secondary special education and transition planning and identified motivators affecting a parent's decision to become involved. Survey data were collected from a national sample of 300 parents of transition-age youth with disabilities. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis indicated the…

Historically, African American students in higher education have struggled to succeed, and those whose parents never had much of an education are considered first-generation students. These students face social and educational issues such as coming from single-parent or low-income homes, a lack of family support, financial difficulties, and…

This ethnographic case study explores parent volunteers at two Jewish American schools and two Israeli schools of similar ideological background. It is an attempt to understand parent involvement in general--from the viewpoint of the parent him or herself--as well as the influence of volunteerism on school culture. It offers a new categorization…

The authors' goal was to identify ways in which Korean immigrant parents define the concept of parental involvement and to examine the statistical significances of interrelationships among these meanings. Seventy-seven parents responded to an open-ended question that asked them to define the meaning of parental involvement; 141 responses were…

To increase capacity for public participation and improve problem-solving practices, some public school districts have launched stakeholder-training programs. This mixed methods study examined the impact of five school district parent training programs (four in Colorado and one in Illinois) designed to increase trust and engagement. Data were…

There is an increasing awareness of the benefits that accrue from parental involvement in a student's academic learning and of the impact that teachers have on programs regarding such parental involvement. This study seeks to investigate the views of the teachers working in Kuwait's public schools regarding the effectiveness of parental…

Offering an analysis of our multifaceted experiences as three Korean immigrant early childhood teacher educators in the United States, this critical collaborative self-study examines how positions as immigrant mothers and teacher educators interplay with each other. This study also explores ways in which the intersectional experiences influence…

We explore and characterize the use of WhatsApp group instant messaging as part of the social media trend in the context of parental engagement and participation in public schooling. We reveal how this platform is utilized within public school parental interactions, emphasizing the possible benefits as well as obstacles for such technologies in…

Early interventionists interact and partner with a multitude of families, all with unique strengths, backgrounds, and circumstances. During partnerships with family members, professionals may encounter interactions and relationships that they perceive as challenging or imbalanced. Skilled Dialogue is a framework which emphasizes the use of…