Reaching Out: A K-8 Resource for Connecting Families and Schools

Foreword - Roland G. Tharp
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
1. Connecting With Families
2. Building Trusting Relationships
3. Strategies for Enhancing Communication
4. Building Effective Partnerships Through Family Workshops
5. Reaching Out Through Family Visits
6. Modifying Instructional Practices to Increase Family Involvement
7. Involving Families in Homework
Conclusion
Resource A: Books of Interest to Elementary Students and Their Families
Resource B: Books of Interest to Middle School Students and Their Families
References
Index

Diane W. Kyle is a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Louisville. She has coauthored Reaching Out: A K-8 Resource for Connecting Schools and Families and Reflective Teaching for Student Empowerment: Elementary Curriculum and Methods, coedited Creating Nongraded Primary Classrooms: Teachers' Stories and Lessons Learned, and pub­lished in such journals as Language Arts, Peabody Journal of Education, Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, Education & Equity, Teaching Children Mathematics, and Elementary School Journal. Her most recent project, co­directed with Ellen McIntyre, is "Sheltered Instruction and Family Involvement: An Approach to Raising Achievement of LEP Students," funded by the US Department of Education. She also codirected with Ellen McIntyre a research project, "Children's Academic Development in Nongraded Primary Programs," funded by the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE) at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

"Reaching Out describes a great variety of ways to respectfully and productively engage families in helping their children learn and grow. Throughout the text the reader is reminded that parents are experts about their children and that trusting relationships are built on respectful, two-way communications. The authors also remind us that the goal of family involvement is not parent participation at school events and activities but improved student achievement."