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
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COMPLEMENTARY LEARNING CONNECTIONS
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Staying on the Path Toward College Interactive Case: Meet Paulo Domínguez, Sixth Grader
Paulo Domínguez is an intelligent sixth-grade boy who has recently become disengaged from schoolwork and is hanging out with peers whom his teachers and parents fear are a bad influence. Begin here to read Paulo’s story.
Staying on the Path Toward College Interactive Case: Meet Alberto and Sarita Domínguez, Parents of Paulo
Sarita and Alberto are Paulo’s parents. In their story, they reflect on their own educational opportunities and their desire for Paulo to pursue college in his future.
Staying on the Path Toward College Interactive Case: Meet Miguel Robles, a Family Friend
Meet Miguel, a friend of the Domínguez family, who mentors Paulo and tutors him in math. Miguel was also a part of the Más Allá program for college-bound students when he was in middle school and high school. Now he attends college.
Staying on the Path Toward College Interactive Case: Meet Rachel Marquez, Community College Outreach Program Director
Más Allá is a college outreach program run by Rachel Marquez. Rachel meets Paulo at an informational session about Más Allá and worries that he is like many of the young men on the fringe she has encountered before.
Staying on the Path Toward College Interactive Case: Supporting Data
In this next section, we explore data for Bay Vista Middle School and the Más Allá program. Looking at these data will help provide a glimpse into the larger setting in which Paulo’s story is situated.
Staying on the Path Toward College Interactive Case: Piecing It All Together
In the final section of the Staying on the Path Toward College Interactive Case, we piece it all together. We think about the principles guiding smooth transitions to middle school that lead to high school and college success, assumptions people in the case make, and how difficult issues might be resolved.
Three Lessons in Developing a Systemic Approach to Family Engagement
Learn how the second-largest school district in California worked collaboratively to develop a systemic family engagement framework while putting family voice front and center.
Identifying Assumptions About and Barriers to the Transition to School
Through a case discussion, the Bridging Worlds case became a catalyst for robust dialogue discussion about the assumptions teachers make during the transition to kindergarten and their potential consequences for children and families.
Transforming Pittsburgh Into Kidsburgh!
Dynamic Pittsburgh! Hundreds of the city’s PreK–12 educators, artists, technologists, and families are working together to remake learning.
Continuous Improvement: Being Responsive When There is Need for Change
Deborah J. Brown, external evaluator for Save the Children, discusses how continuous improvement processes have helped strengthen one of Save the Children’s language development and pre-literacy programs, Early Steps to School Success.
Framing Program Evaluation: Why We Should Tinker With Theories of Change and Logic Models
While evaluation needs may vary, all organizations can benefit from utilizing theory-based evaluation tools to frame evaluation efforts. This article explores how three organizations developed their program’s theory of change and logic model.
Bilingual Voices and Parent Classroom Choices
Ines, a Spanish speaker feels responsible for her daughter's trouble in an all-English first grade classroom. Based on advice from her daughter's teacher, who believes a bilingual placement might be best, Ines reads with Nina in Spanish, but is uncertain this is the right thing to do. How can parents and teachers reconcile their differences about bilingual education?
Family Involvement in Elementary School Children's Education
This research brief synthesizes the latest research that demonstrates how family involvement contributes to elementary-school-age children's learning and development. The brief summarizes the latest evidence base on effective involvement—specifically, the research studies that link family involvement during the elementary school years to outcomes and programs that have been evaluated to show what works.
Home-School Communication—What's All the Commotion?
This workshop, developed by Margaret Caspe for Harvard Family Research Project, helps teachers understand different approaches to home-school communication and how these shape relationships with families. Concepts are taken from a research study of first and second grade teachers in three sites.
Bridging Worlds: Family Engagement in the Transition to Kindergarten
This teaching case explores the complex issues surrounding the transition to kindergarten and the importance of family engagement in the process. Three expert commentaries and discussion questions are included. An interactive version is also available.
Staying on the Path Toward College: One Boy at the Crossroads
Paulo Domínguez is an intelligent sixth-grade boy who has recently become disengaged from schoolwork and is hanging out with peers whom his teachers and parents fear are a bad influence. How can community programs, schools, and families work together to keep Paulo on the path towards college as he transitions to middle school? An interactive version is also available.
Engaging Families in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Project-Based Learning
To be successful, children need a strong science, technology, engineering, and math foundation. Learn how Iridescent, a project funded in part by the National Science Foundation, connects families, engineers, and children to develop these skills early on in school.
Book Review: Inviting Families into the Classroom: Learning from a Life in Teaching
This book by Lynne Yermanock Strieb provides readers with insights on family engagement from the perspective of someone with 31 years of experience teaching kindergarten and first and second grade in Philadelphia public schools. While Inviting Families into the Classroom discusses parent–teacher relationships more broadly, this book review focuses on its valuable lessons on building relationships with families whose children are transitioning into elementary school.
Family Involvement in School and Low-Income Children's Literacy Performance
This groundbreaking study demonstrates that when families' involvement in school increases over the elementary years, children's achievement increases. Furthermore, the authors show that family involvement in school matters most for children whose mothers have less education.
Libraries Engaging Families: Reflections From the Public Library Association’s President
Public Library Association (PLA) president Felton Thomas Jr. writes about the importance of public libraries in engaging families, and how PLA and Harvard Family Research Project have begun a journey together to support libraries in this work.
Parents as Agents of Change
In this Leading the Field profile, Sandra Gutierrez, national director of the Latino family-focused Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors program, shares her vision of how families are fundamental to transforming the lives of our children and our communities. [Este artículo también está disponible en español como Padres de Familia como Agentes de Cambio.]
Padres de Familia como Agentes de Cambio
En este Perfil de Liderando el Ramo, Sandra Gutiérrez, la directora nacional del programa Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors, programa que está enfocado en la familia latina, comparte su visión de cómo las familias son fundamentales para transformar las vidas de nuestros hijos y de nuestras comunidades. [This article is also available in English as Parents as Agents of Change.]
A Human-Centered Approach to Family Engagement
A human-centered design approach – an approach that is based on observation, empathy, optimism, collaboration, and experimentation – opens new possibilities for educators to motivate and sustain family engagement.
Research Spotlight: Families and Digital Media in Young Children's Learning
These resources look at issues related to digital media and learning in early childhood and focus on such topics as children’s media use in the 21st century, family perspectives on children’s media use, and research-based guidance for practitioners and parents.
Quilting Stories of Innovation in Family Engagement
A collection of innovative family engagement practices with a link for you to share with us your family engagement story!