Family Involvement in Children's Education This Idea Book is offered to stimulate thinking and discussion about how schools can help overcome barriers to family involvement in their children's education--regardless of family circumstances or student performance.

Reaching All Families: Creating Family-Friendly Schools U.S. Dept. of Education , Office of Educational Research and Improvement. This publication is designed for school administrators and teachers, to help them involve parents and families as more active participants in their children's education. The strategies suggested here are appropriate for all students, including students with special needs. A special emphasis is placed on making all school contacts friendly and welcoming to the diverse families being served. A variety of possible school strategies are discussed. Here are some straightforward suggestions for helping to involve families, both as partners at back-to-school time and throughout the school year.

Epstein, J. Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS) for interactive homework. The National Network of Partnership Schools, established by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, brings together schools, districts, and states that are committed to developing and maintaining comprehensive programs of school-family-community partnerships.

U.S. Department of Education. Strong Families, Strong Schools. 1994. Washington D.C. Provides a review of the past 30 years of key research findings on the importance of involving families in their children's learning; examples of family involvement efforts that are working; Concrete ways in which different participants in the family involvement partnership can help achieve success; and other Web sites related to families and family involvement in education.

Tried and True: Tested Ideas for Teaching and Learning. Regional Educational Laboratories Collection of 16 tested ideas for improving teaching and learning evolved from the work of the 1995 Proven Laboratory Practices Task Force charged with identifying and collecting the very best and most useful Laboratory work.

A Business Guide to Support Employee and Family Involvement in Education A business guidebook provided to business leaders and their education and community partners giving them information and guidance about policies and practices that promote employee and family involvement in education, address workforce and student needs, and support education initiatives within communities.

Northwest Education Magazine: Winter 1997 Advocating for Kids. Make Room for Families. A Sleeping Giant Awakens. Saving the World. Family-Friendly Schools. Drums for Peace. Helping Troubled Kids. Supporting Families. Parent Power.
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Moving From Principles to Practice: A Resource Guide. 1996. American Academy of Pediatrics. Ad Hoc Working Group on Integrated Services. (pdf file)

Putting the Pieces Together: Comprehensive School-Linked Strategies for Children and Families. Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Education. 1996. Illustrates how principals, teachers, and other members of a school staff can reach out to families and the community to build a system of strong support for the healthy development and learning of their children. $8 from GPO. #065-000-00902-1

Melaville, Atelai, I., Martin J. Blank, and Gelareh Asayesh. Together We Can: A Guide for Crafting a Profamily System of Education and Human Services. Washington D.C.: US Dept. of Education. US Dept. of Health and Human Services. 1993. Provides a vision of improved coordination of education, health, and human services for families and provides a five-stage process for achieving that vision.

Together We Can Initiative. A national leadership development and capacity building initiative to strengthen children, youth, families and communities.

School-Linked Comprehensive Services for Children and Families: What We Know and what we need To Know. U.S Department of Education. 1994. Identifies a research and practice agenda on school-linked, comprehensive services for children and families created by a meeting of researchers/evaluators, service providers, family members and representatives from other Federal agencies. It summarizes the proceedings from a 1994 conference sponsored by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) and the American Association of Educational Researchers (AERA).

Who Should Know What? Confidentiality and Information Sharing in Service Integration.

The National PTA supports Comprehensive School Health Programs and Integrated Services and urges educators to institute such programs in all schools.

Comprehensive Strategies for Children and Families: Collecting and Using Good Information for A Good Cause.

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. 1996. Organizing a successful family center in your school: A resource guide.

Comer on Creating Caring Communities A Good Place to Learn: School as a Caring Community. Edited excerpts from Dr. James P. Comer's lecture which he delivered at the opening plenary session of the 1996 American Educational Research Association annual meeting on April 8, 1996.

Public School Profiles.
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Continuity in Early Childhood: A Framework for Home, School, and Community Linkages. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Education. 1995.

Standards for Quality School Age Care (revised and expanded). Edited by Janette Roman, 1998. National School-Age Care Alliance. Mail or call NSACA Standards 1137 Washington St., Boston MA 02124. Phone (617) 298-5012.

National Network for Child Care.

Clearinghouse resources on safe schools, drug-free, and mental health services.
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Northwest Education Magazine: Winter 1998. Community Building, Imagining New models.

Community Update is published by the Office of Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs. US Dept. of Education.

Interagency Collaboration: Improving the Delivery for Services to Children and Families. From Hot Topics: Usable Research. 1993. South Eastern Regional Vision for Education. Regional Education Laboratory.

Join Together for Kids: What Your Community Can Do To Support Schools and Family Involvement in Education.

Invitation for Your Community Building: Building Community Partnerships for Learning Secretary Riley's personal call for communities to become involved in education. Outlines Goals 2000: Education America Act and provides questions that community leaders can ask themselves that can help them analyze what needs to be done to improve learning in schools and communities.

Better Education is Everybody's BusinessOffers suggestions for the kinds of policies and programs businesses can employ for employees and their children in order to support education.

Epstein, J., Coates, L., Salinas, K.C., Sanders, M. G., & Simon, B.S. School, Family, Community partnerships: Your Handbook for Action. National Network of Partnership Schools.
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Child and Family Policy Center

Interagency Data systems for Accountability

Rand Research Publications

Economic Data:
    U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
    National Coalition for the Homeless

Crime and Arrest Data:
    Bureau of Justice Statistics

Public Health Data and Vital Statistics:
    Kid Count Data Books
    State and local departments of health and human services
    (see specific state programs and resources above)

Education Data:
    U.S. Department of Education (1-800-USA-LEARN)
    National Center for Education Statistics
    State and local education agencies
    (see specific state programs and resources above)

Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice data:
    U.S. Department of Justice
    Office of Juvenile Justice
    Local police and human service departments
    (see specific state programs and resources above)

Information on Children and Youth:
    The Children's Defense Fund
    The National Center for Children in Poverty
    The Future of Children
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Working Respectfully With Families: A Practical Guide for Educators and Human Service Workers. Set of four training modules used to promote an ecological, family-centered approach to education and service delivery as well as help education and human service providers form effective and supportive partnerships with each other and with the families they serve.

Family, School, Community Involvement. Workshop addresses Parent Involvement under Improving America's Schools Act, involves families, school staff and community members in the training and explores barriers and bridges to successful partnerships in creating an environment where all children can be successful 1996.

Nurturing Success: Fostering Resiliency in Kids, Families, Schools and Communities. Comprehensive Assistance Center, Region X, at NWREL. 1996.
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