According to Beck, McKeown, and Kucan's Three Tier Model (2002), when it comes to language instruction the distinction between academic vocabulary words and content specific words has a significant bearing on the language success of English language learners (ELLs). In this article, the author describes strategies that give teachers and parents…

Decisions regarding school improvement are based on observations of adults. A more accurate picture of institutional assets and limitations emerges when observations of students are also considered. This presentation shows how student polling can help principals enhance conditions of learning and safety. Implications of Cyberbully Poll results at…

This article presents the outcomes of a biliteracy project designed, following an action-learning methodology, to supplement the district-mandated literacy programs with afterschool reading cooperatives where 100 families whose children were enrolled in an elementary school located in the Imperial Valley, California, and teachers dialogically read…

This qualitative research study describes and explores perceptions of 5 parents and their decisions to participate in the school-linked parent-education workshop, the Power of Positive Discipline, POPD. The parent-education workshop was offered at a diverse school in an east coast suburban school district. The methodology of portraiture was used…

In December 2008, 35 professionals from research, policy, practice and the media participated in an online survey about a range of key literacy issues. This is the second time that this annual survey has been carried out in the in UK. Participants were asked to indicate whether a certain topic was "hot" (i.e. currently a topic of debate…

Drawing on literature in participatory adult education, this article reports the findings from a collaborative research project exploring family literacy participants' experiences in their program's parent advisory council. The findings reveal that involvement in the council enhanced program effectiveness, increased learners' investment in the…

In this article, the author reflects on the impact of homework on his children, and more generally about the value of homework as an educational activity. Putting aside the question as to whether this is in fact homework or just schoolwork done at home, the first fundamental question is whether homework is indeed useful and necessary in a…

How do schools address safety issues, discipline students, and provide effective instruction? These are questions parents and educators need to answer together. Parents of children whose special needs put them at risk for being bullied worry about the school's ability to protect their vulnerable children. Conversely, parents of children who…

This paper examines the implementation of a participatory action research study as a parent involvement strategy in one urban, Colorado middle school thought to have low parental involvement. Parent leaders from the middle school community participated in the data collection, analysis, and dissemination as "promotora researchers." These…

Parent engagement in schooling has long been held as a vital component of the successful navigation of the schooling process and, consequently, governments often invite such engagement via policy implementation. However, at times, contestation arises about parent engagement, with some parents seemingly "crossing the line" when attempting…

The FESNOJIV (the Spanish acronym for the State Foundation for the National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras), more commonly known as "El Sistema," teaches 300,000 of Venezuela's poorest children in the nationwide music learning program. Many begin attending the "nucleo" as early as age two or three, and the vast…

We used data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to assess the independent and interactive correlations of maternal and paternal parenting with adolescent self-esteem. Specifically, ordinary least squares regression was used to provide estimates for a large, culturally diverse sample of married, biological…

Great strides have been made in the development of skills and procedures to aid children with developmental disabilities to establish maximum independence and quality of life. Paramount among the treatment methods that have empirical support are treatments based on applied behavior analysis. These methods are often very labor intensive. Thus,…

Bright Beginnings is an early childhood curriculum, based in part on High/Scope[R] and Creative Curriculum[R], with an additional emphasis on literacy skills. The curriculum consists of nine thematic units designed to enhance children's cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development, and each unit includes concept maps, literacy lessons,…

Sometimes materials used in schools with good intentions can have effects opposite from those stated. Through the microscopic analysis of a parent-student immigration interview assignment on a social studies unit on immigration, this article aims to uncover the hidden story that underlies the questions asked. In so doing, it intends not only to…