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.
June FINE Newsletter: ELL and Latino Family Involvement Resources
June 2007
Dear FINE Member,
Here are this month's FINE member updates. Please feel free to forward this information to your friends and other education colleagues.
To help educators address the needs of the large and growing school population of Spanish-speaking students, this month we showcase new resources for engaging English Language Learner (ELL) families in their children's education. We are particularly proud to introduce our original research-inspired bilingual storybook about family involvement, Tomasito's Mother Comes to School/La mamá de Tomasito visita la escuela. We also share additional resources on the Family Involvement Storybook Corner about engaging Latino families in their children's learning and a new Research Digest that uses data from a national study to investigate the importance of family involvement in Latino infants' development.
New From FINE
- Tomasito's Mother Comes to School/La mamá de Tomasito visita la escuela
When his Spanish-speaking mother makes an unexpected visit to his classroom, second-grader Tomasito is angry and embarrassed...until he discovers that his mother and teacher actually want to get to know each other better in order to help him learn. This online storybook about family involvement at school includes a children’s story, along with an informational guide for adult family members and discussion questions. The story draws from the real experiences of one Latino boy and his family who are acculturating to the U.S.
The storybook is designed to engage children, inform and inspire their families, and help educators build connections with families, all while supporting literacy. Developed from research by HFRP's Ellen Mayer and full of vibrant illustrations by award-winning children's book illustrator Joe Cepeda, this bilingual storybook is an easy-to-use family involvement resource that can be downloaded, viewed, and printed out for free on HFRP’s Family Involvement Storybook Corner website. You can find the storybook and related resources for parents and educators at the link above.
- Storybook Corner Resources for Engaging Latino Families
Additional resources for engaging Latino and ELL families in their children’s learning are also available on the Storybook Corner. See our new family literacy “Word Walk” handout—available in both English and Spanish—for a fun, informal summer walk that parents and children can take together around their neighborhood to promote literacy. In addition, there is a tool kit that features Pat Mora's storybook, Tomás and the Library Lady, which includes a journal from a teacher who used the storybook to build relationships with ELL families, as well as thoughts from both the storybook author and an educator about engaging Latino families.
- Research Digest: Young Latino Infants and Families: Parental Involvement Implications From a Recent National Study
Michael López and his colleagues use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort to show that family engagement matters for all young children regardless of social, cultural, or ethnic group. The researchers find that there are no differences in cognitive and motor competencies between Latino children and their White peers at 9 months of age. Although few differences in parenting behaviors exist across ethnic groups, the researchers observe that Latino families are less likely to read books and share stories with their children than parents from other ethnic backgrounds and suggest ways to support Latino children's literacy development during the early childhood years.
New From HFRP: Professional Development
- Closing the Achievement Gap: Linking Families, Schools, and Communities
On November 1–3, Harvard Family Research Project will host its second professional development institute at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) on building complementary learning. Designed to give a variety of stakeholders strategies for tackling the achievement gap and fostering learning for all children, the institute explores how schools, families, out-of-school time programs, and other organizations and agencies can forge connections to build systems of support for children and youth. For more information or to register, call the office for Programs in Professional Education at HGSE at 1-800-545-1849 or click on the link above.
- Programs in Professional Education at HGSE
This 2-page Research Summary contains a subset of findings contained in the Fact Sheet and presents key findings on differences in multiple dimensions of participation in a range of OST activities among youth from varying family income levels and racial and ethnic groups. Each summer and fall, the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) provides professional development training for more than 1,800 teachers, principals, and school leaders. Their programs provide the latest research, information and “best practices” for improving student achievement. In addition to the Closing the Achievement Gap institute described above, we list below the titles of three upcoming summer 2007 programs at HGSE:
• Leadership: An Evolving Vision, July 12–20
• Critical Issues in Urban Special Education: Improving Outcomes for Young Children At Risk, July 16–20
• Charter Schools: Charting a Course for the Next Decade, August 3–6Additional information about these and other Harvard programs is available at the link above or by calling 1-800-545-1849.
Books
- Creating Welcoming Schools: A Practical Guide to Home–School Partnerships With Diverse Families
This new book by JoBeth Allen, with a foreword by Concha Delgado-Gaitan, illustrates how schools and diverse families throughout the country have formed partnerships that support and enhance student learning. The book suggests ways teachers and parents can work together to explore their rich and diverse cultural perspectives and establish and sustain genuine dialogue.
Policy
- Milestones in Parent Involvement of America's Schools
In this document, the National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE) describes the history of parent involvement and the evolution of current policies seeking to build partnerships between families. This overview is based on a presentation to NCPIE by Arnold Fege, Anne Henderson, and Bob Witherspoon.
- “Making it Work”: A Q&A With Hirokazu Yoshikawa
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, describes findings from his study of the New Hope Project in Milwaukee, which show how maternal employment patterns relate to both parenting and student outcomes.
Articles & Reports
- Educating Newcomers
The most recent edition of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform's quarterly publication, Voices in Urban Education, demonstrates how education systems can be improved for immigrant children and youth. School and community connections emerge as an important theme across the articles in this issue.
- Assessing Initiatives for Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care
This report from the National Center for Children in Poverty presents an overview of current efforts to document or evaluate common types of child care for children under 5 years old—namely, child care provided by family members, friends, and neighbors. The report includes information about program goals and service delivery strategies as well as program examples.
Upcoming Events
- Southwestern Fatherhood & Families Conference
The Arizona Fathers & Families Coalition is holding its annual regional institute in Tucson, Arizona, on July 12, 2007. The conference, entitled “Embracing Fathers, Families, and Our Future,” will focus on fathers' impact on child development and best practices to reach out to diverse—particularly Latino—fathers. To register, go to the link above.
Funding Opportunity
- Richard Riley Award
The KnowledgeWorks Foundation, in partnership with the American Architectural Foundation, seeks submissions for the Richard Riley Award. The award recognizes design and educational excellence in "schools as centers of community." The winning school will receive a $10,000 prize. For more information, visit the link above.
Contact Us
If you experience a problem reading this newsletter or have questions and comments concerning our work, we would love to hear from you. Please send an email to fine@gse.harvard.edu.
Enjoy!
The FINE Team at Harvard Family Research Project