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.
October FINE Newsletter: Family-Strengthening Interventions
October 2006
Dear FINE Member,
Here are this month's FINE member updates. As always, please feel free to forward this information to your friends and other education colleagues.
New From FINE
- Lessons From Family-Strengthening Interventions: Learning From Evidence-Based Practice
Examine how effective family-strengthening interventions can positively impact families and children in this new, practitioner-friendly brief from Harvard Family Research Project. Lessons From Family-Strengthening Interventions: Learning From Evidence-Based Practice is based on our review of interventions that have been rigorously evaluated through experimental studies. We offer educators, service providers, and evaluators recommendations for creating successful programs and evaluations. The brief is available online at the link above.
- Related Resource: Family Process Measures
This Evaluation Exchange article includes a breakdown of the measures used by family-strengthening interventions to evaluate family processes.
Professional Development
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Professional Development Institute: Closing the Achievement Gap
There's still time to register! From November 9–11, 2006, Harvard Family Research Project will present Closing the Achievement Gap: Linking Families, Schools, and Communities at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). Designed to give school, district, and community leaders strategies for tackling the achievement gap and fostering learning for all children, the institute will feature our new complementary learning approach—a comprehensive model that fosters partnerships between families, schools, and other nonschool supports. Find out more about the institute and register at the link above or by calling HGSE Programs in Professional Education at 1-800-545-1849.
Policy
- It Takes a Parent: Transforming Education in the Wake of the No Child Left Behind Act
The national nonprofit legal organization Appleseed has just released a report on how parent involvement works under the No Child Left Behind Act in public elementary and secondary schools and what still needs to be done. The report is based on interviews with state and local officials, community groups, district leaders, school officials and parents in 18 school districts in six states. Appleseed finds that, as a nation, we have not emphasized or financially invested in parental involvement in ways that we should—and that the vision of NCLB, with parents as full participating partners, remains unfulfilled. The report offers recommendations for local and state officials and parents.
- Educating School Teachers
Arthur Levine and The Education Schools Project report here on the results of a 4-year study of America's education schools. They show that only 21% of principals, 34% of deans, 33% of faculty, and 43% of teacher education alumni believe that education schools adequately prepare teachers to work with parents. Moreover, only 71% of deans believe that schools of education are the most appropriate place to prepare teachers to work with parents. To read the report, click on the link above.
- Related Resource: Improving Teacher Practices With Families
To read FINE members' past comments on how to improve the ways in which teachers interact with families, go to the above link on our website.
Tool Kits
- A Logic Model of Parent–Child Connectedness
ETR (Education, Training, Research) Associates has designed a logic model to introduce you to the concept of parent–child connectedness and help you apply it to your work with parents and teens. Informed by research, the tool identifies the parent behaviors that are essential to establish, maintain, and increase connectedness with teens, as well as the factors that determine those behaviors.
- Tools for Latino Family Outreach: Supporting Student Success in the Middle Grades and Beyond
The PALMS (Postsecondary Access for Latino Middle-Grades Students) project provides school leaders with this tool kit designed to guide them through the process of conceptualizing, planning, implementing, and assessing an outreach program aimed at Latino parents.
Journal Article
- “Involvement in Early Head Start Home Visiting Services: Demographic Predictors and Relations to Child and Parent Outcomes”
This study looks at the role of parent involvement in home visiting programs. The authors identify three different components of parent involvement in home visiting services: quantity of involvement, quality of engagement, and visit content. They find specifically that the duration of time that families were involved in the program and the proportion of time during visits devoted to child-focused activities predict positive outcomes for both children and families. They suggest that programs and their evaluators can measure multiple aspects of home visits and sharpen and refine child-focused activities. This article can be found in the Early Childhood Research Quarterly (2006), Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 2–24, and can be accessed free online for a limited time at the link above.
- Related Resource: Home Visiting Services Research
To read more about HFRP's home visiting services research, visit our website at the link above.
Papers & Reports
- How Does Family Well-Being Vary Across Different Types of Neighborhoods?
The Urban Institute explores variations across different types of neighborhood environments in the well-being of families and children with data from the National Survey of America's Families.
- Growing Community Schools: The Role of Cross-Boundary Leadership
The Coalition for Community Schools profiles 11 communities in the process of developing community schools. They also provide recommendations for other leaders interested in this work.
Upcoming Events
- Renewing Partnerships for the Success of Our Children
The National Coalition of ESEA Title I Parents will hold its annual conference November 1–5, 2006 in Los Angeles. More than 1,000 parents, Title I parent leaders, and educators from around the country will attend. Conference highlights will include discussion of NCLB reauthorization, family involvement research, and how to develop partnerships to support children.
- Local Education Funds: Leading Transformation in Public Education
Public Education Network (PEN) is hosting its annual conference, November 12–14, 2006, in Washington, DC. The conference will focus on how community-based strategies can strengthen teaching, close the achievement gap, and build public involvement in large-scale school system reform.
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