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www.HFRP.org

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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WORKING WITH TEACHERS AND FAMILIES DEVELOPMENT PERIODS
COMPLEMENTARY LEARNING CONNECTIONS

Book Review: A Match on Dry Grass: Community Organizing as a Catalyst for School Reform

Justina Wang, a graduate research assistant at HFRP, reviews a new book by Mark R. Warren and Karen L. Mapp, which offers a glimpse at six communities across the U.S. where families, youth, and local organizers have reshaped the educational landscape in their districts.

Justina Wang (March 15, 2012) Research Report

Education Organizing

This course will focus on the role of community organizing in fostering school change. We will examine the large range of ways community groups and schools are promoting the active engagement of participants to improve education. Within that context, we will examine efforts to foster collaborations among and between a wide array of stakeholders in education, including community organizations, school personnel, school system administration, unions, the business community, faith institutions, civil rights organizations, and youth. We will also examine the role of political organizing in addressing structural inequalities in education in America, and consider that ways that education organizing strengthens broader community building efforts.

Mark Warren (Fall 2003) Syllabus

New Jersey's School-Based Youth Services Program (SBYSP)

This evaluation report from Academy for Education Development (AED) examined a range of services to children and adolescents at 29 secondary schools and 16 primary schools in the New Jersey's School-Based Youth Services Program (SBYSP).

Sandy Weinbaum (Spring 1995) Evaluation Exchange Article

Family Involvement Interventions: Shining the Spotlight on Evaluation (Symposium)

This panel symposium, held at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in Chicago on April 10, 2007, followed up on HFRP's family involvement sessions at previous AERA meetings in 2005 and 2006. The 2007 symposium featured discussion regarding the evaluation of family involvement interventions

Heather Weiss , Pat Davenport, Chad Nye , Dana Petersen, Margaret Caspe, James Rodriguez (April 10, 2007) Conferences and Presentations

Beyond Random Acts: Family, School, and Community Engagement as an Integral Part of Education Reform

This paper, authored by Harvard Family Research Project, served as the foundation for panelists’ discussions at the National Policy Forum for Family, School, and Community Engagement. Beyond Random Acts provides a research-based framing of family engagement; examines the policy levers that can drive change in promoting systemic family, school, and community engagement; and focuses on data systems as a powerful tool to engage families for twenty-first century student learning.  Because education reform will succeed only when all students are prepared for the demands of the twenty-first century, the paper also examines the role of families in transforming low-performing schools.

Heather Weiss , M. Elena Lopez, and Heidi Rosenberg (December 2010) Research Report

Making Data Matter in Family Engagement

HFRP’s Heather Weiss and M. Elena Lopez authored a chapter on using performance data to engage families in the Handbook on Family and Community Engagement, published by the Academic Development Institute and Center on Innovation & Improvement, and available on the families-schools.org website.

Heather Weiss , M. Elena Lopez (September 2011) Research Report

New Research on Family Involvement and Academic Achievement (Symposium)

This multiple paper symposium at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association followed up on our panel session in 2005. It featured four research studies that used nuanced definitions of family involvement and cutting-edge methodologies to address processes of family involvement and academic outcomes for disadvantaged children across the developmental continuum.

Heather Weiss , Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey, Wendy Barnard, Suzanne Bouffard, Eric Dearing, and Christine McWayne (April 11, 2006) Conferences and Presentations

Family Engagement as a Shared Responsibility in a Digital Learning Environment

HFRP director Heather B. Weiss examines how families and others involved with children and youth can ensure that children obtain the access, supports, and opportunities that they need to get the full benefits of digital media for learning.

Heather B. Weiss (April 24, 2014) Research Report

Family Engagement: Looking Back and Moving Forward

In this issue’s commentary, Heather Weiss, M. Elena Lopez, and Heidi Rosenberg honor FINE's 10th anniversary by looking at the growth and learning in the family engagement field over the last decade. Family engagement is shifting from a “random acts” approach—numerous social, fundraising and educational activities that lack broad and deep connections to school improvement goals—to a more systemic, integrated, and sustainable framework of true family engagement. This commentary discusses what that means for HFRP and FINE in 2011 and beyond.

Heather Weiss , M. Elena Lopez, and Heidi Rosenberg (December 2010) Research Report

Beyond the Classroom: Complementary Learning to Improve Achievement Outcomes

Harvard Family Research Project introduces complementary learning as a concept for improving learning outcomes without relying solely on school-based reform.

Heather Weiss , Julia Coffman, Margaret Post, Suzanne Bouffard, Priscilla Little (Spring 2005) Evaluation Exchange Article

Breaking New Ground: Data Systems Transform Family Engagement in Education

HFRP and the National PTA® have teamed up for the second issue in our series of ground-breaking policy briefs. Breaking New Ground cites six case studies from across the country that reveal innovative efforts by early childhood programs and school districts to use student data systems to improve family engagement. Each profile illustrates a segment of a data pathway beginning in early childhood and continuing through students' academic careers. The brief also includes a set of policy recommendations to help support the current trends in education that focus on twenty-first century learning and the vital role of technology.

Heather B. Weiss , M. Elena Lopez, & Deborah R. Stark (January 2011) Research Report

Bringing Families to the Table: Recommendations and Next Steps from the National Policy Forum for Family, School, and Community Engagement

One year after the National Policy Forum on Family, School, and Community Engagement, this report looks back at the major themes of the Forum discussions and offers a set of recommendations for driving family engagement in education as we move forward.

Heather B. Weiss , Elena Lopez & Heidi Rosenberg (November 2011) Research Report

The Federal Role in Out-of-School Learning: After-School, Summer Learning, and Family Involvement as Critical Learning Supports (Voices in Urban Education, Summer 2009)

Our article in Voices for Urban Education makes a research-based case for the federal provision of out-of-school complementary learning supports.

Heather B. Weiss , Priscilla M.D. Little, Suzanne M. Bouffard, Sarah N. Deschenes, Helen Janc Malone (Summer 2009) Research Report

Research and Evaluation of Family Involvement in Education: What Lies Ahead? (Panel Session)

This panel session at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association in Montreal, examined the current knowledge base and future directions for family involvement research and evaluation. Heather Weiss identified priority areas for future research and evaluation and criteria for selecting these areas. Panelists Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey, William Jeynes, Joyce Epstein, and Anne Henderson discussed research and evaluation on parent–child and parent–student–school relationships, home–school communication and parental expectations, school-based partnership programs, and community organizing, respectively.

Heather Weiss , Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey, William Jeynes, Joyce Epstein, Anne Henderson (April 14, 2005) Conferences and Presentations

Evaluating Family Support: Thinking Critically, Thinking Internationally (Keynote Address)

Evaluation plays a major role in shaping new directions for the field of family support. In her keynote address at the Participatory Evaluation and Parent Engagement Institute, sponsored by Family Support America and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, in Kansas City, Missouri, September 20–22, 2004, Heather Weiss, Founder and Director of HFRP, described how evaluation can support learning, continuous improvement, and innovation. The four components of a family support evaluation strategy that she outlined were experimental studies to show program impact on families, utilization-focused evaluation to support policy and practitioner decision making, action research and empowerment evaluation, and performance standards based on solid research and evaluation.

Heather Weiss (September 20, 2004) Conferences and Presentations

Family-School Partnerships

The goal of the module is to prepare educators to engage parents and family members in children's school success. Students enrolled in the module will learn about the major theoretical approaches to family involvement (e.g., developmental, sociocultural, psychological, and political). They will understand the range of ways families and schools can work together as well as the dilemmas of practice. The module will give students an opportunity to problem solve and reflect on the issues regarding family-school partnerships and to assess the benefits of family involvement for students, families, and schools.

Heather Weiss , M. Elena Lopez, Holly Kreider (Spring 2003) Syllabus

The Federal Role in Out-of-School Learning: After-School, Summer Learning, and Family Involvement as Critical Learning Supports

Four decades of research demonstrate that it is necessary to redefine learning—both where and when it takes place—if the country is to achieve the goal of educating all of its children. This report from Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) makes a research-based case for federal provision of out-of-school complementary learning supports, so that all students gain the skills necessary for success in the 21st century.

Heather B. Weiss , Priscilla M. D. Little, Suzanne M. Bouffard, Sarah N. Deschenes, Helen Janc Malone (February 2009) Research Report

Strengthen What Happens Outside School to Improve What Happens Inside

This article by Harvard Family Research Project in the April 2009 issue of  Phi Delta Kappan offers research-based recommendations for federal education legislation.

Heather Weiss , Priscilla Little, Suzanne M. Bouffard, Sarah N. Deschenes, Helen Janc Malone (April 2009) Research Report

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

This book supports teacher training and professional development in the area of family engagement. This volume helps prepare teachers and other professionals to partner with the families of elementary school children for student success and positive development. This second edition pairs child development theory with research-based teaching cases that reflect critical dilemmas in family–school–community relations, especially among families for whom poverty and cultural differences are daily realities.

Heather B. Weiss , Holly Kreider, M. Elena Lopez, Celina Chatman-Nelson (January 2010) Research Report

A Mixed Method Approach to Understanding Family-School Communication

This paper presents the initial findings from an ethnographic case study, focusing on the mixed-method research strategy used in the MacArthur Comprehensive Child Development Project Follow-up Study. The aim of the study was to expand the understanding of children's developmental trajectories as they traverse the elementary school years. This paper presents three case study vignettes of children in the second grade, each highlighting a different aspect of family-school communication from the perspective of the children's parents, and highlights the methodological strengths of ethnography. The third vignette uncovered the complexity and contradictions and race, racism, and informal communication between home and child for one African-American child. (Available in ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED422111)

Heather Weiss , J. Dirks, K. Friedman, G. Hanley, H. Kreider, E. Levine, E. Mayer, C. McAllister, P. Vaughan, J. Wellenkamp (July 1998) Research Report

Family and Community Engagement in the Boston Public Schools: 1995–2006

This chapter describes the evolution of Boston Public Schools' family and community engagement efforts. The authors discuss how collective community action contributed to a critical reframing of the district's approach to family and community engagement over a 10-year period. Chapter by Abby R. Weiss and Helen Westmoreland in A Decade of Urban School Reform: Persistance and Progress in the Boston Public Schools 2007. Edited by S. Paul Reville with Celine Coggins. Published by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Abby R. Weiss , Helen Westmoreland (2007) Research Report

Making It Work: Low-Income Working Mothers' Involvement in Their Children's Education, Digest Version

This study finds that maternal employment is associated with low-income mothers' involvement in their children's education in complex ways and that working mothers use a variety of strategies to stay involved in their children's education.

Heather B. Weiss , Ellen Mayer, Holly Kreider, Margaret Vaughan, Eric Dearing, Rebecca Hencke, Kristina Pinto (January 2007) Research Report

Open Letter to the Editor of the Los Angeles Times

Heather Weiss and M. Elena Lopez of Harvard Family Research Project sent the following letter in response to the Los Angeles Times article “Parents’ Involvement Not Key to Student Progress, Study Finds,” published on October 26, 2005.

Heather Weiss (October 27, 2005) Research Report

Redefining Family Engagement in Education

Heather Weiss and Elena Lopez discuss the need to develop a broader definition of family engagement—one which focuses on the multiple contexts in which children grow and learn, from birth through adulthood—in this era of changing federal policy.

Heather Weiss , M. Elena Lopez (May 2009) Research Report

Taking a Closer Look: A Guide to Online Resources on Family Involvement

This comprehensive resource guide compiles a wealth of information about family involvement from over 100 national organizations. It contains Web links to recent (published in and after 2000) research, information, and tools.

Heather Weiss , Kelly Faughnan, Margaret Caspe, Cassandra Wolos, M. Elena Lopez, Holly Kreider (2004) Research Report

© 2016 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College
Published by Harvard Family Research Project