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.
White House Symposium on Transformative Family Engagement (7/31/2014)
July 31, 2014
In collaboration with The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) and other partners, the White House hosted an event on July 31, 2014, to expand the national conversation on the profound influence that transformative family engagement practices have on children’s school readiness and overall success.
The White House Symposium on Transformative Family Engagement brought together a small, distinguished group of administration officials, along with philanthropic, research, and other experts from the field, including Harvard Family Research Project director Heather B. Weiss. Discussions focused on the vital role that transformative family engagement strategies play in children’s learning and ways that these practices can help ensure educational equity for all children.
Felicia DeHaney, director of education and learning at WKKF, noted, “We must find new opportunities beyond the one-off parent-teacher conferences and events if we hope to set all children on an equitable path to success by making sure that families, educators, and community leaders are truly equal partners in student learning.” Symposium attendees discussed the merits of transformative family engagement in this effort, which WKKF defines as “a shared responsibility of families, schools and communities aimed at helping students learn and achieve. It is a continuous process from birth to third grade and beyond, and occurs across all the settings where children learn—creating environments that support parents and families as strong leaders and advocates for their children.”
Carla Thompson, vice-president for program strategy at WKKF, stated that a more detailed action plan would be developed within the next few weeks. "This is just one step of many over the next year or so as we really try to have great family-engagement practices," she said. "We want to keep this momentum going."
More information on this event can be found at the following:
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation presented a symposium overview in a press release and slide show from WKKF.
The event was also covered in articles in the Washington Post, Education Week, and Huffington Post; you may also follow an archive of Tweets using #FamEngage.