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State of Preschool 2025: Trends, Progress, and What’s Next

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National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations

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National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations

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National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations

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The goals of the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI) are to assist states and programs in their implementation of sustainable systems for the implementation of the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children (Pyramid Model) within early intervention and early education programs with a focus on promoting the social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes of young children birth to five, reducing the use of inappropriate discipline practices, promoting family engagement, using data for decision-making, integrating early childhood and infant mental health consultation and fostering inclusion.

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Children's book list

Includes diverse examples of books that can be used to promote social-emotional skills.

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National Training Institute on Effective Practices: Addressing Challenging Behavior

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National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations

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The goals of the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI) are to assist states and programs in their implementation of sustainable systems for the implementation of the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children (Pyramid Model) within early intervention and early education programs with a focus on promoting the ...

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The Ready Child:  Getting Ready for Kindergarten

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The Ready Child:  Getting Ready for Kindergarten

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Resources You’re just a click away from a wealth of Ready Child, Ready Family and Ready School resources. Browse through the following links for everything from books and videos to websites, infographics, apps and more.

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Center for the Economics of Human Development

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Key Messages - Center for the Economics of Human Development

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The Center for the Economics of Human Development

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Center for the Economics of Human Development

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Parental Investment

Understanding the Effects of Adverse Early Environments

Gaps in both cognitive and non-cognitive skills between the advantaged and the disadvantaged emerge early and can be traced in part to adverse environments. Further, a growing proportion of children are now raised in underresourced families. Studies show that a proper measure of child adversity is the quality of parenting do not capture the full environment of the child. Traditional measures of family income or parental education, although correlated with the quality of parenting. While addressing the latter would improve the observed gaps, addressing parenting quality directly would show a much larger improvement.

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Parental Investment - Center for the Economics of Human Development

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Gaps in both cognitive and non-cognitive skills between the advantaged and the disadvantaged emerge early and can be traced in part to adverse environments. Further, a growing proportion of children are now raised in underresourced families. Studies show that a proper measure of child adversity is the quality of parenting do not capture the full environment of the child.

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Reading Tips for Parents in Multiple Languages

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Our one-page parent tips offer easy ways for parents to support their children's literacy development. The tips - for babies through grade 3 - are available in English and 12 other languages.

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Are you struggling with Children with big emotions. . . Overwhelmed administrators. . . Teachers burning out. . . Students feeling unsafe. . . Teachers

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Find Your Parent Center | Center for Parent Information and Resources

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The people who work on the CPIR are not just advocates by profession—everyone on our team has a personal stake in the disability community as a parent, sibling, spouse, or otherwise.

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What is Early Childhood PBIS?

Early childhood PBIS refers to PBIS implementation within early childhood settings - The Pyramid Model. The Pyramid Model is a multi-tiered framework with a continuum of evidence-based practices to promote expected behavior, prevent problem behavior, and intervene when students need more support. This model addresses the needs and contexts unique to programs serving infants, toddlers and preschoolers, including children in public school early childhood classrooms. It includes the practices, procedures, and data collection measures appropriate for young children and their families.

Why Address Early Childhood PBIS?

The Pyramid Model ensures programs attend to both the implementation of evidence-based practices and develop the infrastructure to sustain these efforts. Children have better social skills and less problem behavior in Pyramid Model classrooms. Practitioners are able to implement Pyramid Model practices better when they receive training and practice-based coaching.[1] According to the Technical Assistance Center on Social and Emotional Intervention, programs using this approach experience the following:

Reductions in child challenging behavior

Increases in children's social skills

Increased satisfaction of program staff and families

Reduced turnover in the program

Increases in teachers' competence and confidence in the support of children

Changes in classroom and program climate

Sustained implementation of the Pyramid Model

Foundational Systems of Early Childhood PBIS

Early childhood PBIS systems are very similar to the foundational systems guiding any PBIS framework. The primary difference is the way these systems adapt to serve the unique needs of younger children and their families.

Leadership Team

The team includes ( Some team members may fill more than one of these roles):

The program administrator

Representation from teaching staff

Someone to provide coaching and support to teachers

A behavior specialist

A family member

The team ensures the systems and practices implemented provide support to children with challenges, professional development and support to teachers, and a plan for family engagement. This leadership team uses data to make decisions and meets monthly to guide implementation of the program-wide approach.

Staff Readiness and Buy-In

All program staff participate in implementation. They must agree to it and be willing to participate. The leadership team monitors and supports staff buy-in on an ongoing basis.

Family Engagement

PBIS implementation in early childhood works to establish partnerships with families. The program shares information with families, offers support around children's social and emotional skill development, and includes families in program-level teams.

Pyramid Model Practices

Pyramid Model practices:

Promote healthy social-emotional development

Reduce challenging behaviors

Support families to promote their children's social development in a home visiting program

Establish effective instructional routines in classrooms from infant-toddler to pre-kindergarten ages.

Staff Capacity

When programs implement the Pyramid Model, all staff must have the training, coaching, and resources to implement practices effectively. The leadership team develops strategies to provide ongoing support to staff as they implement the model.

Providing Interventions to Children with Persistent Challenging Behavior

Program-level policies and procedures support to staff to address challenging behavior. These include mechanisms for support in crisis situations, developing a problem-solving process for children with emerging challenges, and providing a system for identifying children who needa behavior support plan developed through a team driven process.

Monitoring Implementation and Outcomes

Data-based decision making is a pivotal component of the program-wide approach in the Pyramid Model. The team gathers and reviews implementation data using a variety of data tools.

Tiers of the Pyramid Model

The Pyramid Model promotes young children's (birth to five years old) social-emotional competence and prevents and addresses challenging behavior, through a tiered promotion, prevention, intervention framework.

Tier 1

Tier 1 promotes nurturing and responsive caregiving relationships and high-quality environments. At this level, practitioners focus on their relationships with children and their families by providing nurturing and responsive support and engaging children in relationships with others. Practices at this level involve supportive environments to prevent problem behavior, engage all children, and develop social-emotional skills. For many children, Tier 1 may be all that is needed to support their healthy social-emotional development.

Tier 2

Tier 2 serves as a prevention level. It focuses on explicit social skills instruction like:

Self-regulation

Expressing and understanding emotions

Developing social relationships

Problem-solving

Tier 3 Intensive intervention

Tier 3 focuses on individualized, intensive interventions for children who have the most persistent challenging behavior. Even with Tier 1 and Tier 2 systems in place, there may be children who need an individualized behavior support plan. These plans typically include prevention strategies, instructions of new skills, and guidance on how to respond in order to reduce challenging behavior and increase new skill use.

Assessing Early Childhood PBIS/Pyramid Model

There are multiple tools to assess implementation and outcomes in early childhood settings.

A self-report checklist designed to help programs evaluate their progress toward implementing the Pyramid Model program-wide. A companion assessment evaluates its implementation's cultural responsiveness [INSERT LINK: https://www.pbis.org/common/cms/files/pbisresources/ECBoQ_Cultural-Responsiveness-Companion.pdf].

This assessment helps programs evaluate their progress toward implementing the Pyramid Model program-wide.

Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT) and The Pyramid Infant Toddler Observation System (TPITOS)

These tools assess classroom implementation in early childhood settings

Coaching Logs

Coaches can use coaching logs to track implementation activities as well as document each activity's focus.

Get Started with Early Childhood PBIS

The first steps to implementing PBIS in early childhood settings involve training and building staff capacity. Leadership teams attend a multiple-day training on program-wide implementation to develop implementation plans. Staff receive training on the Pyramid Model and coaching for classroom-level implementation. Training is offered in a variety of formats, including e-modules and in-person training.

Resources:

This fact sheet defines the Pyramid Model and how to implement it as a way to address suspensions/expulsions of young children, particularly children of color.

This chapter describes practices and strategies for engaging families in early childhood settings.

[1]Hemmeter, M. L., Snyder, P. A., Fox, L., & Algina, J. (2016). Evaluating the implementation of the Pyramid Model for promoting social emotional competence in early childhood classrooms. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 36, 133-146.

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Topic Page: You might know PBIS in early childhood settings as Early Childhood Program-Wide Positive Behavior Support (PW-PBS) or Program-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PW-PBIS). It is often referred to as the Pyramid Model.

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National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations

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What is the Pyramid Model?

The Pyramid Model is a framework of evidence-based practices for promoting young children's healthy social and emotional development.

Who uses the Pyramid Model?

The Pyramid Model provides guidance for:

early childhood special education personnel

early intervention personnel

early educators

families

other professionals

Who created the Pyramid Model?

The Pyramid Model was developed by two national, federally-funded research and training centers: The Center for the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) and Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Youth Children (TACSEI). These centers' faculty represent nationally recognized researchers and program developers in the areas of social skills and challenging behavior.

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Basics - National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations

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The Pyramid Model for Promoting Social-Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children(Pyramid Model) NCPMI's role in the Pyramid Model It is our goal to provide states with the technical assistance and training to establish the systems and policies needed to adopt and sustain the implementation of the Pyramid Model.

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NAEYC has set 10 standards for early childhood programs that can help families make the right choice when they are looking for a child care center, preschool, or kindergarten. The standards and criteria are also the foundation of the NAEYC Accreditation system for early childhood programs. To earn accreditation, programs must meet all 10 standards.

Based on research on the development and education of young children, the standards were created with input from experts and educators from around the country. The standards define what NAEYC-the world's largest organization of early childhood professionals-believes all early childhood programs should provide.

Review this guide to help identify programs that meet NAEYC standards for high-quality programs.

The Standards

The program promotes positive relationships among all children and adults. It encourages each child's sense of individual worth and belonging as part of a community and fosters each child's ability to
contribute as a responsible community member.

Warm, sensitive, and responsive relationships help children feel secure. The safe and secure environments built by positive relationships help children thrive physically, benefit from learning experiences, and cooperate and get along with others.

What to look for in a program:

Children and adults feel welcome when they visit the program. Teachers help new children adjust to the program environment and make friends with other children.

Teaching staff engage in warm, friendly conversations with the children and encourage and recognize children's work and accomplishments.

Children are encouraged to play and work together.

Teachers help children resolve conflicts by identifying feelings, describing problems, and trying alternative solutions. Teaching staff never physically punish children.

The program implements a curriculum that is consistent with its goals for children and promotes learning and development in each of the following areas: social, emotional, physical, language, and cognitive.

A well-planned written curriculum provides a guide for teachers and administrators. It helps them work together and balance different activities and approaches to maximize children's learning and development. The curriculum includes goals for the content that children are learning, planned activities linked to these goals, daily schedules and routines, and materials to be used.

NAEYC and the NAEYC Accreditation system do not prescribe a specific curriculum; programs can design their own or choose a commercially available curriculum that meets NAEYC's guidelines.

What to look for in a program:

Ask about the program's curriculum and how it addresses all aspects of child development. The curriculum should not focus on just one area of development.

Children are given opportunities to learn and develop through exploration and play, and teachers have opportunities to work with individual children and small groups on specific skills.

Materials and equipment spark children's interest and encourage them to experiment and learn.

Activities are designed to help children get better at reasoning, solving problems, getting along with others, using language, and developing other skills.

Infants and toddlers play with toys and art materials that "do something" based on children's actions, such as jack-in-the-box, cups that fit inside one another, and playdough.

The program uses developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate and effective teaching approaches that enhance each child's learning and development in the context of the curriculum goals.

Children have different learning styles, needs, capacities, interests, and backgrounds. By recognizing these differences and using instructional approaches that are appropriate for each child, teachers and staff help all children learn.

What to look for in a program:

Teachers carefully supervise all children.

Teachers provide time each day for indoor and outdoor activities (weather permitting) and organize time and space so that children have opportunities to work or play individually and in groups.

Children's recent work (for example, art and emergent writing) is displayed in the classroom to help children reflect on and extend their learning.

Teachers modify strategies and materials to respond to the needs and interests of individual children, engaging each child and enhancing learning.

The program is informed by ongoing systematic, formal, and informal assessment approaches to provide information on children's learning and development. These assessments occur within the context of reciprocal communications with families and with sensitivity to the cultural contexts in which children develop.

Assessment results benefit children by informing sound decisions, teaching, and program improvement.

Assessments help teachers plan appropriately challenging curriculum and tailor instruction that responds to each child's strengths and needs. Assessments can also help teachers identify children with disabilities and ensuring that they receive needed services.

What to look for in a program:

The program supports children's learning using a variety of assessment methods, such as observations, checklists, and rating scales.

Assessment methods are appropriate for each child's age and level of development and encompass all areas of development, including math, science, and other cognitive skills; language; social-emotional; and physical.

Teachers use assessment methods and information to design goals for individual children and monitor their progress, as well as to improve the program and its teaching strategies.

Families receive information about their child's development and learning on a regular basis, including through meetings or conferences.

The program promotes the nutrition and health of children and protects children and staff from illness and injury. Children must be healthy and safe in order to learn and grow. Programs must be healthy and safe to support children's healthy development.

What to look for in a program:

Teaching staff have training in pediatric first aid.

Infants are placed on their backs to sleep.

The program has policies regarding regular hand washing and routinely cleans and sanitizes all surfaces in the facility.

There is a clear plan for responding to illness, including how to decide whether a child needs to go home and how families will be notified.

Snacks and meals are nutritious, and food is prepared and stored safely.

The program employs and supports a teaching staff with the educational qualifications, knowledge, and professional commitment necessary to promote children's learning and development and to support families' diverse needs and interests.

Teachers who have specific preparation, knowledge, and skills in child development and early childhood education are more likely to provide positive interactions, richer language experiences, and quality learning environments.

What to look for in a program:

Teaching staff have educational qualifications and specialized knowledge about young children and early childhood development. Ask, for example, how many teachers have Child Development Associate (CDA) credentials, associate's degrees, or higher degrees.

The program makes provisions for ongoing staff development, including orientations for new staff and opportunities for continuing education.

Teaching staff have training in the program's curriculum and work as a teaching team.

The program establishes and maintains collaborative relationships with each child's family to foster children's development in all settings. These relationships are sensitive to family composition, language, and culture. To support children's optimal learning and development, programs need to establish relationships with families based on mutual trust and respect, involve families in their children's educational growth, and encourage families to fully participate in the program.

What to look for in a program:

All families are welcome and encouraged to be involved in all aspects of the program.

Teachers and staff talk with families about their family structure and their views on childrearing and use that information to adapt the curriculum and teaching methods to the families served.

The program uses a variety of strategies to communicate with families, including family conferences, new family orientations, and individual conversations.

Program information-including policies and operating procedures-is provided in a language that families can understand.

The program establishes relationships with and uses the resources of the children's communities to support the achievement of program goals. Relationships with agencies and institutions in the community can help a program achieve its goals and connect families with resources that support children's healthy development and learning.

What to look for in a program:

The program connects with and uses museums, parks, libraries, zoos, and other resources in the community.

Representatives from community programs, such as musical performers and local artists, are invited to share their interests and talents with the children.

The staff develop professional relationships with community agencies and organizations that further the program's capacity to meet the needs and interests of children and families.

The program has a safe and healthful environment that provides appropriate and well-maintained indoor and outdoor physical environments. The environment includes facilities, equipment, and materials to facilitate child and staff learning and development.

An organized, properly equipped, and well-maintained program environment facilitates the learning, comfort, health, and safety of the children and adults who use the program.

What to look for in a program:

The facility is designed so that staff can supervise all children by sight and sound.

The program has necessary furnishings, such as hand-washing sinks, child-size chairs and tables, and cots, cribs, beds, or sleeping pads.

A variety of materials and equipment appropriate for children's ages, skills and abilities is available and kept clean, safe, and in good repair.

Outdoor play areas have fences or natural barriers that prevent access to streets and other hazards.

First-aid kits, fire extinguishers, fire alarms, and other safety equipment are installed and available.

The program effectively implements policies, procedures, and systems that support stable staff and strong personnel, and fiscal, and program management so all children, families, and staff have high-quality experiences.

Effective management and operations, knowledgeable leaders, and sensible policies and procedures are essential to building a quality program and maintaining the quality over time.

What to look for in a program:

The program administrator has the necessary educational qualifications, including a degree from a four-year college and specialized courses in early childhood education, child development, or related fields.

The program is licensed and/or regulated by the applicable state agency.

The program's written policies and procedures are shared with families and address issues such as the program's philosophy and curriculum goals, policies on guidance and discipline, and health and safety procedures.

Appropriate group sizes and ratios of teaching staff to children are maintained (for example, infants-no more than 8 children in a group, with 2 teaching staff; toddlers-no more than 12 children in a group, with 2 teaching staff; and 4-year-olds-no more than 20 children in a group, with 2 teaching staff).

Families on NAEYC-Accredited programs

"Valued teachers lead to valued children ... Accredited programs tend to attract employees who not only view themselves as educators, they consider themselves child advocates."
- Kate in San Antonio, Texas. Her child attends an NAEYC-Accredited program.

"Choosing a preschool for my first child was somewhat overwhelming, so when you find a program accredited by NAEYC, it adds peace of mind that you're making a good choice for your child."
- Jen in Torrance, California. Her child attends an NAEYC-Accredited program.

"NAEYC is an organization that can be trusted with the future of my child's education ... That is why I chose an NAEYC-Accredited center-nothing but the best."
- Jennifer in Newark, New Jersey. Her child attends an NAEYC-Accredited program.

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NAEYC has set 10 standards for early childhood programs that can help families make the right choice when they are looking for a child care center, preschool, or kindergarten. The standards and criteria are also the foundation of the NAEYC Accreditation system for early childhood programs. To earn accreditation, programs must meet all 10 standards.

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PKTP has three components: a facilitated cross-grade, cross-school professional learning community for teachers; common classroom practices across pre-K and kindergarten; and family learning activities. This program is staffed by Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI), a public interest law and policy center. Chapin Hall and the UChicago Consortium conducted a mixed-methods study to investigate PKTP's implementation and the influence of PKTP participation on relationships among teachers and family members. The impact of communication about the importance of transition was also examined.

Researchers administered teacher and parent surveys at the beginning and end of the 2016-17 school year. They also conducted teacher interviews, focus groups with families of preschool (pre-K) and kindergarten-aged children, observed PKTP activities, and analyzed implementation documents.

Key Findings

Teachers reported that the PKTP's community-wide focus was unique and central to their engagement with each other and the collaborative relationships fundamental to creating alignment between pre-K and kindergarten.

PKTP's three components were mutually reinforcing over time and facilitated both classroom and community transition work.

Teachers and parents reported a greater sense of community as a result of their PKTP participation. Teachers reported feeling more connected to each other across grade levels and schools because of their participation in PKTP. Teachers and parents also reported feeling more connected with each other through the family learning activities.

Despite teachers' buy-in to common classroom practices, implementation varied between grades and sites.

Community building opportunities support the strengthening of relationships between children, family, teachers, and community-all of which contribute to students' transition experiences.

The PKTP program's components are designed to be adapted by teachers and program staff. This collaborative approach can both facilitate and obstruct implementation. It can strengthen how the program addresses student needs and incorporates community context over time. But this approach can also contribute to different ideas about what is supposed to be implemented, when, and by whom.

Facilitation and coordination play a crucial role in supporting implementation and teachers' collaborative relationships. The time necessary to plan professional learning community meetings, field trips, and family learning activities is substantial. Having an external facilitator is one strategy for relieving teachers of these responsibilities.

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A Community Effort to Support the Transition from Pre-K to Kindergarten

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The Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten Transition Project (PKTP) is a teacher co-designed, community-wide approach to strengthening early educational transitions in Chicago's Altgeld-Riverdale neighborhood. The program engages preschool and kindergarten teachers at all community-based centers and elementary schools in the neighborhood. A Community Effort to Support the Transition from Pre-K to Kindergarten is a study of PKTP's first full year of implementation.

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​Substantial research findings reinforce the need for education systems to encourage and support parental involvement. Research has repeatedly demonstrated the positive impact parent involvement, whether in school or at home, has on academic outcomes. Regardless of socio-economic background, students with involved parents are more likely to earn high grades and test scores, enroll in higher level programs, attend school regularly, show improved behavior, and develop better social skills (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). In addition, when people across multiple contexts (e.g., family and school) foster the cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral competencies of children and adolescents, youth development and outcomes improve (Benson, et.al, 2003; and Cook, et.al, 2002).

Unfortunately, a number of districts and schools have approached family engagement in a random and piecemeal way, often times leading to family engagement efforts that are fragmented and marginalized, resulting in less than desirable outcomes. There is now emerging evidence that when districts and schools develop systemic structures that strategically encourage meaningful family and community engagement as an integral part of school improvement efforts, there is significant impact on student learning and how schools function (Blank, Berg, & Melaville, 2006; Bryk, et.al, 2010, and Marschall, 2006). Weiss et.al, concurs that family engagement should be systemic, integrated, and sustained. In order to achieve this, family engagement must be: a core component of educational goals; embedded into existing structures and processes to meet these goals; and operated with adequate resources to ensure that effective strategies can be implemented with fidelity and sustained (2010).

Commitment to Family Engagement

Paramount to a successful family engagement system is the district's and school's commitment to family engagement. A study of Department of Defense (DoD) schools showed that a culture which fosters shared responsibility for all students and stakeholders and a "corporate commitment" to supporting families improves safety and well-being for all students. This study also revealed that the achievement gap among white students and students of color is lower among DoD schools than in the states (Smrekar, Gurthrie, Owens & Sims, 2001). Another study by Lopez, et.al, 2001, found that the primary reason schools were successful in involving migrant families was that school personnel were individually and systemically committed to meeting the various needs of the families. Districts and schools can begin to express this commitment by jointly developing a vision/mission for family engagement that is shared with all stakeholders and drives policies and practices.

Leadership

Effective partnerships are created when district and school leadership set the tone and expectations for meaningful partnerships with families and support is provided through both policy and practice (Blank et al., 2006; Bryk et al., 2010; and Fege, 2006). Administrators could demonstrate this by: allocating and reallocating resources for family engagement efforts; ensuring family engagement policies are updated; embedding family engagement efforts into the district/school improvement process; finding ways to integrate family engagement efforts into existing systems, policies and practices; modeling positive interactions with families; and ensuring that programming is in place to build the capacity of staff and families to effectively partner with each other to improve student outcomes.

Capacity Building

Many administrators, teachers and pupil support personnel enter the education system with little to no training on how to engage families to further support student learning and healthy development. Likewise, families often find it difficult to partner with schools in a meaningful way for various reasons. Some of these reasons may relate to a limited understanding of: student/family expectations, how they can support student learning and healthy development, and how schools operate. Therefore, it is necessary to train school personnel and parents to increase their capacity to work together.

Core elements of a professional development system for family engagement include: standards; curriculum that advances skills, knowledge and attitudes; collaboration among various stakeholders; continuing professional development; and evaluation for learning and continuous improvement (Caspe et.al, 2011). Researchers have also identified core implementation components that support practitioners, such as educators, in high-fidelity behavior. These components (also called "implementation drivers") include but are not limited to in-service training and ongoing coaching and consultation (Fixen & Blase, 1993). Professional development on family engagement should also adhere to these implementation components with a content focus on:

Developing family engagement systems

Building welcoming and supportive environments

Enhancing communication with families

Including parents in the decision making process

In addition, data should be utilized to determine professional development needs pertaining to family engagement and family engagement strategies should be incorporated into professional development opportunities across all areas of focus. Of particular importance is assessing cultural biases and developing professional development opportunities to address them. Biases, even unconscious ones, by educators can discourage families from participating and harm any existing partnerships between educators and families (Barajas & Ronnkvist, 2007; Fram, Miller-Cribbs, & Van Horn, 2007).

Families will also present capacity building needs related to engagement that should be addressed. Research has found that parents' personal self-efficacy has a significant impact on whether or not they will engage in activities that support their children's learning and healthy development (Eccles & Harold, 1996; Grolnick et al., 1997; Sheldon, 2002; Bandura et al., 1996; and Shumow & Lomax, 2002). Personal self-efficacy refers to a parent's belief that he/she has the necessary knowledge and skill sets required by the activity as well as the belief that it will result in positive outcomes for his/her child. Districts and school personnel can help build self-efficacy by:

promoting family assets, including their cultural and linguistic backgrounds

helping parents understand and interpret rules, laws, and policies related to their rights and responsibilities in their children's education

showing family members how they can support learning at home

helping parents understand data and how it is used to inform instruction

Community Partnership

Community organizations can be a critical resource in supporting student learning and healthy development. A large body of research has demonstrated that community-based parent support programs, operated in a family-centered manner, increase parents' self-efficacy and competence (Dunst, et.al, 2006; and Dunst, et.al, 2008). This research also indicates that community-based parent support programs can positively impact the social and emotional development of young children (Dunst and Trivette, 2005; and Layzer, et.al, 2001). A number of community organizations and districts are increasingly partnering together to leverage their resources to address student learning and healthy development and promote family engagement. As a result of these efforts, families are more connected to both schools and these community organizations and efforts are more coordinated across multiple settings. Research is revealing that the community schools model, specifically, has increased family engagement and has improved student learning, attendance, behavior, and development (Coalition for Community Schools, 2009).

Accountability

According to Epstein, in order for family engagement efforts to have the greatest impact and to ensure sustainability, strategies for collecting and analyzing family engagement data must be part of the processes for continual and ongoing improvement (2007). Not only do district and school personnel need to have access to the data, but they also need to have the capacity to use family engagement data in a meaningful way. Likewise, research is starting to show that when district and school personnel help parents understand student and school-wide data in a way that leads to increased knowledge and informed action, family engagement increases and student outcomes improve (Taveras, et.al 2010).

References and Resources

Bandura, Albert; Barbaranelli, Claudio; Caprara, Gian Vittorio; & Pastorelli, Concetta. (1996). Multifaceted impact of self-efficacy beliefs on academic functioning. Child Development, 67(3), 1206-1222.

Barajas, H.L., & Ronnkvist, A. (2007). Racialize space: Framing Latino and Latina experience in public schools. Teachers College Record, vol 9, n 6: 1517-1538.

Benson, P. L., Scales, P. C., & Mannes, M. (2003). Developmental strengths and their sources: Implications for the study and practice of community building. In R. M. Lerner, F. Jacobs, & D. Wertlieb (Eds.), Handbook of applied developmental science: Vol. 1. Applying developmental science for youth and families: Historical and theoretical foundations (pp. 369-406). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Blank, M. J., Berg, A. C., & Melaville, A. (2006). Growing community schools: The role of cross-boundary leadership. Washington, DC: Coalition for Community Schools.

Bryk, A.S., Sebring, P.B., Allensworth, E., Luppescu, S., & Easton, J.Q. (2010). Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Caspe, M., Lopez, M.E., Chu, A., & Weiss, H.B. (2011). Teaching the Teachers: Preparing Educators to Engage Families for Student Achievement. PTA & Harvard Family Research Project. May 2011 Issue Brief. Retrieved on www.hfrp.org.

Coalition for Community Schools. (2009). Community schools research brief. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from www.communityschools.org

Cook, T. D., Herman, M. R., Phillips, M., & Settersten, R. A. (2002). Some ways in which neighborhoods, nuclear families, friendship groups, and schools jointly affect changes in early adolescent development. Child Development, 73, 1283-1309.

Dunst, C. J., Bruder, M. B., Trivette, C. M., & Hamby, D. W. (2006). Everyday activity settings, natural learning environments, and early intervention practices. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 3, 3-10.

Dunst CJ, Trivette CM. Measuring and evaluating family support program quality. Asheville, NC: Winterberry Press; 2005. Winterberry Monograph Series.

Dunst C.J., Trivette CM, Hamby DW. Research synthesis and meta-analysis of studies of family-centered practices. Asheville, NC: Winterberry Press; 2008. Winterberry Monograph Series.

Eccles, J. S. & Harold, R. D. (1996). Family involvement in children's and adolescents' schooling. In A. Booth & J. F. Dunn (Eds.). Family-school links: How do they affect educational outcomes (pp. 3-34). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Fege, A. (2006). Getting Ruby a quality public education: Forty-two years of building the demand for quality public schools through parental and public involvement. Harvard Educational Review, 76(4), 570-586.

Fixsen, D. L., & Blase, K. A. (1993). Creating new realities: Program development and dissemination. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 26, 597-615.

Fram, M.S. , Miller-Cribbs, J. & Van Horn, L. (2007). Poverty, race and the contexts of achievement: examining educational experiences of children in the American South. Social Work, 52(4), 309-319.

Grolnick, W. S., Benjet, C., Kurowski, C. O., & Apostoleris, N. H. (1997). Predictors of parent involvement in children's schooling. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 538-548.

Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family and community connections on student achievement (Research Synthesis). Austin, TX: National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools.

Layzer, J. I., Goodson, B. D., Bernstein, L., & Price, C. (2001). National evaluation of family support programs, Volume A: The meta‐analysis-Final Report. Cambridge, MA: ABT Associates.

Lopez, G. R., Scribner, J. D. & Mahitivanichcha, K. (2001). Redefining parental involvement: Lessons from high-performing migrant-impacted schools. American Educational Research Journal, 38(2), 253-288.

Marschall, M. (2006). Parent Involvement and Educational Outcomes for Latino Students. Review of Policy Research, Volume 23, Number 5 (2006). The Policy Studies Organization.

Sheldon, S. B. (2002). Parents' Social Networks and Beliefs as Predictors of Parent Involvement. The Elementary School Journal, 102(4), 301-316.

Shumow, L., & Lomax, R. (2001). Parental efficacy: Predictor of parenting behavior and adolescent outcomes. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Seattle, WA.

Smrekar, C., Gutherie, J. W., Owens, D. E., & Sims, P. G. (2001). March toward excellence: School success and minority student achievement in Department of Defense Schools. A Report to the National Education Goals Panel. Washington, DC: National Education Goals Panel. (ED 459 218) Retrieved September 14, 2012 from www.ericdigests.org

Taveras, B., Douwes, C., Johnson, K., Lee, D., & Caspe, M. (2010, May). New visions for public schools: Using data to engage families. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project. Retrieved from www.hfrp.org.

Weis, H.B, Lopez, M.E., Rosenberg, H. (2010). Beyond Random Acts: Family, School, and Community Engagement as an Integral Part of Education Reform. Harvard Family Research Project. Retrieved June 13, 2013 from www.hfrp.org.

​Although many districts and schools recognize the importance of family engagement in supporting the learning and healthy development of students, many struggle with how to engage families. The saying "if you build it, they will come" does not ring true for many family engagement activities and it is not because parents do not care about their children's education (Mapp, 2003; Delgado-Gaitan, 2004; Quiocho & Daoud, 2006).

So, why do families become engaged? One contributing factor is a welcoming and supportive environment. According to research by Hoover-Dempsey, et al. (2005), a welcoming environment is one of the most influential indicators of family engagement. Schools that cultivate relational trust, actively reach out to families, respond to family and student needs, and give attention to cultural-sensitivity (all components of a welcoming and supportive environment) have higher levels of family engagement (Bryk, et al., 2010, Epstein & Van Voorhis, 2001).

Relational Trust

Researchers have found that cultivating relational trust is essential to building a welcoming and supportive environment. In addition, relational trust is foundational for school professionals, parents, and community leaders to initiate and sustain efforts at building the essential supports for school improvement. When relational trust is present and school personnel feel supported, they feel safe to try new practices and reach out to parents (Bryk, et al., 2010). A longitudinal study of over 400 elementary schools in Chicago found that relational trust can be established through respectful interactions, personal regard for others, and the demonstration of competence in core role responsibilities and personal integrity. The following behaviors were present in schools with high levels of relational trust:

genuine listening to what each person has to say and taking other people's views into account in subsequent actions;

when disagreements occur, opinions were respected;

people extending themselves beyond the formal requirements of a job definition or a union contract;

transparency;

reaching out to others;

competency in core role responsibilities; and

follow through on commitments.

Outreach

Another key motivator to parents' decisions to become involved is receiving invitations from teachers. Epstein and colleagues (Epstein, & Van Voorhis, 2001, Dauber & Epstein, 1993, Kohl, et al., 2002) found that teacher attitudes about parents and teacher invitations to parents had a significant impact on parents' decisions to become involved, especially for parents from lower socio-economic backgrounds, Latino families, and those whose children are enrolled in English-as-a-second-language programs (Griffith, 2001, Closson, et al., 2004). According to Henderson and Mapp, when teachers reported high levels of outreach to parents, test scores improved at a significantly higher rate than when teachers reported low levels of outreach (2002). In one study of high-risk elementary students (Kohl, et al., 2002), there were strong positive links between teacher outreach efforts and parents' decisions to become involved. They found several key components to involvement. Parents were more likely to be involved when they:

enjoyed talking with the teacher;

were comfortable asking questions; and

had the belief that the teacher really cared about their child and was interested in their suggestions and ideas about the child's learning.

Other studies have found that when invitations are specific, targeted, and within the range of activities that parents could reasonably manage; parents were more likely to be productively involved in student homework (Balli, et al., 1998). Invitations from teachers to attend parent workshops have also resulted in increased levels of parent involvement and improved outcomes for students in math and reading (Pratt, et al., 1992).

Responsiveness

Parents' perceptions related to the time, energy, skills, and knowledge necessary to support their child's learning have significant influence on parents' decisions to become involved. Socioeconomic backgrounds and family cultures and circumstances also play a role in involvement. Families experiencing circumstances in which resources are scarce, family values and priorities differ from the school system, and knowledge of school expectations and policies is limited face additional barriers to involvement.

Research has shown that when schools are responsive to family needs, they have higher levels of family engagement. Family engagement strategies should reflect careful consideration to the diverse populations served (Colombo, 2006) and give specific attention to family members' time and their financial or educational limitations so that partnerships can form and thrive (Mantzicopoulos, 2003; McWayne et al., 2004). Likewise, in order for partnerships to cultivate, attention to cultural-sensitivity is necessary (Quiocho & Daoud, 2006; Wong & Hughes, 2006, Valdes, 1999). Districts and schools can improve responsiveness and parental involvement by:

learning about the children and families in their community;

utilizing a strength-base approach when responding to student and family needs; and

inviting parents from diverse background to participate in specific and targeted activities.

References and Resources

Balli, S. J., Demo, D. H., & Wedman, J. F. (1998). Family involvement with children's homework: An intervention in the middle grades. Family Relations, 47(2), 149-157.

Bryk, A.S., Sebring, P.B., Allensworth, E., Luppescu, S., & Easton, J.Q. (2010). Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Closson, K. E., Wilkins, A. S., Sandler, H. M., & Hoover-Dempsey, K. V. (2004, April). Crossing cultural boundaries: Latino parents' involvement in their children's education. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.

Colombo, M. (2006). Building school partnerships with culturally and linguistically diverse families. Phi Delta Kappan, 88(4), 314-318.

Dauber, S. L., & Epstein, J. L. (1993). Parents' attitudes and practices of involvement in inner-city elementary and middle schools. In N. F. Chavkin (Ed.), Families and schools in a pluralistic society (pp. 53-71). Albany: State University of New York Press.

Delgado Gaitan, C. (2004). Involving Latino Families in the Schools. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

Epstein, J. L., & Van Voorhis, F. L. (2001). More than minutes: Teachers' roles in designing homework. Educational Psychologist, 36(3), 181-193.

Griffith, J. (2001). Principal leadership of parent involvement. Journal of Educational Administration, 39(2), 162-186.

Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools. Retrieved July 12, 2013 from www.sedl.org.

Hoover-Dempsey, K., Walker, T., Sandler, H., Whetsel, D., Green, C., Wilkins, A., & Closson, K. (2005). Why Do Parents Become Involved? Research Findings and Implications. The Elementary School Journal. Volume 106, Number 2.

Kohl, G. W., Lengua, L. J., & McMahon, R. J. (2002). Parent involvement in school: Conceptualizing multiple dimensions and their relations with family and demographic risk factors. Journal of School Psychology, 38(6), 501-523.

Mantzicopoulos, P. (2003). Flunking kindergarten after Head Start: An inquiry into the contribution of contextual and individual variables. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(2), 268-278.

Mapp, K. L. (2003). Having their say: Parents describe why and how they are engaged in children's learning. School Community Journal, 13(1), 35-64.

McWayne, C., Hampton, V., Fantuzzo, J., Cohen, H., & Sekino, Y. (2004). A multivariate examination of parent involvement and the social and academic competencies of urban kindergarten children. Psychology in the Schools, 41, 1-15.

Pratt, M. W., Green, D., MacVicar, J., & Bountrogianni, M. (1992). The mathematical parent: Parental scaffolding, parenting style, and learning outcomes in long-division mathematics homework. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 13, 17-34

Quiocho, A. M. L., & Daoud, A. M. (2006). Dispelling myths about Latino parent participation in schools. Educational Forum, 70, 255-267.

Valdes, G. (1999). Con respecto: Building the distances between culturally diverse families and schools an ethnographic portrait. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Wong, S.W., & Hughes, J. N. (2006). Ethnicity and language contributions to dimensions of parent involvement. School Psychology Review. 35, 645-662.​

​According to a study by Christenson, et al., most effective interventions to promote academic and social development of children are those where parents and school personnel work together to implement interventions utilizing a two-way exchange of information and those involving communication between school and home (1997). Paramount to effective communication are the beliefs that: supporting student learning and healthy development is a shared responsibility; all parents can positively impact student outcomes; and parental input and diverse perspectives are valuable (Souto-Manning, M & Swick, K, 2006; Swick, 2003). In addition, when families are engaged in ways that are linked to learning and healthy development, students make greater gains (Henderson, and Mapp, 2002). District and school personnel can support this by sharing information and having a dialogue with parents about:

the Common Core and IL Learning Standards

the curriculum used to address the standards

expectations and classroom activities

the strategies teachers are using to promote students' academic, physical, social, emotional, and behavioral development

how parents can enhance student learning and healthy development

the types of summative and formative assessments that will be used each year

school-wide data and the implications

their students' and school's progress

any academic, physical, social, emotional, or behavioral concerns in a timely manner

any strategies that have been implemented to address barrier(s) to learning

Epstein, M., et al. suggests that teachers proactively communicate with families before any problems are identified. Recommendations include:

sending positive emails or notes home that highlight the student's strengths;

providing a parent signature log with the child's homework assignments;

communicating regularly by phone; and

inviting parents to participate in school events.

However, when social, emotional, behavioral or academic concerns are identified, teachers need to communicate these concerns to the parent and describe any strategies implemented in the classroom to address the barrier(s) to learning. The teacher should also invite the family in solving any school related concerns (2008).

Cultural Considerations

It is critical that programs use communication practices that are sensitive to the diverse language and cultural backgrounds of the families they serve. Sohn and Wang (2006) found that Korean born mothers, even those who spoke English well, had difficulty communicating with teachers face-to-face. Due to their strong reading and English grammar skills, their preference was to communicate with teachers through email or program letters. Rous et al. (2003) also found that families who do not speak English well may have difficulty understanding phone conversations as they are unable to rely on non-verbal cues. Lastly, DuPraw and Axner (1997) and Rous et al. (2003) found vast cultural differences in communication styles and nonverbal behavior across families in their studies. These differences, however, should not be viewed as insurmountable barriers. Awareness of cultural differences, as well as similarities, can help people communicate with each other more effectively.

References and Resources

Christenson, S. L., Hurley, C. M., Sheridan, S. M., & Fenstermacher, K. (1997). Parents' and school psychologists' perspectives on parent involvement activities. School Psychology Review, 26, 111-130.

DuPraw, M.E. & Axner, M. (1997). Toward a more perfect union in an age of diversity: Working on common cross-cultural communication challenges. Retrieved from www.pbs.org.

Epstein, M., Atkins, M., Cullinan, D., Kutash, K., and Weaver, R. (2008). Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom: A Practice Guide (NCEE #2008-012). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from www.ies.ed.gov.

Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools. Retrieved July 12, 2013 from www.sedl.org.

Rous, B., Hallam, R., Grove, J., Robinson, S., & Machara, M. (2003). Parent involvement in early care and education programs: A review of the literature. University of Kentucky, Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute.

Souto-Manning, M., & Swick, K. J. (2006). Teachers' beliefs about parent and family involvement: Rethinking our family involvement paradigm. Early Childhood Education Journal, 34(2), 187-193.

Sohn, S., & Wang, C. X. (2006). Immigrant parents' involvement in American schools: Perspectives from Korean mothers. Early Childhood Education Journal, 34(2), 125-132.

Swick, K. (2003). Communication concepts for strengthening family-school-community partnerships. ERIC Journal No. EJ673573.

​More research is now emerging that indicates that when parents are included in the decision making process, parental involvement increases and student outcomes improve. Henderson and Mapp found that when parents advocate for their children, their children are more confident at school, take on more and achieve more (2002). A study on Conjoint Behavioral Consultation in which a structured, detailed, and collaborative approach (between schools and families) to decision making and intervention implementation was investigated, findings revealed the process to be effective in addressing various developmental concerns for at-risk children in Head-Start settings (Sheridan, Clarke, Marti, Burt, Rohlk, 2005). In addition, Walber, et al. found that when parents, teachers, administrators, and program developers collaborate in the development of parent involvement programs, student achievement significantly increased (1981).

The empirical research on parental involvement in school decision making is somewhat limited. There are, however, some studies that indicate that taking parental input into account when making school-wide decisions may result in increased parental involvement (Bryk, Sebring, Allensworth, Luppescu, & Easton, 2010). This may be due to the higher levels of relational trust that occur when including parents in the decision-making process. District and school personnel can solicit parental input through parent forums, dialogue, and surveys.

Educators are in a position to promote parental input in the decision-making process for individual students. Likewise, input can be solicited and taken into account when considering school improvement efforts. District and school personnel can play a significant role in empowering parents to be involved in the decision-making process. Lopez recommends that educators empower parents by enhancing their understanding of data to promote change (2002, Spring).

References and Resources

Bryk, A.S., Sebring, P.B., Allensworth, E., Luppescu, S., & Easton, J.Q. (2010). Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools. Retrieved June 10, 2013 from www.sedl.org.

Lopez, M.E. (2002, Spring). Learning from Families, The evaluation exchange: A Periodical on Emerging Strategies in Evaluation, Volume VIII, Number 1. Retrieved on July 12, 2013 from www.hfrp.org.

Sheridan, S., Clarke, B., Marti, D., Burt, J., & Rohlk, A. (2005). Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: A Model to Facilitate Meaningful Partnerships for Families and Schools, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Walberg, H., Bole, R., & Waxman, H. (1980). School-based family socialization and reading achievement in the inner city. In Psychology in the schools. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.​​

​Conduct parent input meetings and/or surveys with the required response rate (for Special Education Self-Review).[20 USC 1416(a)(3)(A)]

Coordinate and integrate parent involvement strategies under

Title I;

Head Start/Early Head Start;

Even Start;

Parents as Teachers;

Home Interaction Program for Preschool Youngsters; state preschools.

[20 USC 6318(a)(2)(D)]

Provide coordination, technical assistance, and other support to school staff for including families as participants in local educational agency (LEA) and school governance and decision making.[20 USC 6318(a)(2)(B)]

Evaluate the content and effectiveness of the parent involvement policy:

Identify barriers to participation, especially for diverse parents.

Use findings to design more effective strategies.

Revise parent involvement policies, as needed.

Refers specifically to Title I, [20 USC 6318(a)(2)(E)]

Coordinate and integrate parent involvement activities with

public preschool;

other public educational programs;

parent resource centers.

[[20 USC 6318(e)(4)]

​Consult parents as programs are being developed[20 USC 7424(c)]

Send notice of and hold regular meetings to obtain recommendations of parents of English learners.[20 USC 7012(e)(2)]

Provide parents with timely information about schools and students in a language and format that they can understand.[20 USC 6318(f)]

Provide parent involvement policy to parents in an understandable and uniform format.[20 USC 6318(a)(2) and (f)]

Inform parents of English learners how they can be involved in the education of their children.[20 USC 7012(e)(1)]

Meet parent notification requirements (under Titles I, III, IX, and X; Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act; and IDEA).[20 USC 7012(b)]

Conduct parent input meetings and/or surveys with the required response rate (for Special Education Self-Review).[20 USC 1416(a)(3)(A)

Provide other reasonable support for parent involvement activities as parents may request.[20 USC 6318(e)(14)]

No administrative certificates and endorsements will be issued only to those who have: (i) an understanding of the knowledge called for in establishing productive parent-school relationships and of the procedures fostering the involvement which such relationships demand; As used in this subsection: "establishing productive parent-school relationships" means the ability to maintain effective communication between parents and school personnel, to encourage parental involvement in schooling, and to motivate school personnel to engage parents in encouraging student achievement, including the development of programs and policies which serve to accomplish this purpose.[(105 ILCS 5/21-7.1)]

​Inform parents of English learners how they can be involved in the education of their children. [20 USC 7012(e)(1)]

​Provide training and resources to parents on:

content standards;

academic achievement standards;

academic assessment;

parent involvement requirements;

monitoring academic progress;

working with teachers.

[20 USC 6318(e)(1)]

​Educate staff in the value of parent involvement, outreach to parents, communication with parents, partnering, implementing parent programs, and building ties between parents and the school. [20 USC 6318(e)(3)]

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​Substantial research findings reinforce the need for education systems to encourage and support parental involvement. Research has repeatedly demonstrated the positive impact parent involvement, whether in school or at home, has on academic outcomes.

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The WIDA Early Language Development Standards, available for English and Spanish language development, are designed for use with children ages 2.5–5.5 years old and correspond to five domains of children’s development and learning: approaches to learning, language and communication development, cognition and general knowledge, physical well-being and motor development, and social and emotional development.

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Designed for Caregivers T he Circle of Security-Parenting™ Program is used around the world with caregivers and we get a lot of inquiries about applying the model with other important relationships. In fact, the program works equally well for increasing awareness of attachment with childcar

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Organizations

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Organizations Staff Trained Parents/Caregivers on Text Messaging The Basics Vision is a Boston where infants, toddlers, and preschoolers of all racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds are on track to achieve their full potential-having benefited from early experiences that foster healthy brain development, learning, joy, and resilience.

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Explore our free, bilingual Emotional Well-Being resources to teach kids about their feelings and help young children develop positive mental health skills.

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Why Invest in Early Childhood - 13% ROI per $1

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Why Invest in Early Childhood - 13% ROI per $1

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James J. Heckman is the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, a Nobel Memorial Prize winner in economics and an expert in the economics of human development. Through the university's Center for the Economics of Human Development, he has conducted groundbreaking work with a consortium of economists, developmental psychologists, sociologists, statisticians and neuroscientists showing that quality early childhood development heavily influences health, economic and social outcomes for individuals and society at large. Heckman has shown that there are great economic gains to be had by investing in early childhood development.

Heckman received his B.A. in mathematics from Colorado College in 1965 and his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 1971. Since 1973, he has served as a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, where he directs the Economics Research Center, the Center for the Economics of Human Development, and the Center for Social Program Evaluation at the Harris School of Public Policy. He is a professor of law at the University of Chicago School of Law, senior research fellow at the American Bar Foundation, and research fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Professor Heckman's work has been devoted to the development of a scientific basis for economic policy evaluation, with special emphasis on models of individuals and disaggregated groups, and to the problems and possibilities created by heterogeneity, diversity and unobserved counterfactual states. In the early 1990s, his pioneering research on the outcomes of people who obtain the GED certificate received national attention. His findings, which found great deficiencies in the alleged value of the degree, spurred debates across the country on the merits of obtaining the certificate.

His recent research focuses on human development and lifecycle skill formation, with a special emphasis on the economics of early childhood development. His research has given policymakers important new insights into such areas as education, job-training programs, minimum-wage legislation, anti-discrimination law, social supports and civil rights.

He is currently editor of the Journal of Political Economy. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Econometric Society, the Society of Labor Economics and the American Statistical Association, and a fellow of the American Academy of Art and Sciences.

Professor Heckman has published over 300 articles and several books. His most recent books include the following:

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About Professor Heckman - The Heckman Equation

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James J. Heckman is the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, a Nobel Memorial Prize winner in economics and an expert in the economics of human development. Through the university's Center for the Economics of Human Development, he has conducted groundbreaking work with a consortium of economists, developmental psychologists,...

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Center For the Economics of Human Development 

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Center For the Economics of Human Development 

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Center for the Economics of Human Development

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James J. Heckman Biography

Understanding the origins of major social and economic problems related to inequality, social mobility, discrimination, skill formation and regulation, and to devising and evaluating alternative strategies for addressing those problems.

James J. Heckman has devoted his professional life to understanding the origins of major social and economic problems related to inequality, social mobility, discrimination, skill formation and regulation, and to devising and evaluating alternative strategies for addressing those problems. His work is rooted in economics, but he actively collaborates across disciplines to get to the heart of major problems. His recent interdisciplinary research on human development and skill formation over the life cycle draws on economics, psychology, genetics, epidemiology, and neuroscience to examine the origins of inequality, the determinants of social mobility, and the links among stages of the life cycle, starting in the womb.

Heckman has a BA (1965) in Mathematics from Colorado College and an MA (1968) and PhD (1971) in Economics from Princeton University. He has been at the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago since 1973. He was one of the founders of the Harris School of Public Policy, where he also has an appointment. He also holds an appointment at the Law School at the University of Chicago. In May 2014, he launched the Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago which he directs.

In 2000, Heckman shared the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on the microeconometrics of diversity and heterogeneity and for establishing a sound causal basis for public policy evaluation. He has received numerous other awards for his work, including the John Bates Clark Medal of the American Economic Association in 1983, the Jacob Mincer Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2005 from the Society of Labor Economics, the 2005 and 2007 Dennis Aigner Award for Applied Econometrics from the Journal of Econometrics, the Ulysses Medal from the University College Dublin in 2006, the 2007 Theodore W. Schultz Award from the American Agricultural Economics Association, the Gold Medal of the President of the Italian Republic, awarded by the International Scientific Committee of the Pio Manzú Centre in 2008, the Distinguished Contributions to Public Policy for Children Award from the Society for Research in Child Development in 2009, and the Frisch Medal from the Econometric Society in 2014 for the most outstanding paper in applied economics published in Econometrica in the previous five years; the 2016 Dan David Prize; was made a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association in 2017, and is the 2019 recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award.

He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA; a member of the American Philosophical Society; a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Econometric Society; the Society of Labor Economics; the American Statistical Association; the International Statistical Institute; and the National Academy of Education. He has received numerous honorary degrees, most recently from University College London in 2013, and is a foreign member of Academica Sinica and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

He has published over 350 articles and 9 books. His most recent book is The Myth of Achievement Tests: The GED and the Role of Character in American Life (University of Chicago Press, 2014). He is actively engaged in conducting and guiding empirical and theoretical research on skill development, inequality, and social mobility.

I am interested in the economics of human flourishing, or the circumstances under which people are able to develop the skills to thrive in our current economy. These encompass the conventional, cognitive sense of the word (education, on-the-job training) as well as the noncognitive sense (such as the qualities of perseverance and accountability). I develop theoretical models of parental choice and child preference formation, as well as intergenerational models of family influence. I also estimate dynamic models of the evolution of skills and capacities using longitudinal data.

With my co-authors, I develop dynamic nonlinear factor models to organize large-scale developmental data sets and use multiple measurements and multiple equations to identify technologies of skill and health formation. This work determines the origins of human differences and the effectiveness of alternative intervention strategies to foster human skills and capacities and remediate disadvantages.

I am the founding director the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group (with Robert Dugger and Steven Durlauf). I am a member of the Becker-Friedman Institute for Research in Economics and a Senior Advisor for the China Development Research Foundation.

I seek collaboration with biologists, economists, psychologists, neuroscientists, sociologists, and statisticians doing serious work on the origins of human inequality and the effectiveness of remediation. Many details remain to be addressed, but the vision is clear: in order to develop a strong theory of human flourishing, a strong interdisciplinary effort is required.

James J. Heckman Awards

From the Nobel to the Fritz Medal

2010Member, National Academy of Education

2005Jacob Mincer Award for Lifetime Achievement in Labor Economics

2000Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

James J. Heckman Frequently Cited Publications

Frequently Cited Journal Articles

Heckman, J.J. (1979). Sample selection bias as a specification error. Econometrica, 153-161.

Heckman, J.J. (1979). The common structure of statistical models of truncation, sample selection and limited dependent variables and a simple estimator for such models. Annals of Econometric and Social Measurement, 5(4), 475-492.

Heckman, J.J., Ichimura, H., and Todd, P.E. (1997). Matching as an economic evaluation estimator: Evidence from evaluating a job training programme. The Review of Economic Studies, 64(4), 605-654.

Heckman, J.J., LaLonde, R.J., and Smith, J.A. (1999). The economics and econometrics of of active labor market programs. Handbook of Labor Economics, 3, 1865-2097.

Heckman, J.J., and Singer, B. (1984). A method for minimizing the impact of distributional assumptions in econometric models for duration data. Econometrica, 271-320.

For a comprehensive list of publications, visit our publications page.

Or download Professor Heckman's full curriculum vitae .

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James J. Heckman - Center for the Economics of Human Development