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The indicators of parental involvement in children's education vary considerably across studies, most of which treat parental involvement as a unidimensional construct. This study identified four dimensions of parental involvement and assessed the relationship of each dimension with parental background and academic achievement for a large representative sample of U.S. middle school students. The findings provide little support for the conjecture that parents with low socioeconomic status are less involved in their children`s schooling than are parents with higher socioeconomic status. Furthermore, although schools varied somewhat in parental involvement associated with volunteering and attendance at meetings of parent-teacher organizations, they did not vary substantially in levels of involvement associated with home supervision, discussion of school-related activities, or parent-teacher communication. Yet the discussion of school-related activities at home had the strongest relationship with academic achievement. Parents' participation at school had a moderate effect on reading achievement, but a negligible effect on mathematics achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, the author discusses the latest practices in music education, particularly in the U.S., as of April 2011. She cites as example the child-centered parent-teacher association (PTA) performances that were helped realized by Rosemary Wharton, a music teacher at the Grand Forks, North Dakota-based Belmont Elementary School. She presents her experience in doing the informal process-based performance called informance that was introduced by Mary Pautz.

The article focuses on a study about brain damaged parents in the U.S. Parents with brain damage can be identified by soft signs such as frustration, inability to see their child, fantasy, romanticism and inability to hear the professionals. A series of perceptual training for brain damaged parents can enhance cognitive processes. Therapy and counseling are also part of the parent reeducation program. The ultimate goal of these parents is to return to the community and they are mainstreamed by having them appear at local school board meetings and before parents' and teachers' associations.