What is the nature of the relationships between family variables and children's successes in school? An examination of this question is the basis of this volume. Building on a model for evaluating the relationships between families, schools and children, the contributors analyze: how school achievement is influenced by parent-child interactions; how early adolescents are affected by the overlapping `spheres of influence' of school, family, community and peer group; and how family environment influences educational attainment. Other issues discussed include: education for children with learning difficulties; school truancy; and the effects of parental discord and divorce on children's learning. In conclusion, the book offers examples of prev

Research has consistently shown that student success is directly related to the strength of the relationships between parents and schools. This book provides teachers and administrators with tools to build a foundation for student success based on positive relationships with students and their families. Drawing on original research and their professional experiences, the authors identify the common sources of both negative and positive school-home relationships. The book presents a comprehensive approach to building closer connections and includes: - Tools to help educators develop a deeper understanding of the communities they serve - Strategies for improving interpersonal skills and communication skills - A chapter on the importance of documenting and celebrating school events - Guidelines for creating three distinct levels of parental participation in schools With suggestions for cultivating a community network of support services and a summary of lessons for forging constructive relationships, The School-Home Connection is an essential tool for educators looking to strengthen the learning community and increase student achievement.

Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.

This handbook is a guide and recourse of strategies, tips, and how-to-do’s for parents/caregivers, teachers, and school leaders. The author provides topics in the handbook that addresses parent involvement/engagement and its effect on academic achievement and school success, the benefits of parent involve/engagement and its impact, role of parents with their child’s/children’s education, a listing of selected easy-to-do games and instructional activities to develop and nurture self-esteem, self-confidence, resilience, and perseverance (Power Tools) to ensure school and life success. This book has tips/recommendations for not only parents/caregivers, but also for teachers and school leaders. When the home, school, and community form a viable partnership, all youth thrive and reach their potential. As an added feature of the handbook, includes brief explanations of the roles of key school personnel, general school policies, procedures, and regulations to demystify schooling to minimize misperceptions and increase positive relationships. Additionally, although the handbook is a resource all parents/caregivers in general, a chapter is included and devoted to the parents/caregivers of special needs children and discusses/shares strategies for maximizing the effectiveness of Individualized Education Program ( I.E.P.) meetings. There are also suggestions and recommendations for teachers and school leaders to participate as viable members of I.E.P. team members.

Incorporates everything you need to successfully create and teach 12 classroom structures, integrating social-emotional well-being into your existing curriculum.

“Equal parts alfresco inspiration, interesting factoids, how-to instructions and self-help advice.”—The Wall Street Journal When most of us go for a walk, a single sense—sight—tends to dominate our experience. But when New York Times–bestselling author and expert navigator Tristan Gooley goes for a walk, he uses all five senses to “read” everything nature has to offer. A single lowly weed can serve as his compass, calendar, clock, and even pharmacist. In How to Read Nature, Gooley introduces readers to his world—where the sky, sea, and land teem with marvels. Plus, he shares 15 exercises to sharpen all of your senses. Soon you’ll be making your own discoveries, every time you step outside!

Explores the spiritual dimension of education, and discusses ways to nourish the spiritual development of adolescents in public schools without violating anyone's legal rights.

An inspiring account of teachers in ordinary circumstances doing extraordinary things, showing us how to transform education What School Could Be offers an inspiring vision of what our teachers and students can accomplish if trusted with the challenge of developing the skills and ways of thinking needed to thrive in a world of dizzying technological change. Innovation expert Ted Dintersmith took an unprecedented trip across America, visiting all fifty states in a single school year. He originally set out to raise awareness about the urgent need to reimagine education to prepare students for a world marked by innovation--but America's teachers one-upped him. All across the country, he met teachers in ordinary settings doing extraordinary things, creating innovative classrooms where children learn deeply and joyously as they gain purpose, agency, essential skillsets and mindsets, and real knowledge. Together, these new ways of teaching and learning offer a vision of what school could be—and a model for transforming schools throughout the United States and beyond. Better yet, teachers and parents don't have to wait for the revolution to come from above. They can readily implement small changes that can make a big difference. America's clock is ticking. Our archaic model of education trains our kids for a world that no longer exists, and accelerating advances in technology are eliminating millions of jobs. But the trailblazing of many American educators gives us reasons for hope. Capturing bold ideas from teachers and classrooms across America, What School Could Be provides a realistic and profoundly optimistic roadmap for creating cultures of innovation and real learning in all our schools.

Currently, only about 50% of American youths live in traditional two-parent, first-marriage families. This fact, combined with often bleak economic and social realities, creates the backdrop of interactions between families, children, and schools are examined in this probing volume. Answering a need for evaluative research in this area of increasing public interest, the contributors build a model for evaluation, focusing on the dynamics of family-school connections. How is school achievement influenced by parent-child interactions and the family environment? How do school, family, community, and peer-group connections affect early adolescents? What is the family's role in the success of learning-disabled youth or in school truancy? What effect does parental discord and divorce have on a child's learning? These questions, as well as proposals for intervention and prevention, create the crux of this book designed to inform and motivate readers to respond to one of our country's most fundamental social concerns. Vital reading for everyone who wants to better understand child-school-community interaction, this book especially warrants reading by students, researchers, and other professionals in developmental psychology, family studies, psychology, and social work. "The book should be read by professionals who have contact with schools as part of their brief; by those educators who train the new generation of social workers, psychologists, and teachers; and by researchers who seek to understand the tapestry of social influences on children's development. The book is worth buying alone for the fruits of great scholarship evident in the extensive lists of up-to-date references at the end of each chapter, and in a superb appendix that offers a tour de force of a 19-page bibliography on the topic." --Child and Family Social Work

This paper, written by a school administrator to parents, discusses parents' role in creating a positive educational environment, from providing a structured home life to volunteering in their child's classroom. The paper begins by asserting that a primary cause of behavior problems in the classroom is parent-child relationships in which the child, rather than the parent, is dominant, thereby creating students who believe they should be the center of attention. Society's focus on instant gratification and working parents' guilt are also mentioned as contributors to behavior problems. The paper recommends sure, firm, and consistent discipline, inside the classroom and at home, as a way to raise children who are well-adjusted members of society and who display respect and concern for others. The paper then offers suggestions for supporting children's academic success, such as talking to children about their goals and the necessary steps to achieve them, teaching children empathy for other people, promoting assertiveness rather than aggressiveness, and being a good role model. Finally, the paper discusses parent participation at school, recommending ways parents can approach teachers about volunteering and tasks parents can do for schools. The paper concludes by noting that teacher-parent contact not only promotes good will between the two, but in most cases promotes a positive attitude in the child. (EV)