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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

Local School Councils and Parent Involvement in Chicago

Melissa Marschall’s study on Latino parents’ participation in school governance underscores this issue’s theme of the importance of coconstructing family involvement.

Melissa Marschall, Ph.D. (Spring 2008) Evaluation Exchange Article

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

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

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

Only Connect: The Way to Save Our Schools

Helen Westmoreland of HFRP reviews Only Connect: The Way to Save Our Schools by Rudy Crew.

Helen Westmoreland (Spring 2008) Evaluation Exchange Article

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

Promoting Educational Equity Through Family Engagement: The King Legacy

To honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of freedom and justice, we highlight key messages from our contributors about transforming family engagement to promote educational equity.

Harvard Family Research Project (January 14, 2015) Research Report

Promoting Parent–School Relationships During the Transition to Kindergarten

Amy Schulting from Duke University explores the role of teacher outreach to families during the transition to kindergarten.

Amy B. Schulting, M.Ed., M.A. (Spring 2008) Evaluation Exchange Article

Putting an Equity Lens on Family Engagement in Oregon

Creating high-quality early childhood systems necessitates a strong focus on family engagement. Check out how Oregon is adopting an equity lens and building a strong foundation to engage families by leveraging federal funds, community leadership, and philanthropic investments.

Anairis Hinojosa and M. Elena Lopez (October 29, 2015) Research Report

Q & A With Susan Leger Ferraro and Fran Hurley: Learning Through Technology-Infused Play

Creative anywhere, anytime learning experiences take center stage at Imajine That Museum and Educational Play Space, where families bring their children to play, socialize, and learn together as a family. Read this exciting Q and A with Susan Leger Ferraro and Fran Hurley, about how Imajine That provides an array of innovative learning opportunities to enthusiastic families.

Harvard Family Research Project (June 9, 2014) Research Report

Racing to the Top: Maryland's Promising Practices in Family Engagement

Maryland is embedding a new family engagement definition statewide as a foundation of policy and infrastructure. Through comprehensive partnerships, the state brings to scale family engagement approaches and launches new initiatives.

Nathan Driskell (September 17, 2014) 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

Redefining Family Engagement for Student Success

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 FINE Newsletter.

Harvard Family Research Project (May 2014) 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

Reframing Family Involvement in Education: Supporting Families to Support Educational Equity

This research review, part of the Equity Matters research initiative at the Campaign for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University, argues that family involvement in education is a powerful but neglected tool to support children’s learning and development.  Disadvantaged children are both more likely to benefit from increased family involvement and to come from families who face the greatest barriers to such involvement.  To reframe public understanding of the benefits of family involvement in children’s education, this paper lays out a research-based definition and more equitable approach to family involvement and positions it as a key cross-cutting component of broader comprehensive or complementary learning systems.

Heather B. Weiss , Suzanne M. Bouffard, Beatrice L. Bridglall, Edmund W. Gordon (December 2009) Research Report

Research and Advocacy Collaboration: A New Jersey Case Study

Too often vital research in the early care and education field does not get used effectively for advocacy purposes. While researchers and advocates often share the same goals, they tend to operate on separate tracks. This brief explores how research and advocacy can be bridged for greater effect using strategic communications. By definition, strategic communications means a deliberate plan or tactics for using communications as a channel for achieving a certain result. Collaborative work in the state of New Jersey around the goal of achieving a comprehensive and quality early care and education system is used as a backdrop for learning about effective practice.

Julia Coffman (January 2002) Research Report

Results-Based Accountability Systems in Practice: Oregon and Minnesota

Harvard Family Research Project presents brief descriptions of Minnesota and Oregon's results-based accountability systems.

Harvard Family Research Project (Winter 1996) Evaluation Exchange Article

Risk and Resilience in Children and Families: Implications for Public Policy

With the implementation of welfare reform, government's increasing reliance on block grants rather than categorical funding, increasing devolution of responsibility for service delivery to the state and local level, increasing use of contracted services, and growing budget shortfalls at all levels of government, the social safety net in the United States is undergoing rapid transformation. How well the emerging “system” will protect children and support families is unknown. This course is designed to examine current and proposed child and family policies.

Julie B. Wilson (Spring 2005) Syllabus

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

Seeing is Believing: Promising Practices for How School Districts Promote Family Engagement

We teamed up with the National PTA to bring you this ground-breaking policy brief that examines the role of school districts in promoting family engagement. The brief spotlights how six school districts have used innovative strategies to create and sustain family engagement “systems at work.” 

Helen Westmoreland , Heidi M. Rosenberg, M. Elena Lopez, Heather Weiss (July 2009) Research Report

Social Capital

This issue of the FINE Forum features some examples families, schools, and communities coming together to enrich children's learning and social development opportunities.

Harvard Family Research Project (Spring 2004) Research Report

Social Media—Engaging Families in Children's Learning and Use of Digital Media 

Are you interested in using social media to find out how families can navigate digital media to enhance children’s learning? Start here—we guide you to organizations and individuals that bring the latest DML research into public focus!

Harvard Family Research Project (April 24, 2014) 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

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

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

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Published by Harvard Family Research Project