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May 2009 Family Involvement News: May 2009 Harvard Family Research Project

FINE Newsletter, Volume I, Issue 2
Issue Topic: Family Involvement Policy

Family Involvement News

We at Harvard Family Research Project are committed to keeping you up-to-date on what's new in family involvement.  This list of links to current reports, articles, events, and opportunities will help you stay on top of what's happening in the family involvement field.

New From FINE

• Latino Storybook Bibliography

  Harvard Family Research Project has just added a valuable new resource to the Storybook Corner, a unique source for information on using children's storybooks with family involvement themes to engage families in their children's education. This new annotated bibliography features storybooks about Latino families’ involvement in their children’s education.

• Related Resource: Storybook Corner

  The Storybook Corner offers resources to help educators, families, and those who work with families promote the awareness, discussion, and practice of family involvement in children's education in a wide range of settings. The Storybook Corner provides a list of storybooks with family involvement themes and tools for using the storybooks, as well as HFRP’s own original bilingual online storybook, Tomasito’s Mother Comes to School/La mamá de Tomasito visita la escuela.

New From Harvard Family Research Project

• Out-of-School Time Bibliography Update

  Harvard Family Research Project has updated its Out-of-School Time Research and Evaluation Bibliography. The new additions focus not only on research studies and evaluations of traditional after school programs but also on programs with summer, before school, Saturday, and school-day components. Several new bibliography entries address family and community involvement in out-of-school time.

• “Strengthen What Happens Outside School to Improve What Happens Inside”

  The April 2009 edition of Phi Delta Kappan, the professional journal for education, features Harvard Family Research Project’s article, "Strengthen What Happens Outside School to Improve What Happens Inside." In it, HFRP offers six research-based recommendations for expanding current federal investments in family involvement, after school, and summer learning programs. HFRP also recommends investing in new efforts to ensure that these out-of-school supports work with each other and with schools to promote shared learning and development goals.

• Supporting Student Outcomes Through Expanded Learning Opportunities

  This new paper looks at the role of after school and summer learning programs in supporting student success. The paper explores how to bridge the divide between out-of-school time programs and schools by offering research-derived principles for effective expanded learning partnerships. It was commissioned by Learning Point Associates and the Collaborative for Building After-School Systems as part of a report on school reform and expanded learning.

Forthcoming Publications

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

  This paper from the Center for Education Equity argues that family involvement in education is a powerful but neglected tool to support children’s learning and development. Written by HFRP director Heather Weiss and former HFRP researcher Suzanne Bouffard, along with Edmund Gordon and Beatrice Bridglall, the paper pushes for policy efforts to broaden the definition of schooling to include family involvement as part of a comprehensive, complementary learning system.

• Community Organizing for Stronger Schools: Strategies and Successes

  Based on the Annenberg Institute for School Reform study Organized Communities, Stronger Schools, this forthcoming book explores the impact of community organizing for school reform on student outcomes. In it, authors Kavitha Mediratta, Seema Shah, and Sara McAlister argue that community organizing groups achieved gains in student learning through a combination of system-level advocacy, school- and community-based activity, and strategic use of research and data.

Employment Opportunity

• Education Policy Analyst

  PTA, the nation’s largest child advocacy association, currently has an opening for an Education Policy Analyst in its Washington, DC, office.  This individual will provide analysis on legislation and regulations and advocates on key issues on behalf of PTA members. For more information about the position, as well as education and experience requirements, please visit PTA's website at the link above.

Articles & Reports

• Family Involvement in OST

  A brochure from the National Math Panel presents select findings from the panel’s final report. Based on a review of over 16,000 research studies, the guide offers parents quick tips and ideas to help their children learn and form a positive attitude about math.

• Parent Involvement and the Internet

  Commonsensemedia.com, a website that provides media-related information and tools for families, addresses the role of parents in Internet safety. Among the resources on the site is information about cyber-bullying and how parents can help their children be good Internet consumers.

• Parents and Youth Internet Safety

  A recent report from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, prepared for the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking of State Attorneys General of the United States, addresses child safety in online technology. The report includes a review of research related to youth online safety and addresses the role of parents in helping youth be safe Internet consumers.

• Parents’ Roles in Supporting Preschool Curriculum

  A recent paper from the Albert Shanker Institute reviews research on young children’s learning and the content of preschool curriculum. The paper, which offers information for education practitioners and policymakers to help them make decisions about pre-K curricula, promotes the role of parents in supporting learning at the pre-K level.

• Our Children, Our Schools: A Blueprint for Creating Partnerships Between Immigrant Families and New York City Public Schools

  A recent report by Advocates for Children shares findings from a recent project to identify barriers that immigrant parents face in involvement in New York City public schools. The report offers both recommendations and models of promising practices that support partnerships between immigrant families and schools in New York City.

• Breaking Barriers: Plotting the Path to Academic Success for School-Age African-American Males

  This report highlights findings from a study of Black middle and high school students using four national databases. In addition to the findings, the author presents policy recommendations, including the suggestion that educational policy support African American male students by increasing attention to parent involvement.

• The Role of Parents in Quality State Preschool Programs

  The National Institute for Early Education Research recently released their annual yearbook, The State of Preschool 2008. The report highlights national trends in state preschool spending, access, and quality. It includes parent involvement in the Quality Standards Checklist, a set of minimum criteria needed to ensure effective preschool programs.

Websites

• Full-Service Schools Roundtable Website

  The new website for the Full-Service Schools Roundtable, a city-wide coalition of individuals and organizations supporting a complementary learning approach by bringing full-service schools to scale across Boston and Massachusetts is live.  The website, run by former Harvard Family Research Project researcher Abby R. Weiss, offers examples, research, and tool kits for full-service schools and describes convening and advocacy opportunities in the area.

Events

• Research Conference on Child and Family Programs and Policy

  The second National Research Conference on Child and Family Programs and Policy will be held at Bridgewater State College, July 16–17, 2009. Designed for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, the conference will focus on program and policy solutions to support the well-being of children and families. 

This article is part of the May 2009 FINE Newsletter. The FINE Newsletter shares the newest and best family involvement research and resources from Harvard Family Research Project and other field leaders. To access the FINE Newsletter Archive, visit www.hfrp.org/FINENewsletter.