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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.
We are committed to keeping you up to date on what's new in family engagement. View our list of links to current reports, articles, resources, and events in the field.
Harvard Family Research Project (February 7, 2013) Research Report
In this Guest Commentary, GreatSchools founder and CEO Bill Jackson offers a vision for the future of family engagement in which parents demand more from both the educational system and themselves to help prepare their children for a complex, globally-connected workforce. He also lays out the steps that educators need to take to realize this vision and help students succeed.
Bill Jackson (February 7, 2013) Research Report
In this Research Digest, William Jeynes highlights key findings from his recent meta-analysis examining the effectiveness of different types of school-based parental involvement programs. His study found that programs that emphasized shared reading, teacher–parent partnership, checking homework, and teacher–parent communication all had statistically significant positive effects on student outcomes. Jeynes discusses why the effects of school-based programs are greater than the effects seen with “voluntary” expressions of parental engagement.
William H. Jeynes (February 7, 2013) Research Report
Former Head Start parent, Nikia Parker, started out as a “hard-to-reach” parent but developed a strong, positive relationship with her family’s Early Head Start home visitor, which enabled her to not only effectively support her own children, but also take on advocacy and leadership roles within the larger Head Start community.
Nikia Parker (September 20, 2012) Research Report
In this Commentary, Harvard Family Research Project’s Senior Research Analyst, Heidi Rosenberg, looks at the ways in which schools, programs, and other community institutions can help facilitate continuous family engagement to help children succeed.
Heidi Rosenberg (September 20, 2012) Research Report
Mandy Savitz-Romer is director of the Prevention Science and Practice Program and a faculty member at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Suzanne Bouffard is a research project manager and writer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In this article, Bouffard and Savitz-Romer discuss findings from their recent book, Ready, Willing, and Able: A Developmental Approach to College Access and Success.
Mandy Savitz-Romer , Suzanne Bouffard (September 20, 2012) Research Report
We are committed to keeping you up to date on what's new in family engagement. This list of links to current reports, articles, events, and opportunities will help you stay on top of research and resources from HFRP and other field leaders.
Harvard Family Research Project (September 20, 2012) Research Report
Because early social performance and academic achievement are predictors of later school success, ensuring that children get off to a good start in kindergarten is critical. This brief, by Harvard Family Research Project's Christine Patton and Justina Wang, examines important elements of high-quality kindergarten transition strategies and profiles promising practices from six states that take an integrated and collaborative approach to helping kindergartners enter school ready for success.
Christine Patton , Justina Wang (September 20, 2012) Research Report
Harvard Family Research Project’s Senior Research Analysts Heidi Rosenberg, Erin Harris, and Shani Wilkes explore how the relationship between families and afterschool is shifting from a focus on increasing afterschool program participation toward a focus on parents’ supporting children’s learning and development in afterschool settings.
Heidi Rosenberg , Erin Harris, Shani Wilkes (June 28, 2012) Research Report
We are committed to keeping you up to date on what's new in family engagement. View our list of links to current reports, articles, resources, and events in the field.
Harvard Family Research Project (June 28, 2012) Research Report
Priscilla Little, an independent consultant working in afterschool research and evaluation, reflects on the transformation of afterschool from being merely a “safe haven” for kids whose parents are working to a core component of a holistic education. She also highlights six strategies for engaging families in afterschool programs.
Priscilla Little (June 28, 2012) Research Report
Samantha Grant, a program evaluator at the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Youth Development, and a parent, offers guidance to families looking to make good decisions about their children’s out-of-school time activities.
Samantha Grant (June 28, 2012) Research Report
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.
Jane Werner , Lisa Brahms (June 28, 2012) Research Report
Anne Duggan is Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Duggan reflects on what she has learned from nearly 20 years of evaluative research on home visiting—particularly looking at what factors influence service delivery and family outcomes—and how that research can be applied to practice.
Anne Duggan (March 15, 2012) Research Report
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
We are committed to keeping you up to date on what's new in family engagement. View our list of links to current reports, articles, resources, and events in the field.
Harvard Family Research Project ( March 15, 2012) Research Report
This installment in our Family Involvement Research Digest Series features Susan Landry discussing a recent study—conducted by Landry and her colleagues at the Children’s Learning Institute at the University of Texas—about a mother–child intervention aimed at improving the use of responsive parenting techniques.
Susan Landry , Karen E. Smith, Paul R. Swank, Tricia Zucker, April D. Crawford, & Emily Solari (March 15, 2012) Research Report
Kiersten Beigel, Family and Community Partnerships Specialist for the Office of Head Start, discusses the recent work by the National Center for Family, School, and Community Engagement and the Center’s research-based tools designed to help Head Start and other early childhood programs reach out to parents and families.
Kiersten Beigel (March 15, 2012) Research Report
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
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
Ken Smythe-Leistico is the director of Ready Freddy: Pathways to Kindergarten Success at the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Child Development. In this profile, Ken discusses the Ready Freddy program—created in collaboration with Pittsburgh Public Schools, families, and community partners to increase the likelihood that children will have a successful kindergarten year.
Ken Smythe-Leistico (March 15, 2012) Research Report
HFRP's teaching cases involve real world situations and consider the perspectives of various stakeholders, including early childhood program and elementary school staff, parents, children, and community members. This handout provides a detailed list of our teaching cases on family involvement, focusing on the earlier years of a child's learning and development.
Harvard Family Research Project (January 2012) Research Report
This new book on family involvement in out-of-school time (OST), edited by former HFRP staff members Holly Kreider and Helen Westmoreland, includes information on promising practices, benefits, and concerns related to family involvement in OST, and features a chapter written by former HFRP staff members Suzanne Bouffard, Kelley O’Carroll, Helen Westmoreland, and Priscilla Little.
Suzanne Bouffard , Helen Westmoreland, Kelley O'Carroll, and Priscilla Little (December 5, 2011) Research Report
Lori Takeuchi—Director of Research for the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and author of the recent report Families Matter: Engaging Families in a Digital Age—discusses her research on how children use technology across the various settings of their lives, and the implications of her findings for practitioners who work with young children and their families.
Lori Takeuchi (December 5, 2011) Research Report
Today’s children and youth are increasingly exposed to new forms of learning beyond the classroom, especially in the form of out-of-school time programs and digital media. Developments in these areas have opened up new ways that families can become involved in their children’s education and development. In this FINE Newsletter Commentary, HFRP’s Heidi Rosenberg and M. Elena Lopez discuss the new roles for families in supporting student learning.
Heidi Rosenberg , M. Elena Lopez (December 5, 2011) Research Report
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Published by Harvard Family Research Project