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.
Parent Engagement on Rise as Priority for Schools, Districts (Education Week, 6/3/2015)
June 12, 2015
Research shows that family engagement in a child’s education is associated with increased student achievement, and many school districts around the country are now making systemic and sustained family engagement initiatives a priority.
In this Education Week article, author Karla Scoon Reid highlights growing family engagement efforts. Heather B. Weiss, director of Harvard Family Research Project, points out that there is now a shift in how school districts think about family engagement. In particular, Dr. Weiss notes that “now, people realize the need to develop more robust family engagement plans carefully linked to children learning in and out of schools and also develop the capacity of teachers to implement those plans.” In addition to the increased long-term integrated efforts by school districts, Dr. Weiss mentioned that “community and business leaders see the potential for a long-term return on their investment in family engagement efforts in the community.” Some of the highlighted efforts include:
- Large and mid-sized school districts such as Denver and Nashville school created positions and departments specifically geared toward family engagement.
- The Massachusetts teacher-evaluation rubric includes family engagement as a standard.
- California created a “family engagement framework” to help districts meet requirements in the state’s new school funding law.
Read Parent Engagement on Rise as Priority for Schools, Districts.