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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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ASCD logoThe article Hold the Line, published in the September 2015 issue of Education Update from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), discusses innovative and creative engagement strategies to help schools form better partnerships with families from low-income households. In the article, Harvard Family Research Project’s M. Elena Lopez and Margaret Caspe share some of HFRP’s best strategies for establishing and maintaining these relationships:

  • Engaging families should be systemic, not random opportunities. Family engagement is stronger and more meaningful when families have consistent and persistent ways to be involved with the school.
  • Using cases is a great way for educators to examine “attitudinal hang-ups”. Our culture often has a particular and unfavorable narrative about low-income families’ involvement in their children’s education; HFRP’s cases provide a platform to challenge those biases and support educators in seeing family strengths.
  • Sharing data can be one of the best entry points for engaging families. Teachers should continually reflect on their practices for sharing data and think about how that practice can be modified to engage families of all income levels.

Read Hold the Line by subscribing to ASCD’s Education Update.

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Published by Harvard Family Research Project