Includes bibliographical references and index.

A day with two families: diversity of experience -- The Lawrence family -- The Ashley family -- Implications for teachers -- Diversity -- Families today -- What defines a family? -- Demographics of modern families -- Why study sociological trends? -- Parenting -- Roles parents play -- Parenthood as an emotional experience -- Teacher-family partnerships in education -- What is family involvement? -- Perspectives on family involvement -- A brief history of family involvement -- Research on child development as motivation to include parents -- Mandated parent involvement -- Community concern for family support -- Benefits of teacher-family partnerships for children, parents and teachers -- Benefits for children -- Benefits for parents -- Benefits for teachers -- Potential barriers to teacher-family partnerships -- Why are there barriers? -- Differences between teaching and parenting -- Maneuvering over turf -- The issue of trust -- Differences in expertise -- Barriers caused by external factors -- Foundations of a successful partnership -- Teacher ideas and attitudes -- External factors -- Methods for developing partnerships -- At the beginning with parents and children -- Initial contact between teacher, parent, and child -- Dealing with separation experiences -- Informal communication with families -- Communication methods -- Parent-teacher conferences -- Importance of regular conferences -- Groundwork for a successful conference -- Strategies for a successful conference -- Pitfalls to avoid for a successful conference -- Difficult conferences -- Conference evaluation -- Home visits with parents and children -- Purposes of home visits -- Undertaking home visits -- Postvisit responsibilities -- Advantages of home visits -- Disadvantages of home visits -- Home-based educational and support programs -- Families in the classroom -- Advantages and potential problems -- Getting families involved -- The teacher's role -- Parent education -- What is parent education? -- Implementing a parent education program -- Parents as decision makers -- It takes a village: teachers, families, and communities -- Corporate involvement -- Legislative initiatives -- Linkages within the community -- The role of advocate -- Community as an educational resource -- Making a partnership work -- Working with families from diverse backgrounds -- A rationale for teacher attention to diversity -- Strategies for teachers -- Negotiating with cultural conflict -- Common cultural issues that arise in classrooms -- What does working with diversity look like? -- Working with families in particular circumstances -- Working with families undergoing change due to divorce -- Working with parents of children with special needs -- Working with families of infants -- Working with families when abuse occurs -- Working with adoptive families -- Working to resolve troublesome attitudes and behaviors -- Hostility -- Indifference -- Overinvolvement -- Frequent causes of tension between parents and teachers -- Looking at parent involvement programs that work -- Lakewood Preschool Cooperative, Charlotte, North Carolina -- Family Resource Center, Fort Myers, Florida -- Gorham House Preschool, Gorham, Maine -- Lincoln Nursery School, Lincoln, Massachusetts -- Appendix: resource directory.