What Research Says to the Teacher [microform] : Parenting / Kevin J. Swick and R. Eleanor Duff

This teacher's handbook suggests that, as social, economic and political changes in the United States have altered family structure and parenting skills have become more complex and demanding, parent support programs and services must be made available. It is suggested that parenting should become a more cooperative process involving everyone in the community, particularly school personnel. Parent/teacher teaming, based on a common understanding of developmental objectives, is advocated as a tactic for achieving effective home-school relationships. Several ways of facilitating sustained home-school interaction, including parent-school cooperative child care, parent-child lending libraries, and parent advisory teams, are briefly described. Examples of school, community, university and agency sponsored parent education programs are presented and their implications for schools are assessed. Criteria for effective parenting and characteristics of development sensitive parents are suggested. Guides for effective parent and teacher communication are offered. (Author/RH)