Handbook on Family and Community Engagement


Book Description

Thirty-six of the best thinkers on family and community engagement were assembled to produce this Handbook, and they come to the task with varied backgrounds and lines of endeavor. Each could write volumes on the topics they address in the Handbook, and quite a few have. The authors tell us what they know in plain language, succinctly presented in short chapters with practical suggestions for states, districts, and schools. The vignettes in the Handbook give us vivid pictures of the real life of parents, teachers, and kids. In all, their portrayal is one of optimism and celebration of the goodness that encompasses the diversity of families, schools, and communities across our nation.




School, Family, and Community Partnerships


Book Description

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.




How People Learn


Book Description

First released in the Spring of 1999, How People Learn has been expanded to show how the theories and insights from the original book can translate into actions and practice, now making a real connection between classroom activities and learning behavior. This edition includes far-reaching suggestions for research that could increase the impact that classroom teaching has on actual learning. Like the original edition, this book offers exciting new research about the mind and the brain that provides answers to a number of compelling questions. When do infants begin to learn? How do experts learn and how is this different from non-experts? What can teachers and schools do-with curricula, classroom settings, and teaching methodsâ€"to help children learn most effectively? New evidence from many branches of science has significantly added to our understanding of what it means to know, from the neural processes that occur during learning to the influence of culture on what people see and absorb. How People Learn examines these findings and their implications for what we teach, how we teach it, and how we assess what our children learn. The book uses exemplary teaching to illustrate how approaches based on what we now know result in in-depth learning. This new knowledge calls into question concepts and practices firmly entrenched in our current education system. Topics include: How learning actually changes the physical structure of the brain. How existing knowledge affects what people notice and how they learn. What the thought processes of experts tell us about how to teach. The amazing learning potential of infants. The relationship of classroom learning and everyday settings of community and workplace. Learning needs and opportunities for teachers. A realistic look at the role of technology in education.




Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8, Fourth Edition (Fully Revised and Updated)


Book Description

The long-awaited new edition of NAEYC's book Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs is here, fully revised and updated! Since the first edition in 1987, it has been an essential resource for the early childhood education field. Early childhood educators have a professional responsibility to plan and implement intentional, developmentally appropriate learning experiences that promote the social and emotional development, physical development and health, cognitive development, and general learning competencies of each child served. But what is developmentally appropriate practice (DAP)? DAP is a framework designed to promote young children's optimal learning and development through a strengths-based approach to joyful, engaged learning. As educators make decisions to support each child's learning and development, they consider what they know about (1) commonality in children's development and learning, (2) each child as an individual (within the context of their family and community), and (3) everything discernible about the social and cultural contexts for each child, each educator, and the program as a whole. This latest edition of the book is fully revised to underscore the critical role social and cultural contexts play in child development and learning, including new research about implicit bias and teachers' own context and consideration of advances in neuroscience. Educators implement developmentally appropriate practice by recognizing the many assets all young children bring to the early learning program as individuals and as members of families and communities. They also develop an awareness of their own context. Building on each child's strengths, educators design and implement learning settings to help each child achieve their full potential across all domains of development and across all content areas.




Place-Based Education


Book Description

The author details and celebrates an approach to teaching that emphasizes connections among school, community, and environment.




Journey Into Community


Book Description

This book provides a roadmap for the journey which begins when a traditional school decides to end its isolation from its community. Community Learning Centers provide teachers, administrators, parents, and community leaders with the tools they need to achieve important educational goals which include: high level student performance, after school programs which support student learning and provide enrichment activities in a safe environment, the acquisition of essential technological skills by both students and members of the community, expanding leadership opportunities for teachers, students and the community, and unlocking the storehouse of resources in the community to support the education of our youth.




Children Learn by Observing and Contributing to Family and Community Endeavors: A Cultural Paradigm


Book Description

Children Learn by Observing and Contributing to Family and Community Endeavors, the latest in the Advances in Child Development and Behavior Series provides a major step forward in highlighting patterns and variability in the normative development of the everyday lives of children, expanding beyond the usual research populations that have extensive Western schooling in common. The book documents the organization of children's learning and social lives, especially among children whose families have historical roots in the Americas (North, Central, and South), where children traditionally are included and contribute to the activities of their families and communities, and where Western schooling is a recent foreign influence. The findings and theoretical arguments highlight a coherent picture of the importance of the development of children's participation in ongoing activity as presented by authors with extensive experience living and working in such communities. - Contains contributions from leading authorities in the field of child development and behavior - Presents a coherent picture of the importance of the development of children's participation in ongoing activity - Provides a major step forward in highlighting patterns and variability in the normative development of the everyday lives of children, expanding beyond the usual research populations that have extensive Western schooling in common - Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field




Community-based Transformational Learning in Early Childhood Settings


Book Description

This comprehensive, research-based resource illuminates the challenges and benefits of integrating community-based transformational learning (CBTL) experiences of teachers, students, and the community in early childhood settings. Balancing historical context with theoretical underpinnings, ongoing research, and current practice, this multi-authored volume demystifies the praxeology of CBTL. It uses annotated case studies to explore the importance of considering contextual factors (i.e., cultural practices, community health and demographics, and student level) that may influence what early-years students gain from CBTL experiences, and it encourages a community dialogue that is both challenging and affirming to support students' confidence in their own capacity to make a better world for all people. As the first CBTL book specific to early childhood settings, it is key reading for future teachers. It is also of great interest to current educators, administrators, and community organizers who want to help center CBTL as a vital part of early childhood curriculum.




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