Shared book reading at home is a beneficial language and literacy learning experience for young children. While there has been extensive research on shared book reading in general, more is needed on understanding what this looks like for multilingual refugee families and their preschool children, particularly among Burmese families in the United States. Past research has focused on literacy development among Burmese refugee children in the school context, but few studies exist on shared book reading among Burmese refugees and their preschoolers in the home context. This qualitative study highlights four Burmese mothers and their young children’s use of dual language books in shared book reading while incorporating interactive reading strategies like questioning, pointing and extratextual talk. Findings indicate that these mothers’ capacities to engage in book talk and scaffolding promote children's and caregivers' literacy skills. The study also highlights the need for resources and interventions that might be developed to support these families in their efforts to boost young children’s literacy using shared book reading strategies.

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences and factors that contribute to how refugee families support their children’s educational success. Through their lived experiences, refugees bring various perspectives and insights into their families’ pursuits in supporting their children. More attention needs to be paid to understanding how refugee backgrounds and experiences influence the way these families help their children educationally. Although some studies have examined how refugee families utilize their wealth of knowledge and navigational capital to support their young children’s learning in a new educational system, there is growing need to contribute more into this literature. Semi-structured interviews with eleven refugee parents revealed that their previous educational experiences, linguistic strengths and challenges, and the presence of a support system influenced their families’ navigation of new educational experiences. Results indicated that refugee parents rely on social, familial, linguistic, and navigational capital to persevere and support their children during the transition to the United States (U.S.) school system. This study adds to this literature and aims to offer suggestions to educators and professionals working with refugee families.

Teacher preparation programs support the development of effective early childhood (EC) teachers through multiple methods. Team teaching is one approach that may facilitate students' learning and understanding. The current study collected data from 55 pre-service teachers to examine their perspectives on their experiences in team taught courses in an interdisciplinary EC program. A qualitative and quantitative approach was used to analyze survey items so that data from both close-ended and open-ended questions contribute to the findings about practices being modeled and benefits and challenges in team taught classes. Strategies to support this instructional approach in teacher preparation programs are discussed.

Interactive book reading is an active practice that aims to stimulate children’s language and literacy development. The interactions that take place during book reading are essential to understand; however, there is limited research on the practice of interactive book reading within refugee families. This qualitative study utilized observation and focus group data to capture the interactions taking place between six refugee mothers and their preschool aged children (3–5 years). The two broad aims of the study were first, to explore interactive book reading experiences of refugee mother–child dyads with the goal of understanding the strategies mothers used during book reading. The second aim was to identify how dual language books benefited families during and beyond interactive book reading. Results demonstrated that mothers incorporated multiple interactive reading strategies while navigating interesting language dynamics. Findings further highlighted the need for continued research on the reading practices of refugee families with preschool-aged children to develop culturally relevant literacy programming and support for these families.

The process of guiding young children to learn to read and write may hold unique challenges for refugee families who are transitioning to a new culture and a new language, yet areas of strength and resourcefulness may lead to successful literacy readiness for these young learners. This qualitative descriptive study examined refugee mothers’ (N = 9) literacy practices with their preschool aged children (3–5 years). The study goals were first, to explore the literacy practices among refugee families and their children, and secondly, to understand how these families navigated their new environments as they prepared their young children for school. Qualitative data collected via interviews indicated that the literacy practices of families varied and were mainly focused on storytelling and writing activities. The findings also suggested that mothers face challenges in promoting literacy due to lack of literacy resources. However, all the mothers highlighted that learning to read, write, and speak English were top priorities for their young children before starting school. Implications on effective strategies for supporting literacy development among refugee families with young children are discussed.

Using Yosso's community cultural wealth framework, this qualitative study explored the strengths families, a refugee agency and preschool program have as they support the educational needs of preschool-aged refugee children. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine refugee mothers, two agency directors, and one teacher. Data were analyzed using a deductive approach revealing multiple cultural capitals, including aspirational, social, familial, and linguistic, that the refugee mothers possessed and utilized. Agency and program strengths included: strong goal-driven practices, external supports, and knowledge of the families they serve. This study gives insights on forming family-program partnerships and supporting young children's learning.

This study utilized the qualitative phenomenological approach to explore pre -service teachers’ experiences in their engagement with parents of young children as they practiced building partnerships with parents. Pre-service teachers (N=50) were each assigned a preschool child with whom they interacted together with the child’s parents and teacher; completing a semester-long assignment created within a family, schools and community course for students in an early childhood teacher preparation program. Pre-service teachers’ responses to a survey and their final written reflections were analyzed using the process of axial and open coding. Results indicated the importance of communication and understanding different dynamics and challenges in parent-teacher partnerships. Therefore, educators should continuously strive to equip pre-service teachers with the skills they will need to succeed as they work with schools, the community and especially in their work with parents.

The essentiality of family involvement in the schooling process is evident from the vast directives embedded within federal mandates, professional standards for teachers and administrators, parent organizations, and advocacy groups. Yet, as explicit as legislative mandates and professional standards are regarding parental rights and involvement, they do not require definitive roles of the family. Several factors influence the lack of a decisive definition regarding the role of the family in the schooling process. Those include the different perspectives on what constitutes a family structurally and functionally, the socio-cultural and political diversity within and among populations, the move to an inclusive education framework, the various terms used to describe parental involvement, the realization that no one family model fits the demographic diversity existing in today’s school districts, and the rights of family members to select their level of involvement. Given the importance of family engagement and student outcomes, three fundamental questions addressed in this chapter are, “How can inclusive schools enhance productive collaborative family engagement networks?” “How can the family be empowered to voluntarily participate within those networks?” and “How can inclusive schools connect with teacher preparation programs to promote the competency of educators for those collaborative family/school engagement networks?” In this chapter we delineate an interactive triad conceptual model with the school as the “connecting agent” to build relationships with families and teacher preparation, setting the stage for productive family engagement as partners in inclusive settings.

All too often tragedy and disaster strike the world around us, and when they do, people often are left speechless and powerless. In schools, there is no subject as uniquely situated to helping children develop an understanding of social events as the social studies; as history is filled with instances of loss, tragedy, and death (i.e. war, conflict, natural disasters, etc.). During these difficult times, teachers often encounter important questions from inquisitive children on these challenging topics. This manuscript discusses how an elementary social studies teacher leveraged the assets of children’s literature to assist her students in learning to grapple with the death of their beloved classroom pet. Parents and educators are provided literary resources and strategies to assist students in grappling with the concepts of loss or death.

Jennifer Aldrich Kimberly Anderson Julia Atiles Fain Barker Jennifer Baumgartner Michelle Bauml Lisa Beck Doris Bergen Sheresa Blanchard Rachel Boit Amanda Branscombe Amy Broemmel Lorraine Breffni Jane Broderick Deborah Bruns Dionne Busio Patricia Cantor Anne Cash Deb Cassidy Sandra Chang-Kredl Sarah Clark Danielle Crosby Stephanie Currenton Kay Cutler Belinda Davis Sara Davis Sheila Degotardi Katherine Delaney Sean Durham Julie Ernst Amanda Fellner Nicole Fenty Nancy File Mary Fusaro Susanne Garvis Hope Gerde Megan Gibson Margaret Gillis Lissy Gloeckler Diedre Greer Bridget Hatfield Belinda Hardin Archana Hegde Linda Hestenes Lucinda Heimer Julie Herron Heidi Hollingsworth Mary Jensen Jim Johnson Leanne Johnson Ithel Jones Rebecca Jordan Jeesun Jung Jean Kang Bonnie Keilty Bryan Korth Janice Kroeger Vicki Lake Ai Noi Lee Hsui-Len Lu Eleni Loizou Megan Lynch Sandra McClintic Mary McMullen Paula McMurray-Schwarz Shannan McNair Mary Jane Moran Christine Maynard Kyle Miller Sharon Mims Carol Morris Mark Nagasawa Stacy Neuharth-Pritchett Shelley Nicholson JOURNAL OF EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER EDUCATION 2016, VOL. 37, NO. 4, 352–353 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2016.1249249