This article provides an overview of procedures commonly used in prenatal screening and diagnosis including ultrasound, amniocentesis, chorionic villus biopsy, maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein, and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis. Emphasis is on the role of the early interventionist in supporting families during prenatal diagnosis. (Author/DB)

This article describes techniques, used in a family-centered early intervention project, that both assist in accomplishing the goals of the Individualized Family Service Plan process and create opportunities for families to display their present competencies and acquire new ones to meet the needs of their children with communication disorders.…

Discusses several family literacy programs that promote parent support and involvement while promoting mutual learning for all family members. (MG)

Describes the Families, Agencies, and Communities Together (FACT) initiative. Active in Utah, FACT is a collaborative effort within communities to assist at-risk children and their families. FACT combines values-based support with flexibility to find community-based solutions. (MKA)

Findings from a collaborative action research project involving seven culturally diverse families with children with disabilities are used to illustrate how professionals can provide assistance in a family's zone of proximal development, rather than targeting goals that are normative for the mainstream, but not for the family. (Author/CR)

Critically examines the literature to establish what evidence exists to support family-school links for student outcomes in science. Provides an analysis of existing programs developed to support student learning in science. (Contains 55 references.) (WRM)

Argues that it is just as important for parents to do math with their children as it is to read to them. Discusses ways parents can recognize the potential for teaching mathematics to their children during some everyday situations. (WRM)

Five full-term and five preterm children with blindness (age 12 months) were visited at home with their families every two weeks for two years. An individualized, disability-specific early intervention that used different types of parent involvement was successful in accelerating development of the full-term infants, particularly in orientation…

Discusses the family night concert as a way to involve family members in music education, where they can participate in the orchestra or as part of a family act. Describes how to create the family concert. Includes a sample invitation and a program to a family night performance. (CMK)

The Capable Families and Youth Project creates partnerships among Extension, public schools, and rural families for interventions to reduce adolescent substance use and other problem behaviors. Schools were randomly assigned to school-based interventions (n=12), school-based and family-focused interventions (n=12), and controls (n=12). Multiple…

This study examined the involvement of families with children and adult family members (n=163) with mental retardation in residential treatment and programs. Multiple regression found three variables that accounted for most of the variance in involvement: (1) distance from the residential facility; (2) expectation that the family member would…

This article discusses the importance of using a family-centered approach in early childhood intervention and practices that integrate child assessment within the context of the family. Strategies for developing an integrated approach within the different components of the assessment process are described. Principles for assessments with family…

This article discusses the barriers that limit school participation by immigrant parents of students with disabilities, including language differences, lack of information, negative educational experiences, unfamiliarity with the U.S. educational practices, cultural differences, and differing views regarding involvement in schools. Strategies are…

This commentary discusses the limitations of traditional research and the benefits of participatory action research (PAR) that changes the stance of the researcher from dispassionate observer to that of friend, ally, and colleague of the "subject". The use of PAR in helping researchers, parents, and advocates work together in promoting…

A study involving 52 families with transition-age students with severe mental retardation found that schools are providing a variety of transition instruction; parents' ideal views of vocational outcomes are not always consistent with their realistic views; the majority of exited students are working in segregated environments; and there is high…