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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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Family Engagement Policy Resources

We've added a section to our website to inform stakeholders of our policy-related work in family engagement. This work seeks to promote the broader definition of family engagement that stresses shared responsibility and cross-context learning within a cradle-to-career approach to education. Visit our new policy page for more details, including our  comments in the Federal Register regarding the U.S. Department of Education’s $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund competitive grants program.

Harvard Family Research Project (November 2009) Research Report

Commentary from Harvard Family Research Project on the Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund

HFRP submitted recommendations to the National Register Notice regarding the i3 fund’s proposed priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria. The recommendation included an endorsement of the comments submitted by the National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group, a collaborative of leaders in the family engagement field including HFRP’s Heather Weiss, and emphasized the need to direct development and validation grant funding toward promising family and community engagement initiatives, isolate and recognize the added value of parental involvement in interventions, and take a nuanced view of effect size when selecting innovations for funding.

Harvard Family Research Project (January 19, 2010) Research Report

Family Engagement as a Systemic, Sustained, and Integrated Strategy to Promote Student Achievement

This paper offers an expanded definition of family engagement based on research about children’s learning and the relationships among families, schools, and communities in support of such learning. The topics presented in this paper were originally introduced as commentaries in the August 2009, November 2009, and April 2010 issues of the F.I.N.E. Newsletter.

Harvard Family Research Project (April 2010) Research Report

Family Engagement in Public Libraries Is Valued, but There Is Work to Be Done

Ever wonder what libraries around the country are doing to engage families? Learn the answer to this question and others through HFRP and PLA’s national survey of family engagement in public libraries—– the results of which are presented here.

Harvard Family Research Project (August 16, 2016) Research Report

Preparing Educators to Engage Families: Case Studies Using an Ecological Systems Framework, Third Edition

Incorporating the use of HFRP research-based teaching cases and theoretical perspectives, this revised book looks at family engagement issues from the early years through pre-adolescence.

Heather B. Weiss, M. Elena Lopez, Holly Kreider, Celina Chatman-Nelson (October 31, 2013) Research Report

Teaching Future Educators and Families: Helping Maximize Children’s Learning

In this article, Pérsida Himmele talks about hosting engagement workshops for families and using what she learns from families to inform future teachers and provide them with meaningful in-class experiences to practice their family engagement skills.

Pérsida Himmele (December 5, 2013) Research Report

Re-thinking Family Engagement: Moving Beyond the Program Model Toward Systemic Engagement that Promotes Student Learning

Anna Hinton, Director of Parental Options and Information in the Office of Innovation and Improvement for the U.S. Department of Education, shares her vision for transforming family engagement at the federal, state, and local levels.

Anna Hinton (May 2011) Research Report

A Model for Statewide Parent Involvement Leadership in Colorado

Tina House of the Colorado Parent Involvement Network for Education discusses a collaborative approach to providing statewide leadership for family engagement.

Tina House (May 2009) Research Report

Now is the Time: Helping States Prepare Students for Success from the Very Start

Jacqueline Jones, Senior Advisor on Early Learning to the Secretary of Education at the U.S. Department of Education, highlights the Department’s new Race to the Top–Early Learning Challenge competitive grant program and the decision to make family engagement an integral part of the grant criteria.

Jacqueline Jones (March 15, 2012) Research Report

How to Grow a Framework: Lessons From California

The California Department of Education’s Family Engagement Framework: A Tool for California School Districts is a synthesis of research, best practices, and the state and federal program requirements that include family engagement, intended to guide school districts.

Lorette McWilliams (June 22, 2016) Research Report

Family Engagement in Anywhere, Anytime Learning

Explore the world of anywhere, anytime learning with us! Read how researchers and practitioners are helping to close the opportunity gap by creating innovative spaces, developing strategic collaborations to ensure children’s success, and engaging families and children as partners in meaningful learning experiences, both in and out of school.

M. Elena Lopez, Margaret Caspe (June 9, 2014) Research Report

Five Lessons Learned About District Leadership for Family Engagement

Michele Brooks, the former assistant superintendent of family and student engagement for Boston Public Schools, shares her insights on district leadership for effective and sustainable family engagement.

Michele Brooks (February 8, 2016) Research Report

Building Bridges to Success

In 2010, Silicon Valley Community Foundation started a bold and innovative initiative designed to ensure success by third grade for all children in San Mateo County, California. It focuses on ready children, ready families, ready schools, and ready communities

Michelle Sioson Hyman (March 19, 2015) Research Report

A Strong Start for Family Engagement in Massachusetts

Through its Race to the Top–Early Learning Challenge funds, Massachusetts has created strategic partnerships with museums and libraries, public television, family and community programs, community nonprofits, and public transportation to build a robust and growing statewide family engagement system.

Nathan Driskell (December 11, 2014) Research Report

Commentary from the National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group on the Extending the Grant Period for the Parental Information and Resource Centers

The National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group, a collaborative of leaders in the family engagement field including Harvard Family Research Project’s Heather Weiss, submitted recommendations for the U.S. Department of Education's proposal to extend the grant period for the National Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRC) program. This extension period would allow the centers to operate through fiscal year 2012. The Working Group recommended that the extension place an emphasis on data collection, research, best practices, and program outcomes that will assist in the development of a strengthened PIRC program.

National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group (February 2011) Research Report

Commentary from the National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group on the Promise Neighborhoods Program

The Working Group submitted recommendations to the National Register Notice regarding the Promise Neighborhoods program's proposed priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria.

National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group (April 2011) Research Report

Commentary from the National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group on the Race to the Top Fund

The National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group, a collaborative of leaders in the family engagement field including Harvard Family Research Project’s (HFRP) Heather Weiss, submitted recommendations for the Race to the Top Fund’s proposed priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria. The recommendations provide a framework for elevating and integrating family involvement into how the Race to the Top Funds are disseminated, governed, and evaluated for effectiveness.

National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group (August 25, 2009) Research Report

Commentary from the National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group on the Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund

The National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group, a collaborative of leaders in the family engagement field including Harvard Family Research Project’s (HFRP) Heather Weiss, submitted recommendations for the Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund’s proposed priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria.The National Working Group’s recommendations provide a framework for the integration of family involvement into how potential recipients of i3 funds are assessed and selected, as well as how initiatives are evaluated.

National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group (January 19, 2010) Research Report

Taking Leadership, Innovating Change: Profiles in Family, School, and Community Engagement

This new report from the National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group contains twelve examples of leading innovations in family engagement as an integral and effective strategy in systemic education reform.

National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group (March 2010) Research Report

Driving Towards Family-Centered Policies and Practices: Parent Partnerships as Key Components of Student Success

Jenny Ocón, Executive Director of Parent Services Project (PSP) in San Rafael, California, describes how her work with PSP supports family engagement at schools and in the community.

Jenny Ocón (May 2011) Research Report

New Offices, New Programs, New Interventions: A Look at New Developments in Early Childhood Education

In this FINE Newsletter Commentary, HFRP’s Christine Patton explores how new developments in early learning research, policy, and practice reflect a national “coming together” around the importance of early childhood experiences and their role in later school success.

Christine Patton (March 15, 2012) Research Report

The Transition to Afterschool: One City’s Approach to Connecting Young Children and Their Families to Learning and Enrichment Opportunities

What steps can programs take to help families successfully transition to school and afterschool? How can families make informed choices about afterschool opportunities? What information do families need in this process? This video demonstrates how Cambridge, Massachusetts, is addressing these and related questions to help connect families to afterschool learning and enrichment opportunities prior to school entry. 

Christine Patton (June 9, 2014) Research Report

Early Childhood Reform in Seven Communities: Front-Line Practice, Agency Management, and Public Policy

This report examines local examples of successful implementation of reforms. It provides useful information to early childhood practitioners who work directly with children and families, managers who direct early childhood agencies and programs, and policymakers who make decisions about program designs and funding strategies.

Tom Schultz , M. Elena Lopez, Mona Hochberg (1996) Research Report

Schools in Communities

In this course, we deepen the preparation of teachers in training, focusing on schools as organizations in specific political communities wherein people exercise more or less democratic voices in public policies that govern their economic, housing, and education opportunities. Teachers make and influence policies in their classrooms, at their campuses, and in the institutions and/or districts in which they work.

Kathleen Staudt () Syllabus

National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group: Recommendations for Federal Policy

This policy brief offers a definition of family, school, and community engagement that builds on the definition in the No Child Left Behind Act (Title IX, section 9101, 32) and is based on research about when and how children learn and the relationships among families, schools, and communities in supporting that learning.  We also lay out some of the elements we believe are necessary to enable states, districts, schools, families, and community organizations to develop effective approaches to family engagement from birth to young adulthood.

The National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group (June 2009) Research Report

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Published by Harvard Family Research Project