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.
The Parent/School Connection: Essential for a Child's Education, a District's Health (The Journal News, 8/8/08)
August 8, 2008
Read The Evaluation Exchange cited in this article!
This double issue of The Evaluation Exchange examines the current state of and future directions for the family involvement field in research, policy, and practice.
This article from The Journal News’s Back to School section cites Harvard Family Research Project’s recent double issue of The Evaluation Exchange, which emphasizes the impact of family involvement on children’s education, as well as the need to expand definitions of family involvement in the twenty-first century. The article also features insights from HFRP’s Suzanne Bouffard, who talks to The Journal News about family–school connections and the importance of family involvement across ages and settings.
Excerpts from the article:
“A recent 40-page policy paper of the Harvard Family Research Project released this spring gave several reasons why parental involvement needed to be embraced by schools and families and expanded past the expected and stereotypical role as PTA parent, fundraiser, chaperone, Scout leader and booster.
“Suzanne Bouffard, project manager for the Harvard Family Research Project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and [a] managing editor of the Evaluation Exchange, a periodical on emerging strategies in evaluation, said the definition of parental involvement needed to be redefined for the 21st century.
“The way a parent talks about school affects a child; a parental or familial expectation - whether or not to go to college - affects a child. It's not just in school that those decisions are made or absorbed. It's in the home, on the playground, at sports games and academic competitions and in social settings.
“‘It matters for children of all ages, from the time the kids are born to college and maybe after. It changes as kids get older, but it still matters,’ Bouffard said.
“And family involvement should extend beyond the school day.
“‘We often talk about it in the school building, but it also matters in after-school programs, in college prep programs, in community settings,’ she said. ‘We need to broaden the vision of what it means to be involved.’"