An Evaluation of Family Literacy Bags as a Vehicle for Parent Involvement

Early childhood scholars concur that books and interactive reading between adults and children strongly support children's reading achievement. Furthermore, they argue for the importance of involving families in their children's education. The Family Literacy Bags (FLB) project described and evaluated here, is a parent involvement and education innovation designed to engage children and their families in reading books at home. To meet the diversity of family needs, some of the FLB contained materials in both Spanish and English. Findings from this inquiry conducted in four primarily rural, middle class school districts in the west, suggest that the FLB project encouraged home book reading in families. Furthermore, parents learned effective ways to read and discuss books with their children, new information about availability of various books, and information about their children's developing language skills. Children demonstrated an initial and sustained interest in the FLB project. Suggestions for further research and parent education are discussed.     

Family Literacy: Exploring Family Practices

For many decades, research has supported the family's influence and their children's acquisition of literacy. Family literacy theories have been generated and challenged, while studies have been conducted on the family's application of literacy interactions, experiences, strategies, materials, influential factors and programs in a variety of context and both inside and outside the home. Most studies suggest that family literacy contributes to young children's literacy development.     

Family Literacy: Exploring Family Practices

For many decades, research has supported the family's influence and their children's acquisition of literacy. Family literacy theories have been generated and challenged, while studies have been conducted on the family's application of literacy interactions, experiences, strategies, materials, influential factors and programs in a variety of context and both inside and outside the home. Most studies suggest that family literacy contributes to young children's literacy development.     

Parental Involvement During the Placement of a Child in Family Foster Care: Factors Associated with the Continuation of Parental Roles

This article presents the results of a study on parental involvement in family foster care. The aims of the study were: (a) to describe the participation of the parents, and (b) to identify variables associated with their participation. Fifty-eight (58) parents having a child in family foster care were interviewed with a face-to-face questionnaire. The results indicate that parents participate little in care-related tasks or school activities, but are more involved in decision-making and discussions concerning the child. We observed greater participation where the parent had a spouse or partner and where the social workers and foster parents seemed to have a positive attitude towards parental participation and towards the parents themselves.

A Collaborative Approach to Family Literacy Evaluation Strategies

McCosh Even Start, a federally funded project located at McCosh School in inner-city Chicago neighborhood, is a partnership between Northeastern Illinois University and The Chicago Public School. The parent#shchild components of the program are: home visiting, an after school family literacy program, parent#shchild field trips, computer classes, and the use of videotaping and photography to document learning. The adult literacy component includes computer, photography and video classes, a parent club for literacy career development skills and parent field trips. Computer, video technology and photography were used as tools to develop literacy, but they were also used to document the literacy progress of parents and children. To evaluate the results of the program, staff, parents, children and a video documenter collaborated to use a wide range of evaluation. These strategies used to show literacy improvement included video documentation and interviews, parent interest questionnaires, observations and book logs, photo collections with personalized captions, portfolios, information reading inventories and parent self-evaluations.     

Parent Involvement in Family Support Programs: An Integrated Theory*

This article outlines a conceptual model of parental involvement in family support programs, anchored in ecological and family systems frameworks. After summarizing the current attrition literature, the article proposes that parental decisions to enroll and remain in support programs are shaped by a variety of factors at different “levels” of influence: individual characteristics of the parent and family, provider attributes, program characteristics, and neighborhood characteristics. The conclusion discusses the implications of this line of study for research, practice, and policy.     

Emergent Literacy: a case-study of a two-year-old

Observations of the spontaneous behaviors and comments of one child aged 24 to 36 months pertinent to emergent literacy are reported. The child was not an early reader. The following areas were addressed: letter/numeral naming, the meaning of print, the communicative function of print, conception of meaning-units or words, language games, awareness of the sound of language, and the relationship between spoken words and specific characteristics of print. The child's responses at the age of 34 months to testing, on some of these topics, are described. Discussion treats cultural aspects, as the child was not exposed to book reading or television. An obstacle the child must overcome in order to understand print, to grasp that letters in text are sequentially ordered, is also discussed.     

Emergent Literacy: A case-study of a two-year-old

Observations of the spontaneous behaviors and comments of one child aged 24 to 36 months pertinent to emergent literacy are reported. The child was not an early reader. The following areas were addressed: letter/numeral naming, the meaning of print, the communicative function of print, conception of meaning-units or words, language games, awareness of the sound of language, and the relationship between spoken words and specific characteristics of print. The child's responses at the age of 34 months to testing, on some of these topics, are described. Discussion treats cultural aspects, as the child was not exposed to book reading or television. An obstacle the child must overcome in order to understand print, to grasp that letters in text are sequentially ordered, is also discussed.     

计划生育科研机构科研能力评估研究

研究建立一套较科学，可行的评估指标体系和方法，对计划生育科研机构进行客观评价，使决策部门了解掌握各机构综合科研能力的现状，为其制定发展和战略规划提供依据。方法；运用本研究建立的评估计生科研机构科研能力的指标体系和方法，对全国２４个计生科研所自建所至１９９５年５月３１日期间调查的有关资料进行分析和评估。     

Parent Depression and Child Anxiety: An Overview of the Literature with Clinical Implications

The association of parental depression with child anxiety has received relatively little attention in the literature. In this paper we initially present several reasons for examining this relationship. We then summarize the empirical support for a link between these two variables. Finally, we discuss directions for future research and clinical implications of an association of parental depression with child anxiety.     

计划生育科研机构外部评估调查研究

为了全面评估我国计划生育科研机构的科研能力,本研究以函询方式开展了外部评估调查,获得有关专家对当地计划生育科研机构的评估意见。共收到60份外部评估调查表,应答率为86％。外部评估结果对根据实际调查的定量资料得出的评估结果有一定的参考意义。     

Involvement of the Personal Social Network as a Factor in Parent Education Effectiveness

This study examined the impact of mothers' involvement with their social networks upon their self‐reported changes in behaviors and attitudes due to a parenting intervention—in this case monthly, age‐paced parenting newsletters. Path analyses revealed that discussing and sharing newsletter copies with others was associated with greater self‐reported change but did not significantly mediate the relationship between newsletter use and parental change. Rather, individual use of the newsletter and social sharing of the content had independent effects on parenting. The results support a general view that the advice of parenting programs is not accepted or rejected in a vacuum, but often within the context of discussions within the participants' existing social networks. This suggests two practical implications for program developers: (a) Interventions might be more effective if they encouraged such social network processing of program advice, and (b) programs might even target social networks rather than individual parents as their clients.     

The RD Parent Empowerment Program Creates Measurable Change in the Behaviors of Low-Income Families and Children: An Intervention Description and Evaluation

Dietary and physical activity habits are developed early in life and are influenced by family environments. We describe and evaluate an intervention for low-income families to encourage healthy habits. The RD Parent Empowerment Program (http://www.eatright.org/programs/kidseatright/activities/content.aspx?id=6442477891) consists of four workshops centered on the 8 Habits of Healthy Children and Families (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation). Registered dietitian nutritionists conduct the workshops in school and community settings using a structured leader guide and tailor the communication and interactive activities to the audience. Participants are parents of young children. Our goals were to use a phenomenologic approach to elicit participant feedback, determine whether participants in the RD Parent Empowerment Program made healthier choices for their families after attending the workshops, and identify which elements of the program participants believed contributed most to its success. The evaluation design used a pragmatic, mixed-methods approach utilizing postintervention focus groups and pre–post intervention scores on the Family Nutrition and Physical Activity (FNPA) survey. All workshop attendees aged 18 years or older were eligible to participate in the evaluation. One hundred twenty-three parents participated in the intervention across seven sites. Focus group results were analyzed using thematic analysis methods to match themes to the main intervention goals. t Tests were used to compare pre- and postintervention FNPA scores and demographic characteristics pooled across sites. FNPA scores significantly improved from pre- to postintervention by a mean of 4.3 FNPA points (6.5%; P<0.01). Focus group participants reported behavior changes as a result of the program and identified the site leaders as integral to the program’s success, triangulating the results. The RD Parent Empowerment Program generates meaningful self-reported behavior change in parents. Long-term sustainability of the changes must be investigated.     

Why Some Parent Education Programs for Parents of Gifted Children Succeed and Others Do Not?

The effectiveness of parent education programs for parents of gifted children varies. There are many interactive variables that influence this effectiveness. The variables can be grouped into four categories: content relevancy, teaching techniques, teacher characteristics, and practical consideration. Parent education program planning should carefully address each of the variables to improve the program effectiveness. The article includes specific suggestions to improve the effectiveness of parent education programs for parents of gifted children.     

Parent and health professional perspectives in the management of adolescents with diabetes: Development of assessment instruments for international studies

Objective: Assessment of quality of life (QOL) in adolescents with diabetes requires patient, parent and health professional input. Psychometrically robust instruments to assess parent and professional perspectives are required. Research design and methods: Questionnaires concerning adolescent QOL were developed for completion by parents and health professionals. In an international study assessing QOL in 2,101 adolescents with diabetes (median age 14 years, range 10–18; from 17 countries including Europe, Japan and North America), parents and health professionals completed their respective questionnaires between March and August 1998. Results: Feasibility and acceptability of the new questionnaires were indicated by high questionnaire completion rates (adolescents 92%; parents 89%; health professionals 94%). Internal consistency was confirmed (Cronbach’s α coefficients 0.80 parent; 0.86 health professional). Correlations of Diabetes Quality of Life Questionnaire for Youths (DQOLY) scores with parent and health professional global QOL ratings were generally low (r ranging from 0.12 to 0.36). Parent-rated burden decreased incrementally across adolescence, particularly for girls. Professional-rated burden followed a similar profile but only after age 15 years. Until then, burden was rated as uniformly high. Clinically relevant discrepancies in parent and professional burden scores were noted for one-parent families and families where adolescents had been referred for psychological help. In both cases, health professionals but not one-parent families perceived these as high burden situations. The clinical significance of this relates to the significantly poorer metabolic control recorded for adolescents in both situations. Conclusions: Parent and health professional questionnaires were found to have adequate internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validity in relation to key clinical and QOL outcomes. The questionnaires are brief, easy to administer and score. They may also enable comparisons across countries and languages to facilitate development of international health outcome parameters. The inclusion of the parent and health professional perspectives completes a comprehensive assessment of adolescent QOL relevant to diabetes.     

Multilingualism in U.S. Schools: Treating Language as a Resource for Instruction and Parent Involvement

Incorporating children's native languages into the curriculum can make these languages integral to the learning process. A responsive, language-rich curriculum sets the stage for creative and effective communication and learning. It is rooted in sharing expertise and experiences that use multiple avenues of communication. Children learn speaking, listening, reading, and writing. They also learn to take risks, construct meanings, and reinterpret knowledge with realistic social contexts. Language learning, sharing, and retention are tools and resources that make learning more meaningful and are the essence of the additive or enrichment model as opposed to the counterproductive remedial or deficit model.     

The Parent Programme Implementation Checklist (PPIC): The Development and Testing of an Objective Measure of Skills and Fidelity for the Delivery of Parent Programmes

ABSTRACT

Background: Group-based parent programmes demonstrate positive benefits for adult and child mental health, and child behaviour outcomes. Greater fidelity to the programme delivery model equates to better outcomes for families attending, however, fidelity is typically self-monitored using programme specific checklists. Self-completed measures are open to bias, and it is difficult to know if positive outcomes found from research studies will be maintained when delivered in regular services. Currently, ongoing objective monitoring of quality is not conducted during usual service delivery. This is odd given that quality of other services is assessed objectively, for example by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (OFSTED). Independent observations of programme delivery are needed to assess fidelity and quality of delivery to ensure positive outcomes, and therefore justify the expense of programme delivery.

Methods: This paper outlines the initial development and reliability of a tool, the Parent Programme Implementation Checklist (PPIC), which was originally developed as a simple, brief and generic observational tool for independent assessment of implementation fidelity of group-based parent programmes. PPIC does not require intensive observer training before application/use. This paper presents initial data obtained during delivery of the Incredible Years BASIC programme across nine localities in England and Wales, United Kingdom (UK).

Results: Reasonable levels of inter-rater reliability were achieved across each of the three subscales (Adherence, Quality and Participant Responsiveness) and the overall total score when applying percentage agreements (>70%) and intra-class correlations (ICC) (ICC range between 0.404 and 0.730). Intra-rater reliability (n?=?6) was acceptable at the subscale level.

Conclusions: We conclude that the PPIC has promise, and with further development could be utilised to assess fidelity of parent group delivery during research trials and standard service delivery. Further development would need to include data from other parent programmes, and testing by non-research staff. The objective assessment of quality of delivery would inform services where improvements could be made.     

上海市家庭医生签约服务绩效考核指标体系的合理性评价

目的 对上海市家庭医生签约服务绩效考核指标的合理性进行评价,为指标修订提供参考。方法 利用半结构访谈法,借助SMART原则和结构-过程-结果模型理论框架,设计调查问卷。对上海市徐汇区13家社区卫生服务中心的229名家庭医生和26名家庭医生管理者进行调查。采用EXCEL 2016和SPSS 25.0软件对数据进行整理分析。结果 上海市家庭医生签约服务关键绩效考核指标体系共涵盖22个指标,家庭医生管理者在指标SMART总分以及各维度上评分显著高于家庭医生(P<0.001),签约居民人均医保费用、签约居民因高血压相关疾病住院比例、签约居民因糖尿病相关疾病住院比例得分均较低。22个指标可聚类为5类,各类指标可实现性欠佳。除过程评价外,各类指标的结构和结果评价平均得分均具有统计学意义(P<0.001)。结论 家庭医生与家庭医生管理者对签约服务绩效考核指标评价存在差异。可实现性欠佳是考核指标存在的主要问题。家庭医生签约服务绩效考核指标体系的制订应征询家庭医生意见,更多地考虑家庭医生发展现状,以符合现阶段家庭医生工作实际。