The first goal of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act is to have all children in America start school ready to learn by the year 2000. Check out the National Education Goals Panel's five ways to help children succeed in school and descriptions of five children who, each in their own way, are ready for school.

The philosophy that parents are their children's first and most important teachers is the basis for Parents as Teachers, a voluntary early childhood parent education program. Children who have been in the program are advanced over their peers at age 3 and these gains carry over into their elementary school years. Find out more about this program that is meeting the needs of communities throughout the country.

Many parents want to become more involved in their child's education, but they are simply too busy. There are ways to work around both the school's and the parent's schedules. Richard Louv has collected some ideas from around the country that could help increase parent participation in the schools.

Looking for guidelines for schools and school districts to strengthen relationships between schools and parents? Find them from the National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education which is working to promote family/school partnerships in every school in America. Their list of NCPIE organizations and board members is a helpful resource for parents and schools alike who want to improve parent involvement in education.

Education these days has become far more than reading, writing and arithmetic. Learn & Live, from the George Lucas Educational Foundation, takes an in-depth look at programs that coordinate students, teachers, communities, and schools with interactive multimedia technologies to broaden the scope of the classroom.

Learn how to make the most of "student conferences" in this article by Allan Shedlin, Jr.

The U.S. Department of Education publishes guidelines for adults who want to offer youth extra attention, guidance, and a sense of direction all of which are increasingly important given the wide array of factors influencing the lives of youth today.

Why aren't more parents recognizing their role as their children's first teachers? Senior Editor Richard Louv explores the challenges that modern parents face to becoming partners in children's learning.

Every year, thousands of babies suffer blindness, brain damage or even death after being shaken in anger or frustration. A national campaign developed by the League Against Child Abuse, called "Don't Shake the Baby," has spurred all fifty states as well as Puerto Rico and Washington, DC, to begin or expand Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention efforts.

Bruce Linton, founder of the Fathers' Forum, created this organization to help fathers by providing contacts and resources.