In this article, the author shares her experiences as a parent of a child with Down syndrome. Although her son Sam's first years were filled with numerous hospitalizations and visits to pediatricians, which she feared would further delay his development, she soon discovered an organization known as the National Association of Child Development…

Drawing on data from the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health, the authors examined the relationships of parents and children living with them between the ages of 6 and 17 by analyzing parent-child closeness, the degree to which parents share ideas and talk about things that matter with their children and parents' acquaintance with their…

Increasing community involvement in out-of-school time programs can yield significant benefits to programs and the students that they serve. Community partnerships have the potential to meet a wide variety of needs, from improving participant recruitment and attendance to contributing volunteers or other resources to programs. This research brief…

Educators as well as noneducators often question the value of family involvement. Does it really make a difference? According to the research, the answer is yes. Sometimes, results come in more traditional measures--student achievement, attendance, or behavior. Unfortunately, efforts to increase meaningful family engagement in school are often set…

In what ways might people counteract the prevailing practices that encourage school professionals to resist, ignore, avoid, and discount parental opinions, perspectives, desires, and knowledge about their children's lives? In what ways might parents themselves inform the process of increasing involvement and establishing partnerships? The studies…

Associations between preschoolers' attachment security, fathers' involvement (i.e. parenting behaviors and consistency) and fathering context (i.e. fathers' internal working models (IWMs) and use of social support) were examined in a subsample of 102 fathers, taken from a larger sample of 235 culturally diverse US families. The authors predicted…

From the perspective of an educational psychotherapist, whose concern is with the emotional factors and experiences which can affect learning, this article seeks to explore and reflect upon the views and findings concerning the role and importance of fathers which may be linked to learning and educational achievement. The term "father" is used to…

What does shared leadership look like? At Westwood High School in Memphis, Tennessee, it is evident when teachers and staff members talk with students in the halls between classes; when students demonstrate pride in themselves and their school by being fully engaged in their classrooms; when parents participate in their children's school life; and…

Parents of struggling learners are often unsure of how to assist their children at home. The author provides useful strategies and tips for principals to help parents support and encourage their children who are slow learners.

The terms "cultural" and "social capital", conceptualized by education philosopher and researcher Pierre Bourdieu, play an important role in the lives of youth with disabilities during transition into adulthood. Although research, legislation, and practice acknowledge the importance of resources that are established via social networks,…

The present study examined the association between unmarried fathers' prenatal involvement and fathers' engagement later in the child's life. The study sample consisted of 1,686 fathers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Findings using multiple regressions revealed that fathers' prenatal involvement is significantly and…

The relational well-being of families is an important factor affecting a family's economic success, physical and mental heath, the readiness and success of children in school, and the engagement of youth in positive and productive roles. In short, the strength of family bonds is crucial to a family's capacity to provide, nurture, and care for its…

Background/Context: As accountability pressures have mounted toward ever-higher targets under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, low-achieving schools have sought new tools for raising achievement. The association between parent involvement and student achievement is well established, though the association is an indirect relationship mediated…

In order to guide organizational growth in the Master's in Education with an emphasis in Special Education program, offered at Southwestern College, an in-depth qualitative study was conducted with participants from three specific realms located in the state of Kansas. Participants from the Kansas State Department of Education, Southwestern…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between stress, coping resources, and academic achievement in fourth-grade urban youth. The intent was to examine if students' perceptions of their stress and coping resources could predict reading and math achievement. The data were collected from 24 low-income African American students…