The present study utilised naturalistic observation to assess the impact of parental departure during daily drop-off at preschool on children's settling into daily preschool routines. Forty-six 3-5-year-old children and their parents/caregivers were observed during morning drop-off at preschool. Longer latencies of parent/caregiver leaving were…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was used to determine the impact of parental participation strategies on reading achievement of students in an elementary setting. The problem is that the identified school fails to implement strategies to increase parental participation, in preparing students for the 21st century. One hundred…

Creating a healthier school in today's world of budget cuts and seemingly endless to-do lists is not only possible, but it is also imperative. Beyond the health implications, one of the most compelling reasons for creating healthier schools is that wellness serves as a power booster for learning. Numerous studies have documented what educators…

Family literacy has moved of late to the forefront of school reform, mostly because of the implementation of the No Child Left Behind policy. Family literacy has become a process of colonization: Standardization of the skill-based approach and Euro-American middle-class practices have become the norm for evaluating the involvement of all parents.…

There is a long tradition of studying parent-child relationships and adolescent delinquency. However, the association between parent-child relationships and criminal offending during young adulthood is less well understood. Although the developmental tasks of young adulthood tend to focus on intimate relationships, employment, and family…

This article examines the challenges of parent-teacher relationships in an affluent school district, drawing on 30 in-depth interviews of mothers and elementary school teachers in the USA. Professional women who have put their careers on hold to care for their children are apt to define being a good mother in terms of the academic achievement of…

Mediation analysis in child and adolescent development research is possible using large secondary data sets. This article provides an overview of two statistical methods commonly used to test mediated effects in secondary analysis: multiple regression and structural equation modeling (SEM). Two empirical studies are presented to illustrate the…

The degree to which parents and teachers perceive they are working together in the best educational interests of children is a critical aspect of school culture. In previous work by Hoy, Tarter, and Woolfolk Hoy, the phenomenon was named "faculty trust" and was measured with data from teachers. The current study builds on Hoy et al.'s work by…

The programs of the Rutgers' Center for Family Involvement in Schools create a partnership for learning between families and schools that promotes and enhances academic success. They also create a powerful school climate that demonstrates respect, trust, and belonging. In addition to teacher-training programs, the center conducts summer leadership…

Educational reform in South Africa envisions schooling where all students, irrespective of their background characteristics, have the opportunity to succeed. To achieve this vision, the South African education system needs to function in such a way that students' success does not depend on their backgrounds; that is, if school processes and…

Every secondary school leader in the United States is aware of the importance of a successful transition from middle to high school. Schools and districts have implemented many programs specifically designed to help rising freshmen successfully make the transition to high school, such as ninth-grade academies, mandatory interventions, small…

Few studies have observed what teachers actually do in the classroom to encourage parental involvement in their children's education. Over the school year, the various teaching practices and strategies of two teachers in an inner-city elementary school that has had public recognition in its efforts to involve parents were gathered through…

In this article we explore recent history to uncover the role that public engagement has played in the effort to reform America's urban schools. In the place of narratives that focus on elite actors (foundations, unions, corporations, etc.), we focus on the role of local stakeholders. Specifically, we look to how the changing political context…

School leadership has been shown to exert a positive but mostly indirect influence on school and student outcomes. Currently, there is great interest in how quality leadership preparation is related to leadership practice and improved teacher outcomes. The purpose of the study was to understand the moderating influence of leadership preparation on…

Parental involvement is crucial to facilitating a child's high school success and enhancing their post-secondary opportunities. Unfortunately, the ability for Latina/o parents and guardians to engage in parental involvement is hindered by a general lack of familiarity with U.S. educational systems and post-secondary options. With these…