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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All Publications & Resources WORKING WITH TEACHERS AND FAMILIES DEVELOPMENT PERIODS |
COMPLEMENTARY LEARNING CONNECTIONS
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Family Involvement in Early Childhood Education
This research brief synthesizes the latest research that demonstrates how family involvement contributes to young children's learning and development. The brief summarizes the latest evidence base on effective involvement—specifically, the research studies that link family involvement in early childhood to outcomes and programs that have been evaluated to show what works.
Making It Work: Low-Income Working Mothers' Involvement in Their Children's Education
Article in the American Educational Research Journal , Vol. 40 , No. 4, December 2003, pp. 879–901.
Using a mixed method analysis, this article looks at the relation between employment and family involvement in children's elementary education for low-income women, and finds that work is both obstacle to and opportunity for family involvement. This article may be downloaded only. It may not be copied or used for any purpose other than scholarship.
Family Educational Involvement: Who Can Afford It and What Does It Afford?
This is a chapter in Developmental Pathways Through Middle Childhood: Rethinking Context and Diversity as Resources. Edited by Catherine R. Cooper, Cynthia T. Garcia Coll, W. Todd Bartko, Helen M. Davis, & Celina Chatman. Published by Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. This chapter uses mixed methods to examine associations between school context, family educational involvement, and child literacy outcomes from kindergarten through third grade.
Changing the Conversation About Home Visiting: Scaling Up With Quality
The purpose of this paper is to determine what the evidence and conventional wisdom say about scaling up home visiting as one of the best ways to support parents and promote early childhood development. To answer this question, we examined the available research evidence, interviewed leaders from six of the national home visiting models, and interviewed researchers who have studied home visiting. The area of interest for guiding future research, practice, and policy is whether home visiting can be delivered at broad scale and with the quality necessary to attain demonstrable, positive outcomes for young children and their parents.
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.
Working It Out: The Chronicle of a Mixed-Method Analysis
Chapter in Discovering Successful Pathways in Children's Development: Mixed Methods in the Study of Childhood and Family Life. Edited by Thomas S. Weisner. Published by University of Chicago Press. This chapter chronicles a mixed-method analysis of family involvement in children's learning, drawing observations about the process and added value of combining methods.
Family Support and Education Programs and the Public Schools: Opportunities and Challenges
This study examines the advantages and disadvantages of school-based family support and community education programs. The paper analyzes the contexts that engender successful outcomes in community-based educational programs that are situated in school settings.
The Challenges of Evaluating State Family Support and Education Initiatives: An Evaluation Framework
This paper provided an evaluation framework to analyze four state initiatives that provide multi-generational family support and education programs. The paper documented preliminary findings and was presented at The Public Policy and Family Support amd Education Programs Colloquium in Annapolis, MD, April 26-28, 1989.
New Strategies in Foundation Grantmaking for Children and Youth
This report examines trends in foundation grantmaking for children and youth among 19 foundations. The foundations include most of the largest and wealthiest and those whose grantmaking heavily focuses on children and youth. Survey results indicate that, because the problems of youth are interconnected and require comprehensive solutions, foundations are shifting their grantmaking strategies. Several are concentrating more resources on long-term, place-based community strategies designed to improve outcomes for children and youth.
Beyond the Parent-Teacher Conference: Diverse Patterns of Home-School Communication
Discussions about home-school communication generally focus on formal, scheduled school activities offered to all parents, such as parent-teacher conferences or back-to-school nights. In contrast, this paper examines a variety of alternative communication patterns that are important mechanisms for parents and teachers to gain information and make decisions about children.
Making Family and Community Connections
This workshop is part of the Concept to Classroom series of multimedia workshops for teacher professional development. In this workshop, Heather Weiss and Joyce Epstein provide expert insights on creating partnerships among schools, parents, and members of the local community.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Evaluating Family Involvement Programs by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Children and Youth by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Family Support by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Family Resource Centers by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Community-Based Initiatives by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Building the Future of Family Involvement by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
School-Based Services: Traditional and Emerging Models to Address Barriers to Learning
This course will survey various models of community-based services that support students in schools. It will also cover implementation and evaluation of services.
MAKESHOP: Family Engagement in Exploration, Creativity, and Innovation
Jane Werner and Lisa Brahms, from the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, discuss the Museum’s innovative MAKESHOP studio space, which invites children and families to co-create projects and transforms the traditional museum visit experience.
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.”