The Harvard Family Research Project separated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education to become the Global Family Research Project as of January 1, 2017. It is no longer affiliated with Harvard University.
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Doing What Works: Scientifically Based Research in Education
Suzanne Bouffard of HFRP examines the new science-based research standards brought in by the No Child Left Behind Act.
Understanding Family Strengthening to Promote Youth Development
Dr. Geri Lynn Peak, a consultant and formerly the Managing Director of the Center for Applied Research and Technical Assistance, describes the evolution, practice, and potential assessment of a family strengthening approach to promote positive youth development.
The Challenges and Strategies of Evaluating Community-Wide After School Programs
Mark Ouellette and Audrey Hutchinson of the National League of Cities describes strategies to meet the challenges of evaluating citywide after school programs.
Learning From Evaluation: Lessons From After School Evaluation in Texas
Dr. Peter A. Witt, the Elda K. Bradberry Recreation and Youth Development Chair at Texas A&M University, reflects on seven years of evaluating city after school programs in Texas.
NSACA Accreditation: Building Capacity for Continuous Improvement in After School Programs
Mark Carter, Executive Director of the National School-Age Care Alliance (NSACA), describes how the NSACA accreditation process helps after school programs build evaluation capacity.
Logic Models in Out-of-School Time
Julia Coffman of HFRP describes one approach OST programs can take to develop a logic model.
What do evaluators of public communication campaigns need to do to advance their work and this field?
Gary T. Henry is a professor in Policy Studies and Political Science at Georgia State University, co-editor-in-chief of the journal New Directions for Evaluation, and co-author of Evaluation: An Integrated Framework for Understanding, Guiding, and Improving Policies and Programs (2000, Jossey-Bass).
How can evaluations of public communication campaigns be of more use to social change efforts?
Dr. Sharyn Sutton and Elizabeth Heid Thompson of the social marketing firm, Sutton Group, in Washington D.C. have worked on the research, strategic planning, and execution of numerous social change efforts and public service campaigns.
New & Noteworthy
This section features an annotated list of resources related to the issue's theme of Public Communications Campaigns and Evaluation.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Public Communications Campaigns and Evaluation by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
Using Behavior Change Theory to Communicate Effectively: The Case of Latino Parent Involvement
Anne Pollock (HGSE) and Julia Coffman and M. Elena Lopez (HFRP) reveal how to design communications that are more effective at changing behavior by keeping in mind the factors that influence behavior.
Credibility, Relevance, and Inescapable Truths: Effective Messages for Youth
Tim Mask describes three strategies for improving the effectiveness of behavior change campaigns that were used with success by the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi.
Blogging (BLOG’ing)
Julia Coffman of Harvard Family Research Project wants to save you from the embarrassment of making the same mistake she made.
Understanding Research: Ten Tips
Stephanie Schaefer of the National Association of Child Advocates offers tips on how to evaluate research information for its credibility.
Keeping It Local
Julie Parente of the statewide child advocacy organization, Voices for Illinois Children, describes a component of their “ground strategy” for effectively communicating campaign messages.
A Conversation With Ethel Klein
Ethel Klein, a longtime campaign strategist and pollster, is president of EDK Associates, a strategic research firm based in New York City. Dr. Klein has designed campaigns for nonprofit organizations and foundations on many varied issues.
Beyond the Usual Suspects
Julia Coffman, from Harvard Family Research Project, describes methods for campaign evaluation that are unique to the communications arena.
Keeping Smokey Looking Good at Sixty
For 60 years the Advertising Council has worked on hundreds of public service campaigns on a broad range of social issues, including such well-known campaigns as Smokey Bear and McGruff the Crime Dog. George Perlov offers a look at the role of research and evaluation inside the Ad Council.
International Communication Research and Evaluation at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs
Maria Elena Figueroa from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs reveals the Center’s methods for evaluating communication campaigns and offers five examples of their evaluations in progress.
Using Information Architecture to Improve Communication
Erin Harris from Harvard Family Research Project with Suzanne Muchin, CEO of Civitas, illustrate the design concept “information architecture” for displaying complex information clearly and simply.
A Conversation With Paul Light
Paul Light is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., an instructor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and author of 14 books, including most recently Pathways to Nonprofit Excellence. Previously he was Director of the Public Policy Program at the Pew Charitable Trusts.
ProDES: A Continuous Improvement System for Juvenile Justice
Philip Harris and Lori Grubstein of the Crime and Justice Research Center describe the “bottom-up” development of ProDES, an outcome-based information system that tracks youth in the juvenile justice system.
Advice From the Experts on Nurturing Strong Full Service Schools
The following are excerpts from an evaluation panel at the conference, “Nurturing Strong Full Service Schools: Building Bridges with Communities,” that took place on May 20, 2002. It was the fifth in a series of national conferences about full service schools organized by Margot Welch and the Collaborative for Integrated School Services at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Panelists shared their evaluation findings and lessons learned.
New & Noteworthy
The New & Noteworthy section features an annotated list of papers, organizations, initiatives, and other resources related to this issue's theme of Evaluation for Continuous Improvement.
Mindset Matters
Ann Dykman of MPR Associates illustrates that an organization's culture and mindset are important factors in the success of using evaluation for continuous improvement.