Shanker's comment alluded to the 1960s and1970s, when "our schools made a big mistake oftelling their parents not to meddle withchildren's homework."

Nathan Glazer, professor of education andsocial structure, endorsed the principles behind"What Works," though he said he was basing hisjudgment only on newspaper accounts.

"We have learned something more about teachingthan we did 10 years ago," Glazer said,attributing the hands-off attitude characterizingthe previous decades to "excessiveprofessionalism."

At a press conference Tuesday, President Reagansaid, "We don't need a lot of governmentinterference and fancy gimmicks to produce goodschools. What we need is to concentrate hard onbasic academic subjects and fundamental moralvalues."

But Graham said the Reagan Administrationshould make programs such as Head Start, an earlykindergarden program, and Chapter One, aneducation program for underprivileged children,financial priorities.

"Publicly financed education programs can makeimportant differences in improving the educationof children," Graham said.

The book, which covers research findings aboutthe influence of home, classroom and schoolenvironments on students, presents specificstudies on parent involvement in student work,memorization, discipline, cultural literacy andvarious other topics