Parent Collaboration Research Articles

Sekvensmodellen – en ny metod för att studera institutionella villkor och ömsesidiga förväntningar avseende samverkan mellan professionella och föräldrar

The sequence model – new ways to research institutional conditions and mutual expectations in a parent-professional collaborationThe article describes a pilot study about a model for research on social conditions for institutional encounters between parents/custodians and professionals within habilitation services in Sweden. The main aim in using the model is to involve both parts in the institutional meeting in the research through critical analysis of how parent-professional collaboration is constructed within this frame. The model builds on sequences of interviews and observations of the encounters. The model could easy be applied in other institutional settings, where conversations are in use for planning interventions. The article discusses the social conditions for institutional encounters and parent collaboration and individual plans as tools in the processes.

The inverse operationalisation of concepts for the secondary analysis of quantitative data: an example from the study of parental collaboration

Properly validated scalar variables are often viewed as the gold standard for the operationalisation of concepts in quantitative data. This is a sensible approach at the planning stage of the survey process. However, when working with data that has already been collected for another purpose, such variables cannot always be expected. This is particularly the case when one wishes to analyse a concept that has not previously been studied in a particular context. This paper provides an example of the construction of a binary variable for the concept of parental collaboration, using data from the Growing Up in Scotland study. It examines the decision-making process for the “inverse operationalisation” of the concept, an innovative method which starts with the assumption that all cases in the dataset demonstrate a particular property (parental collaboration), and gradually chips away at those which provide sufficient evidence to suggest otherwise, until a working variable is created.

How to motivate newborn hearing screening in the absence of a national programme: a collaboration between parents and professionals

The establishment of the Italian Pediatric Federation Newborn Hearing Screening Network and the Italian Society of Neonatology Infant Hearing Study Group is the result of an international collaboration between Parents and Medical Professionals in order to promote an effective model in developing Early Hearing Detection Intervention Programs that recognize the role of parents as partners in the process.Among other factors, one important component frequently underestimated in most early intervention programs, both in the USA and other countries, involves the role of parental involvement within the Early Hearing Detection Intervention (EHDI) process. When a parent receives the news of their child’s hearing loss, reactions may include, but are not limited to denial, grief, guilt, shame, fear and impotency. A parent may begin to ask certain questions: How do we know if the professionals in our children’s lives are capable, educated, trained, up to date in their chosen fields of expertise? Do they respect our children and us as parents? Do they understand the needs of children who are deaf or hard of hearing? A life-long health professional – parental collaboration begins at the moment of the diagnosis of that child.When analyzing the habilitation process of a deaf child, the relationship between health professionals and the crucial role of parents in raising that child is a 50–50 shared responsibility. An objective of EHDI programs must be to empower parents by providing support from the beginning of the process. Distributing informative literature regarding the newborn hearing screening process and providing parents with access to resources such as parental support groups upon diagnosis equips parents with the tools necessary to immediately begin advocating for their children. The Italian Federation Pediatric Audiology Network was created by combining the parental perspective and medical protocols in order to establish the roots for stronger EHDI programs.

Alive and Kicking

As the rates of childhood obesity continue to escalate, nutritionist David Tchilingirian explains the importance of parent and teacher collaboration in tackling the issue and looks at an NHS-funded programme that is aiming to help.

The POPPY Study: Developing a Model of Family‐Centred Care for Neonatal Units

The concept of family-centred care in neonatal practice has become increasingly recognised internationally. The underlying philosophy puts parents and the family at the centre of health care and promotes "individualised, flexible care." To develop the first international model of family-centred care based on strong parental collaboration in the synthesis of robust research evidence to generate the philosophy, principles, model, and indicators for implementation. METHODS AND SYNTHESIS: Seven key steps were followed to develop the POPPY model of care collaboratively with parents. Step 1 drew on the POPPY systematic review to identify effective interventions. Step 2 drew on the POPPY qualitative study to identify good parent experiences. Step 3 identified the philosophy and principles of the POPPY model of care. Step 4 identified the key stages of the POPPY model of care. Step 5 populated the POPPY model of care with data from steps 1 and 2. Step 6 developed the indicators of family-centred care; and Step 7 undertook some initial testing with parents and practitioners. Seven key stages of the parents' journey through their neonatal unit experience were identified and formed the architecture of the POPPY model of care. These include: before admission to the unit, admission, early days, growing and developing, transfers between units and between levels of care, preparing for discharge, and transition to home and at home. A philosophy, a set of principles to underpin the model, and a set of indicators to guide implementation in neonatal units were developed. The POPPY model of family-centred care provides the first robust, collaboratively developed, parent-centred model, which can be implemented to deliver high quality care to parents of preterm infants. Implementing the POPPY model could help neonatal units to develop parent-focused services which better meet parents' needs for information, communication and support, key elements of family-centred care.

Parental strategies in supporting Chinese children’s learning of English vocabulary

This paper reports on parental involvement as experienced by a group of elite secondary school pupils in learning English vocabulary on the Chinese mainland. It highlights the variety of strategies that Chinese parents adopted to support, sustain and enhance these pupils’ efforts to learn English vocabulary. They functioned as critical agents regulating and controlling their children’s learning process and provided social opportunities for them to deepen/widen their engagements with English. These parents also mediated the pupils’ motivational discourses, beliefs and knowledge. In addition, they supported their learning with enormous material investment. Further research into parental involvement in children’s learning of additional languages is believed to generate important findings for the development of teacher–parent collaboration that can help equalise the effects of unequal familial resources that different learners can access in respect of their achievements in learning languages.

Parental Involvement in Norwegian Schools

This article examines findings on key challenges of school–parent relations in Norway. The review is based on recent large-scale studies on several issues, including formalized school–parent cooperation, parental involvement in the pedagogical discourse, and teacher perspectives on the parents’ role in the school community. Findings suggest a biased pattern in the formal school–parent collaboration, where parent groups from lower educational and socioeconomic levels systematically fall out of participation. Evidence also indicates a pattern of teachers’ rejection of parent participation when discussions concern pedagogical matters, with parents held at arm’s length when conversations focus on student learning.

The link between coparenting, parenting, and adolescent life satisfaction

The present study examined the association between coparenting (the parental collaboration in childrearing), parenting (childrearing behavior of the individual parent), and adolescent life satisfaction. Using structural equation modeling we tested the hypothesis that dimensions of parenting (warmth/involvement and supervision/strictness) would partly mediate the link between dimensions of coparenting (conflict and cooperation) and adolescent life satisfaction. Participants were 476 adolescents (M = 13.05 years, SD = 0.95; 55.7% girls), their mothers (M = 41.76 years, SD = 4.11), and fathers (M = 44.37 years, SD = 5.85). Both parents filled in scales regarding their coparenting behavior as well as their individual parenting; adolescents reported their global life satisfaction. Structural equation modeling showed a direct and indirect association (via maternal warmth/involvement) between coparenting-conflict (father report) and adolescent satisfaction with life. However, coparenting-cooperation as well as p...

Examining the Potential Impact of a Family Session in Therapeutic Assessment: A Single-Case Experiment

Most clinicians concede the benefits of conceptualizing children in systemic terms. Yet, many child assessments involve parents only on a limited basis. The Therapeutic Assessment model for children and families (TA–C) emphasizes parental involvement and family-driven collaboration throughout the intervention. Child TA has shown promise as an effective brief intervention (e.g., Smith, Handler, & Nash, 2010; Tharinger et al., 2009). Family intervention sessions (Finn, 2007; Tharinger, Finn, Austin, et al., 2008) are an integral component of the child TA model in facilitating familial changes. However, TA–C research has yet to empirically examine the potential impact of a family session on treatment trajectory. This case study includes an extended presentation of the development and execution of a family session. The authors use a daily measures time-series experiment to empirically examine the clinical effectiveness of the TA–C and the hypothesis that the family session was a tipping point in the trajectory of improvement.

Trust an Essential Ingredient in Collaborative Decision Making

The following study explored the relationship between trust and collaboration in one Northeastern suburban district. In sum, 122 teachers responded to a trust and a collaboration survey. We hypothesized that the level of trust would be correlated with the level of collaboration. Bivariate and canonical correlations were used to analyze the findings. This study confirmed that trust in the principal was correlated with collaboration with the principal and that trust in colleagues was correlated with collaboration with colleagues. However, trust in clients (students and parents) was not correlated with collaboration with parents. The set of trust variables together explained 71% of the variance in the collaboration variables, with trust in clients being the most significant variable in predicting teacher–teacher collaboration. Collaboration with colleagues was the most potent of the collaboration variables. These findings suggest the importance of establishing a culture of trust in fostering collaboration between teachers. More research is needed to understand the complexities involved with parent collaboration.

In search of human uniqueness

What makes humans unique? For centuries, scholars from many different fields have been struggling to find the answer to this question. A welcomed attempt in this direction is Mind the Gap. Tracing the Origins of Human Universals, edited by Peter Kappeler and Joan Silk, a collection of contributions dealing with the issue of human uniqueness from a multidisciplinary perspective. The book opens with a brief review (Chapter 1, by Kappeler, Silk, Burkart, and van Schaik) of the many behavioral and cognitive features present in humans but not in great apes (such as cumulative material culture, social norms, language, cooperation, shared intentionality). Although nonhuman primates share a large part of their genome with humans and although it is unjustified to separate humans and chimpanzees at the genus level, undoubtedly there is a deep cognitive and behavioral gap between us and our closest relatives. Kappeler and coauthors highlight that the problem of what underlies human uniqueness is almost as old as the history of humanity, leaving open the question of why, in a relatively short period of time, only humans developed traits that separated them from other animals. After this introductive chapter, the first part of the book focuses on the evolution of pair bonding in humans. In Chapter 2, Chapais argues that reciprocal exogamy, i.e., intermarriage between members of distinct groups, is a defining characteristic of human societies. During hominid evolution, the transition from multimale– multifemale groups to enduring breeding bonds was the most important event that promoted exogamy. Subsequently, when delayed maturation evolved and the costs of maternity increased, paternal care and parental collaboration in raising the offspring emerged. Interestingly, however, in Chapter 4, Mulder points out that the roles of men and women in human societies are not so strictly defined, as shown, for example, by the Pimbwe, a Tanzanian population where, contrary to classic anthropological findings, women benefit more from multiple marriages than do

¡Preparados, Listos, Ya!: An Interpretative Case Study Centered on Teaching Hispanic Parents to Support Early Bilingual Literacy Development Prior to Kindergarten.

A parent training program pilot designed and implemented to develop early literacy skills of bilingual Hispanic pre-kindergarten students is described and analyzed through a case study approach. The program incorporated parent collaboration, bilingual literacy training and accessible literary themes to improve literacy prior to kindergarten. Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning- third edition (DIAL-3) screening scores and qualitative evidence document the program�s significant impact.

Direct and Collateral Effects of the First Step to Success Program

First Step to Success is a multicomponent behavioral program for at-risk children who show signs of antisocial behavior at the point of school entry. The program incorporates behavioral intervention techniques, including praise and feedback, positive reinforcement, social skills training, teacher and parent collaboration, and time-out/response cost. First Step to Success also incorporates techniques to encourage adaptive behavior across the school day and in the home, such as sequential application of the program across the school day, delayed reinforcement at home for school performance, and parent education. This study employed a multiple baseline design across participants to evaluate previous research findings on the program. All children improved on measures of problem behavior, academic engaged time, and teacher ratings of behavioral adjustment. The authors extended prior research by assessing the collateral effects of the program on classroom peer and teacher behavior. Positive changes were found for both peer and teacher behavior.

Informal Writing Assessment Linked to Instruction: A Continuous Process for Teachers, Students, and Parents

This article presents a comprehensive model of daily, classroom informal writing assessment that is constantly linked to instruction and the characteristics of proficient writers. Methods for promoting teacher, student, and parent collaboration and their roles in dialoguing, conferencing, and reflection are discussed. Strategies for including struggling writers in this process as peer listeners/questioners and individual self-questioners who regulate their own learning and set future goals are explored. Informal writing assessments such as observations, interest and self-efficacy inventories, checklists, using rubrics to analyze writing samples, and the development and management of electronic portfolios are discussed in the context of a literate classroom writing environment.

Teaching young children social studies

By linking theory to practice with an emphasis on national and state standards, Head Start Performance Standards, No Child Left Behind, and IDEA, the authors coherently combine principles of child development and social studies content to create a solid program for preschool through grade three. The authors maintain the overriding idea throughout the Teaching Young Children series-that strategies derived from knowledge of child development are used to teach content knowledge. It is this concern that makes this volume an excellent resource for teachers and parents. In addition to specific discussions of how to build and conduct a social studies curriculum, the work includes vignettes of teachers and children in the classroom; graphics illustrating concepts and methods; and matrices, charts and tables to enhance understanding. The authors effectively intertwine social learning in young children and development of self-concept with the theme-based curriculum of the National Council for Social Studies, the principles of multicultural education, parent collaboration to support learning, and creating connections between classroom and community.

Promoting a Culture of Parent Collaboration and Trust: An Empirical Study

This study investigated the effects of formalized and centralized school structures on 2 emergent concepts in the study of school reform, trust, and collaboration. Trust and collaboration were examined from the perspective of parents, as opposed to internal school agents such as teachers or students. Three hierarchical multiple regressions identified the effects of an enabling school structure on parent–school trust, parent–principal trust, and parent collaboration. The results suggest that rules and formal control structures can be applied in ways that foster a culture supportive of parent trust and collaboration. Further, such structures mitigate the negative influence of nonmanipulable contextual conditions.

Community‐based environmental education—a case study of teacher–parent collaboration

A case study of school–community collaboration in an elementary community school in Israel follows up an environmental education (EE) school‐based curriculum that involves the parents and community members in various indoors and outdoors activities. The collaboration was established in the framework of the Community School Approach. In these schools, parents are encouraged to be involved in planning school‐based curriculum and participating in school's formal and informal activities. The aim of the study was to describe environmental education‐based school–community partnerships and to examine the advantages and limitations for such collaboration. Parents, teachers and community members were interviewed for a period of three years. Most of the participants acknowledged the unique nature of EE that allows such a partnership, emphasizing local ideas of project‐based learning in environmental education. The study describes an exemplary collaboration and the development of local school–community partnerships, which could be adapted by other communities within elementary or middle schools.

Personal Digital Assistants and Pagers: A Model for Parent Collaboration in School Discipline

There is a need to update the methods schools rely on for communicating with parents. A field test was conducted to assess the potential of two new approaches. One strategy allows teachers, using a common set of codes, to record the notable conduct of students onto personal digital assistants (PDAs). A second method uses pagers to contact parents quickly so that they can assume their priority role for corrective guidance or reinforce reports of good behaviour. Staff of a high school faculty documented the notable behaviour of 108 students for a semester and reported to parents by pager. Over 90% of faculty staff concluded that PDAs facilitate accurate records and sending messages by pager is a more efficient way to contact parents than by telephone. More than 90% of the parents indicated that interpreting coded messages from pagers was easy. Plans for the next phases are outlined.

The Parent Conference: An Opportunity for Requesting Parental Collaboration

This article represents an example of how a solution-focused conversation can assist everyone involved with a school problem in the creation of an atmosphere where everyone is involved in stopping "the problem." For example, identifying the role of the teacher during times when the problem is occurring less gives the teacher clues as to which lesson plans are more effective. Discovering the times when the parent observes more successful academic production at home gives the teachers clues as to how to help the student in class. Together with the student, all three parties are more likely to come up with a solution that fits the child rather than prescribing a tried and true remedy that worked for other students but not the concerned student. The result is a conversation that leaves both parent and teacher consciously working on the same issue with an understanding of what their roles are with the student and helps the student to be more successful.

Effectiveness of Parental Collaboration on Compliance with a Home Program

The effectiveness of parental collaboration in developing a home program for children with disabilities was examined. Eighteen children with visual and motor deficits (aged 3–1 3 years) and their families were randomly assigned to two groups. Ten families in the parental collaboration group (PC) collaborated with the investigator in the family's home to formulate a home program. Eight families in the comparison group (NPC) received a “therapist-prescribed” home program, taught to one parent at the child's school. Compliance with the 6-week home program was measured using a daily log kept by the parents. In examining the results it was indicated that the mean compliance was 80.3% for the PC group and 77.5% for the NPC group, a difference that was not significant. In both groups, compliance levels decreased over time, however, the trend was not significant for either group. Correlation statistics indicated a significant positive relationship between compliance and both Family Resource Scale scores and levels of gross motor goal attainment. The correlation between age of the child and compliance was not significant. The similarities in home program activities for each group and the difficulty some families had with the collaboration process may have influenced the results. Relatively high compliance scores may be attributed to the families' interest in doing a home program as well as the method used to report compliance. (Pediatr Phys Ther 1995;7:59–64)