In today’s colleges and universities, parents and families are increasingly important as partners to support students in enrolling and navigating the college experience. Tailored to higher education professionals who work with the families of college students, this book provides a solid foundation for establishing or enhancing parent and family initiatives across the institution and how to partner with families to foster student success. The chapter authors, seasoned professionals working in higher education, share best practices and relevant research related to partnering with families and addressing challenges that come with engaging families. Chapters also explore ways to make parent and family programming accessible for first-generation families and families from underrepresented groups who may often feel left out of traditional activities, programs, and services. Chapters feature "Voices from the Field" sharing best practices as well as "Tough Talks" breaking down some of the more difficult interactions between families and students and staff. This book is a valuable resource to higher education and student affairs professionals seeking to strengthen their work with families in order to better support student success in college.

Gain a comprehensive understanding of the role that parents and families play in college students’ lives through their involvement starting with K–12, moving through the transition to college, and then focusing on the college experience itself. The authors broaden the conversation to reflect the actual and diverse array of parents and families that play vital roles in students’ collegiate experiences. Particular attention is paid to: diverse families, including students of color, first-generation college students, and low-income students, an agenda for more inclusive research, theories, and practices with the goal of broadening the conversation to reflect the diverse array of parent and family engagement, and standards, models, and best practices that might be applied more broadly and modified as needed. As a whole, this volume offers an expanded way of thinking about how higher education understands, engages, and serves the needs of parents and families. This is the 6th issue of the 41st volume of the Jossey-Bass series ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education issue, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.

Engaging Families in Schools is a practical resource that provides strategies and ideas that will contribute to the effective engagement of families and the involvement of parents in their child’s education. Parental engagement with school staff has a significant and very positive impact on children’s learning, and strategies presented have been extensively trialled in a variety of different settings. Nicola S. Morgan shows school staff how to understand the importance of family engagement and evidence the outcomes. This book has been split into ten easily accessible units: Understanding the importance of parent engagement Using whole-school strategies to engage parents The role of the family engagement officer Engaging all parents Engaging Dads Engaging multicultural parents Difficult to engage parents Working with parents to improve student attainment Working with parents to improve behaviour and attendance Working with parents of children with additional needs This is a must-read guide for teaching and non teaching staff who wishes to bridge the gap between their student’s school and family life and understand the effects of positive family engagement.

Learn how to work with and relate to the family of each child in an early childhood education program. Includes ideas about transforming the way schools and programs relate to families - each one according to their unique assets and needs with the goal of enriching and enlivening the school community and ensuring better outcomes for each child and the entire program. It will emphasize strategies for getting to know each family the way you get to know an individual person, and learn about their interests, their strengths, their style of interacting and their needs/challenges to encourage programs to move away from one-size-fits-all approaches to family engagement.

Family Engagement with Schools is unique because it is the only book written especially for social workers and social work students who work in partnership with educators. The text introduces social workers to the new Dual Capacity-Building Framework and the latest resources.

Constant changes in education are creating new and uncertain roles for parents and teachers that must be explored, identified, and negotiated. Preparing Educators to Engage Families: Case Studies Using an Ecological Systems Framework, Third Edition encourages readers to hone their analytic and problem-solving skills for use in real-world situations with students and their families. Organized according to Ecological Systems Theory (of the micro, meso, exo, macro, and chrono systems), this completely updated Third Edition presents research-based teaching cases that reflect critical dilemmas in family-school-community relations, especially among families for whom poverty and cultural differences are daily realities. The text looks at family engagement issues across the full continuum, from the early years through pre-adolescence. NEW TO THIS EDITION The text addresses bold and exciting new directions in the field of family engagement in education, including the explosive growth of digital media and learning, the investment in student performance data systems, the focus on personalized student learning, and the need for systemic—rather than "random acts"—of family engagement. New theoretical perspectives on early childhood education and family engagement speak to issues of quality learning settings and school readiness.

Environmental studies provide an ideal opportunity for children of any age to build critical and creative thinking skills while also building skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Exploring issues related to sustainability and environmental concerns permits learners to identify problems, develop research questions, gather and analyze data, develop possible solutions, and disseminate this information to others. Despite the advantages of green education and its ability to improve student achievement, there is a gap in understanding the interplay between curriculum and instruction and how this affects teaching and learning. Building STEM Skills Through Environmental Education is an essential publication that addresses gaps in the understanding of green education and offers educators meaningful and comprehensive examples of environmental and sustainability education in the Pre-K through secondary grade levels. The book offers a unique combination of foundational understanding of green education and chapters that illustrate the principles and impact of green education across grade levels, content areas, assessment systems, instructional strategies, technology, and other related topics. It is ideally designed for educators, curriculum developers, instructional designers, advocates, policymakers, researchers, academicians, and students.