This text uniquely provides comprehensive coverage of the history of parenting and parent/school collaboration, current issues and immigration trends affecting American schools and communities, diverse family structures and ethnic groups, and many techniques that teaching professionals can use to engage family members of all children more completely as partners in education. Chapters on working with families of children with special needs and on child abuse are other remarkable aspects of this text.

Key Changes to this Edition:

• A streamlined History chapter (now Chapter 4)
• The chapter on “Family and Community” was divided for ease of use (with an overview of population trends and diverse family structures in Chapter 2 and strategies for working with culturally diverse groups in Chapter 3)
• New annotated Web links are included at the end of each chapter
• Throughout, recent research citations were added, programs were updated, and content was streamlined to maintain its comprehensive yet applied nature

“Truly, this type of “big picture” presentation helps the typical undergraduate not only grasp any new material and concepts, but also to become meta-cognitive of what they already know and to begin to piece the parts together. The inclusion of practical information in working with parents is a strength and adds to the comprehensive nature of the text.”

                                    Sharla Snider, Texas Woman’s University

Eugenia Hepworth Berger became interested in parent involvement when she and her husband, Glen, became the parents of three children who attended public schools. A professional in early childhood education, sociology, family-life education, and parent education for 30 years, she has two master's degrees and a Ph.D. in sociological foundations of education. Eugenia is active in many professional organizations, including the Association for Childhood Education International, the National Council on Family Relations, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (life member), the National Council for Social Studies, and the American Sociological Association. In 1994-1995 she served on the board of the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators. She has been a board member of the Colorado Association for Childhood Education, served as president of the Rocky Mountain Council on Family Relations for three years, and served on the board of the Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998-2001. She has coordinated many conferences, ranging from the Colorado Year of the Child in 1979 to ACEI and RMCF state conferences in the 1980s and 1990s. Prior to becoming a college professor, she was a public school teacher and director of a parent education program. A faculty member at Metropolitan State College of Denver since 1968, she wrote the early childhood education certification program and the minor in early childhood, and coordinated the early childhood education program for eight years. She retired in December 1997 and is now professor emerita of education.

Dr. Berger has been elected to a variety of honorary associations, including Pi Kappa Lambda, Mortar Board, Mu Phi Epsilon, Pi Lambda Theta, and Kappa Delta Pi.  She received the Distinguished Service Award from Metropolitan State College of Denver.  She is included in Who's Who in the West and Who's Who of American Women.

Chapter 1       Family Involvement—Essential for a Child's Development.

Chapter 2       Families and Communities: Overview, Trends, and Insights 

Chapter 3       Working with Culturally Diverse Groups 

Chapter 4       Historical Overview of Family Life, Diverse Famlies, and Parent Involvement.

Chapter 5        Effective Home-School-Community Relationships

Chapter 6        Communication and Parent Programs. 

Chapter 7        Collaborative Leadership—Working with Parents. 

Chapter 8        School-Based Programs. 

Chapter 9       Home-Based Programs.

Chapter 10     Working with Parents of a Child with Disabilities. 

Chapter 11     The Abused Child. 

Chapter 12      Rights, Responsibilities, and Advocacy. 

Bibliography.

Index.