Family involvement in children's education is widely considered critical to student achievement. Yet teachers and other education professionals often feel unprepared to engage families in children's learning. The goal of Preparing Educators to Involve Families is to help prepare teachers and other professionals to partner effectively with the families of children in elementary school. Using a framework of ecological systems theory, editors Heather B. Weiss, Holly Kreider, M. Elena Lopez, and Celina M. Chatman pair child development theory with research-based teaching cases that reflect critical dilemmas in family-school-community relations, especially among families for whom poverty and cultural differences are daily realities. The reader is encouraged to link theory and practice, honing analytic and problem-solving skills for use in real-world situations with students and their families. After an introduction by the editors, the book is organized into 4 sections. Section 1, The Microsystem, contains the following chapters: (1) Theoretical Perspectives on the Microsystem (Deborah Stipek, Penny Hauser-Cram, Marji Erickson Warfield, Jack P. Shonkoff, Marty Wyngaarden Krauss, Aline Sayer, and Carole Christofk Upshur); and (2) The Cases (Ellen Mayer, Margaret A. Vaughan, and Phyllis Blumenfeld). Section 2, The Mesosystem, contains the following chapters: (3) Theoretical Perspectives on the Mesosystem (Pamela Davis-Kean, Jacquelynne S. Eccles, Heather B. Weiss, and M. Elena Lopez); and (4) The Cases (Barrie Thorne, Margaret Caspe, Holly Kreider, Catherine R. Cooper, Elizabeth Dominguez, Margarita Azmitia, Erica Holt, Dolores Mena, and Gabriela Chavira). Section 3, The Exosystem, contains the following chapters: (5) Theoretical Perspectives on the Exosystem (Heather B. Weiss and Holly Kreider); and (6) The Cases (Ellen Mayer, Jennifer Romich, and Jennifer Simmelink). Section 4, The Macrosystem, contains the following chapters: (7) Theoretical Perspectives on the Macrosystem (Thomas S. Weisner, Cynthia Garcia Coll, and Celina Chatman); and (8) The Cases (Ann Barger Hannum, Eboni C. Howard, and Cynthia Garcia Coll).