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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Dear FINE Member,

Here are this month's FINE member announcements. Please feel free to forward this information to friends and other education colleagues.

New on the FINE Website

• Bridging Multiple Worlds: Building Pathways From Childhood to College

  Catherine R. Cooper, Gabriela Chavira, Elizabeth Domínguez, Dolores Mena, and Dawn Mikolyski provide a model for increasing opportunities for minority youth to succeed in schools, attain college degrees, and prepare for careers. This paper describes how university research projects and cultural community programs can partner to support youth development.

• Research Digest: School-Family Relationship: Some Lessons From a Teacher Professional Development Program

  Aline M. M. R. Reali and Regina M. S. P. Tancredi of the Universidade Federal de São Carlos, San Paulo, Brazil, summarize three studies that explore how university-school research partnerships can provide teacher professional development to strengthen parent-teacher relations.

• Member Insight by Eugenia Ambrocio

  Eugenia Ambrocio discusses ways to empower Latino parents to advocate for their children in schools and become more involved in the transition from middle school to high school.

Recent Reports

• The Family Participation in After-School Study

  The Institute for Responsive Education surveyed 21st Century Community Learning Center Program Coordinators about program goals, activities, resources, and outcomes related to family participation. The survey found that most programs are engaging families successfully in a variety of ways.

• Enabling and Empowering Practices of Kentucky's School-Based Family Resource Centers: A Multiple Case Study

  This article in the latest issue of Evaluation and Program Planning discusses a utilization-focused evaluation method that draws on multiple case studies. The method was used in evaluating Kentucky’s multi-site school-based family resource centers (FRC). Results from the qualitative evaluation contributed to the development of a training program for family resource center coordinators and a manual for new centers.

• Quality Child Care for Infants and Toddlers: Case Studies of Three Community Strategies

  This report provides in-depth studies of three collaborative community initiatives to improve low-income families’ access to quality child care. The experiences and perspectives of parents from each community site are reported and cross-site themes are discussed.

• State-Funded Pre-Kindergarten: What the Evidence Shows

  This U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report examines the role that states play in providing early childhood education. It reviews evidence on states' level of support for prekindergarten programs, the quality and effectiveness of state-funded prekindergarten, and state efforts to build integrated, comprehensive, early childhood systems.

• Supporting the Education Organizing Movement: An Exchange Between Intermediaries

  The Justice Matters Institute convened 10 intermediary entities that support education organizing efforts to discuss key questions and challenges. The emerging themes of their dialogue are collected in this report along with next steps.

• Bridging Research and Education Organizing: Can We Strengthen our Combined Power?

  Community organizing groups often have a different approach to research than research-based organizations. The Justice Matters Institute examines the implications of each research approach for educational organizing and shows how partnerships between research-based organizations and organizing groups can strengthen the role of research in education reform campaigns.

Program Models

• Bringing Parents on Board: Strong Home-School Connections Enrich Learning Opportunities for Immigrant Kids—and Their Parents, Too

  In the January/February 2004 Harvard Education Letter, Sue Miller Wiltz describes the success of three Texas dual language literacy programs for immigrant children and their families—AVANCE, Region 19 Head Start, and Hacienda Heights. Dual language instruction promotes English-language learning while preventing home-language loss and helps foster active parental involvement in children's literacy development at home and in school.

• January/February Issue of Principal Magazine: Connecting With Families

  The new issue of Principal Magazine is devoted to Connecting With Families. It presents several models of family-school-community partnership, including the National Network of Partnership Schools, community schools, father-friendly schools, and home-schooling.

• New NCSC Report on ACORN's Education Reform Model

  This review by the National Center for Schools and Communities (NCSC) summarizes ACORN’s community organizing efforts to improve local public schools. It provides strategic recommendations to help ACORN strengthen its national agenda and its assistance to local affiliates and identifies elements of a preliminary organizing model.

Policy Updates

• Recent State Policies/Activities: No Child Left Behind - Parent Involvement

  The Education Commission on the States website provides information about recent No Child Left Behind Act state policies related to parent involvement.

Events

• Institute for Teaching and Learning Lecture Series

  The Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, sponsors a series of lectures about learning in family, school, and community contexts:

  • “Passionate Teaching and Learning in an Era of Test Based Accountability” by Dr. Robert Fried on February 11th

  • “Community Works: Smarter Teens Make Safer Communities” seminar on February 19th–20th

  • “Diversity in Education: Past, Present, and Future” by Dr. Barbara J. Love on March 10th

  • “Family Involvement: Past, Present, and Future” by Dr. Heather Weiss on April 21st

• Leadership Development Conference on School, Family, and Community Partnerships

  Conducted by the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS), this conference will be held in Baltimore on March 12th–13th. School, district, state, and organization leaders who are developing programs of family and community involvement are welcome to attend. Participants will learn about research-based approaches for partnership programs linked to school goals for student success and discover how NNPS helps meet requirements for family involvement in the No Child Left Behind Act. The registration deadline is February 17th.

Other Resources From Harvard Family Research Project

• Bibliography of Evaluations of Out-of-School Time Programs

  The out-of-school time (OST) section of the HFRP website has a new resource—a bibliography of all the evaluations of OST programs that we are currently tracking nationwide. HFRP's bibliography contains 230 programs and provides the titles of the programs' evaluation reports and links to them if they are available online.

• The Evaluation Exchange Is 10 Years Old!

  The Evaluation Exchange, HFRP's evaluation periodical, examines the newest trends in evaluation theory, practice, and communications, with articles written by prominent evaluators and practitioners. 2004 is our tenth year of publication and, to commemorate the occasion, the Winter 2003/2004 issue looks back at the past 10 years in evaluation for lessons for the future. This issue will be available in February. You can sign up to receive the print or electronic version free of charge on our website.

Contact Us

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Enjoy!

FINE - The Family Involvement Network of Educators