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.

Terms of Use ▼

• Permission to Use Materials: In consideration for your agreement to the terms and conditions contained here, the President and Fellows of Harvard College, c/o the Harvard Graduate School of Education, grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use Harvard Family Research Project publications hosted on the Global Family Research Project Site.
• User may download material from the Site only for User's own personal, non-commercial use. User may not otherwise copy, reproduce, retransmit, distribute, publish, commercially exploit or otherwise transfer any material. The burden of determining that use of any information, software or any other content on the Site is permissible rests with User.
• User will seek permission or licensing for any commercial use requests from the Harvard Graduate School of Education Office of Sponsored Projects.

• Home
• Research Areas
  • Complementary Learning
  • Family Involvement
  • Out-of-School Time
  • Early Childhood Education
  • Evaluation
  • Other Research Areas
• Publications & Resources
  • Search Publications
  • Browse Our Publications
  • Publications Series
  • Copyright and Reprint Permissions
• HFRP News
  • News & Announcements
  • Blog: New Directions in Family Engagement
  • In the Media

• Complementary Learning
• Family Involvement
  • Overview
  • Professional Development
  • Informing Family Engagement Policy
  • FINE: Family Involvement Network of Educators
  • Projects
  • Publications & Resources
• Out-of-School Time
• Early Childhood Education
• Evaluation
• Other Research Areas

• Large text size
• Normal text size
• Small text size
• Print this page

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

• Tell us what you think about the FINE Forum!

  The recent edition of the FINE Forum included a four-question survey about how important and interesting the e-newsletter was to you. By providing your feedback you can help us improve future editions of the FINE Forum. The online survey takes less than three minutes to complete.

• Job Announcement: Research Assistant

  FINE is currently seeking a Research Assistant to perform research and administrative tasks in its Cambridge, Massachusetts office.

• Workshop: Family-School Partnerships for Students' Reading Success

  Sandy Christenson from the University of Minnesota developed these two training modules—one for teachers and one for school leadership teams—to enhance students' reading success:

• Parent-Teacher Partnership Module
  This module provides teachers with knowledge about characteristics of effective partnerships and efficient, effective strategies to enhance home support for reading.

• Leadership Module for Family-School Partnerships
  This module provides school leadership teams with information about school variables that impact parent participation.

• 2003 Research Digests

  We've added three research summaries to the Research Digest section:

• Enhancing Parental Involvement Through Goal-Based Interventions
  By Robert F. Bettler, Jr. and Barbara Burns
  Research suggesting links between parenting goals and cognitive ability informs a goal-based parenting intervention program for low-income families.

• How Teachers Come to Understand Families
  By Margaret Caspe
  Two key processes whereby teachers working in a low-income rural New England town come to understand families include gathering information and meaning making.

• “As Long as I Got Breath, I'll Fight”: Participatory Action Research for Educational Justice
  By Monique Guishard, Michelle Fine, Christine Doyle, Jeunesse Jackson, Rosemarie Roberts, Sati Singleton, Travis Staten, and Ashley Webb
  A participatory action project in the South Bronx explores how young people, their parents, and community members have mobilized for educational resources, opportunities, and the fulfillment of their dreams.

• Links to Bibliographies by Other Organizations

  FINE has compiled a list of links to online annotated family involvement bibliographies compiled by other organizations. The annotated bibliographies consider topics such as the impact of family involvement on student outcomes and school-family-community partnerships.

Suggested Reading

• New Issue of The Evaluation Exchange

  The latest issue of The Evaluation Exchange, Harvard Family Research Project's evaluation periodical, is now available online. This issue examines current approaches to evaluating out-of-school time programs.

• Beyond Islands of Excellence: What Districts Can Do to Improve Instruction and Achievement in All Schools

  This report from the Learning First Alliance describes how five high-poverty districts improved student performance through district-wide strategies. The need to engage stakeholders beyond the school and district in reform efforts emerges as one of six key findings. Parents and community play an important role in bringing school improvement to scale.

• Bridging the Achievement Gap

  What school reforms are working to close the achievement gap between white and minority students? This book, edited by John E. Chubb and Tom Loveless, describes schools and specific reforms that are boosting minority academic achievement. Engaging parents in children's learning is among the promising strategies. The book is available from Brookings Institution Press.

• Public Voices for Public Schools

  What do parents have to say about the No Child Left Behind Act? The Pittsburgh Council on Public Education, with support from the Public Education Network, gathered public school parents in small groups to look at data about their schools and respond to questions. This report presents their insights and concerns around the new federal legislation.

• FamilyWise Focus Group Report

  What is family well-being and what do families need to succeed? A report from the Colorado Foundation for Families and Children explores these questions and summarizes findings from 35 focus groups. The document is useful for family-focused programs, funders, and policymakers.

• New Song Academy: Linking Education and Community Development to Build Stronger Families and Neighborhoods

  What are the factors that support or undermine education in poor but revitalizing communities? A report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation describes the achievements and challenges of New Song Academy, a pre-K through eighth grade Community Learning Center in Baltimore.

Evaluation and Assessment Tools

• Parent Involvement Survey

  How can schools and districts assess the efficacy of family involvement efforts? A parent survey from the Mid-Atlantic Equity Center offers a useful and informative way to gather parent feedback to improve school-family partnerships.

• Key Work of School Boards

  What can the school board do to support and guide schools to improve student achievement? This framework from the National School Boards Association highlights eight key action areas, including collaborative relationships with community leaders. A self-assessment tool helps school board members appraise their efficacy in developing community consensus around the goal of improved student achievement.

Website to Watch

• Exemplary School-Based Mental Health Programs

  This website provides descriptions and detailed profiles of mental health programs coordinated by school psychologists. You can search the database by the name of the program or by state.

Contact Us

Have a problem with the website or questions and comments concerning our work? Send an email to fine@gse.harvard.edu.

Enjoy!

FINE - The Family Involvement Network of Educators