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.
September FINE Newsletter: Looking Ahead at Family Involvement
September 2007
Dear FINE Member,
Welcome back from what we hope has been an inspiring summer break! As we kick off the academic year, we are taking the opportunity to look forward, both for FINE and for the family involvement field as a whole.
Over the next few months, the FINE project at Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) will continue our commitment to building the field of family and community engagement. With an upcoming redesigned website, new resources, and a family involvement framework that we hope will inspire fresh thinking, we are helping the field to make new strides in policy, practice, and research. Stay tuned!
Here's a preview of what you can expect to see from us in the coming months and an update on some recent and important family involvement resources.
Upcoming Resources From FINE & HFRP
- Updated Online Resource Guide
Responding to recent growth in the family involvement field, this fall FINE will release an updated Taking a Closer Look: A Guide to Online Resources on Family Involvement. Originally published in 2005, this guide offers a “one-stop shop” with links to hundreds of research resources, professional development opportunities, programs, and other tools to support the development of knowledge, practice, and policy in family and community engagement. You can access the 2005 edition of the guide at the link above.
- HFRP's New Website
For the past year, we at Harvard Family Research Project have been hard at work redesigning our website to make it more user friendly. With an expected launch date in late fall, the site will feature new content and new search and navigation functions to help you access our resources more easily.
As part of the website launch, we will be asking our FINE members to complete a short survey to learn what it is that you find most useful about our resources and how we might best support your work. We are committed to making FINE a useful and vibrant forum for our members. Hearing from you is key to our ability to deliver on that promise, so please keep an eye out for that online survey later this fall!
- Complementary Learning Professional Development Institute
On November 1–3, Harvard Family Research Project will cohost its second professional development institute on complementary learning with Programs in Professional Education (PPE) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. For more than 25 years, PPE has offered professional development programs with the latest research, information, and best practices. This institute, entitled “Closing the Achievement Gap: Linking Families, Schools, and Communities Through Complementary Learning,” will explore how schools, families, out-of-school time programs, and other organizations and agencies can work together to build systems that promote children’s learning and development. Registration is full, but you can still sign up for the waitlist. To sign up for the waitlist or to register for other institutes, call Programs in Professional Education at 1-800-545-1849 or go to the link above.
- Evaluating Family Involvement
This coming winter, a double issue of HFRP's periodical, The Evaluation Exchange, will focus on current and future directions for family involvement. Leading experts in the field will discuss what it will take to build systematic family involvement practices, policies, and research; explore the role of research and evaluation in building the field; and present cutting-edge research findings and evaluation approaches. The issue will feature HFRP’s family involvement framework, which highlights the importance of building family involvement across ages and settings and with a basis in mutual responsibility. You can access an archive of past Evaluation Exchange issues at the link above.
New From FINE
- Tomasito's Mother Comes to School/La mamá de Tomasito visita la escuela
Originally released in June, this online bilingual 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 and related tools are designed to engage children, inform and inspire their families, and help educators build connections with families, all while supporting literacy.
- Family Involvement in Middle and High School
Our most recent research brief, Family Involvement in Middle and High School Students' Education, synthesizes studies that link family involvement in middle and high school to youth's academic and social outcomes. The final installment in a three-part series that shows that family involvement matters from birth through adolescence, this brief profiles evaluated programs to show what works to promote family involvement and student achievement in adolescence and highlights how you can use this research to promote effective policies and practices.
- Related Resources: Family Involvement in Early Childhood and Elementary School
To read the other to briefs in the series, Family Involvement in Early Childhood Education, and Family Involvement in Elementary School Children's Education, visit the link above.
New From HFRP
- Highlights From the Out-of-School Time Database
The newest Research Update synthesizes findings from the profiles of 13 research and evaluation reports added to the Out-of-School Time Program Research and Evaluation Database in August 2007. It highlights innovations and developments in the out-of-school time field and looks at the benefits that out-of-school time programs can provide to youth, their families, and their communities.
- Related Resource: Out-of-School Time Database
To access the many profiles of out-of-school time program evaluations and research studies in our Out-of-School Time Database, including those just added in August 2007, go to the link above.
- The Quality of School-Age Child Care in After-School Settings
This brief, written by HFRP’s Priscilla Little and published by Child Care & Early Education Research Connections, offers an overview of the features of high-quality after school settings, including an examination of key research on links between program quality and developmental outcomes. The brief also reviews current practice in program quality assessment, and a set of quality-related considerations for policymakers.
Policy
- New Parental Information and Resource Centers Website
Harvard Family Research Project is proud to be part of the National Coordination Center for the Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRC) in collaboration with the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL). The Coordination Center provides technical assistance to the 62 federally funded PIRCs and has recently launched a new website. Visit this link to learn more about the PIRC program, to locate the PIRC in your state, and to learn about the Coordination Center’s plans for technical assistance to the PIRCs. New resources will be added in the coming months.
- Engaging Parents in Education
As part of its Innovation in Education series, the U.S. Department of Education recently released Engaging Parents in Education: Lessons from Five Parental Information and Resource Centers. This publication highlights some of the PIRCs' best practices for building parents' understanding of No Child Left Behind and for preparing educators and parents to collaborate in support of student learning.
- Related Resource: The Education Innovator
The feature article in the Department of Education’s newsletter The Education Innovator highlights the guide, the PIRCs, and the National Coordination Center.
- Making Pre-Kindergarten Work for Low-Income Working Families
This policy paper published by the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) synthesizes research conducted on 29 state prekindergarten policies that include provisions for community-based care. The authors describe examples of models and strategies states are using to provide prekindergarten to their low-income working families, and offer recommendations for all state policymakers to improve access to and the quality of prekindergarten programs.
Articles & Reports
- Chicago Child–Parent Centers Long-Term Benefits
This article presents the latest research findings from Arthur Reynolds and his colleagues' randomized early childhood intervention in Chicago. Investigating long-term effects at age 24, the authors found that those who had participated in the holistic preschool program were more likely to graduate from high school, attend college, and have health insurance, and were less likely to have criminal records and depressive symptoms.
- Building, Engaging, and Supporting Family and Parental Involvement in Out-of-School Time Programs
This brief from Child Trends summarizes the research on outcomes and best practices for family engagement in after school. It also offers suggestions for programs to plan for and sustain family involvement, and spotlights how the National Organization of Concerned Black Men has involved families in out-of-school time.
- Related Resource: Focus on Families! How to Build and Support Family-Centered Practices in After School
This easy-to-read guide—the result of a collaboration between HFRP, United Way of Massachusetts Bay, and BOSTnet—is a critical resource for any after school provider looking to create or expand a family engagement program. It includes a research review of the benefits and challenges of engaging families after school, suggested strategies, program examples, an evaluation tool, and additional resources.
- “The Creative Bridge: How the Arts Connect Parents and Schools”
In this article published in the national PTA’s Our Children, Michael Sikes synthesizes results from evaluations of arts education over the past 15 years and suggests that arts can provide an opportunity for parents to feel welcomed and linked into their children’s education. Sikes also describes suggestions for how arts can be used to overcome common barriers to family involvement.
- Related Resource: Building Parent Involvement Through the Arts
In his new book, Building Parent Involvement Through the Arts, Michael Sikes argues that parent involvement increases with arts education and that this fact can be used as a leverage point in advocacy for arts programming in schools. This book describes tools and strategies for using arts to build and sustain partnerships with families.
Tool Kits
- Engaging Parents in Raising Achievement
Warwick University has released new research findings on parent perceptions of their importance and role in raising student achievement. Accompanying this research report is an action tool kit that provides strategies for effective parent involvement.
- Youth Outcomes Measurement Tools Directory
United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley have launched Toolfind.org. Toolfind is a free directory designed to help professionals in youth-serving programs find measurement tools for up to 11 youth outcome areas. All tools are tested, low-cost and have few restrictions. Tools included in this database address elementary, middle and/or high school students and youth, parent, staff and teacher respondents.
Books
- City Schools: How Districts and Communities Can Create Smart Education Systems
Annenberg Institute for School Reform scholar Robert Rothman and his colleagues have published a new book that describes how school districts can get “smarter” by connecting with nonschool support systems. Based on their research in a number of districts and communities, the authors provide examples and offer suggestions for how schools can build partnerships with families, community agencies, businesses, and nonprofits to best support children and youth. The book is available for purchase at the link above.
Upcoming Events
- Arizona Fathers and Families Coalition Conference
September 24–26, the AZFFC is hosting its annual “Unifying Families and Communities” conference in Philadelphia, PA. This professional development institute will have over 30 presentations about the importance of fathers in child development. For more information, visit the link above.
- National Network of Partnership Schools Leadership Development Conference
The National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) at Johns Hopkins University will conduct its annual “Leadership Development Conference” on school, family, and community partnerships on October 11–12, 2007. The NNPS conference brings together leaders from schools, districts, states, and organizations that are developing research-based programs of family and community involvement linked to school improvement goals for student success. For more information, click on the link above or contact Mr. Kenyatta Williams at kwilliams@csos.jhu.edu
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