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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Evaluations to Watch
HFRP provides a quick run-down of 12 current out-of-school time program evaluations.
Ask the Expert
Karen Walker, director of community studies at Public/Private Ventures (P/PV), reveals what evaluation approaches can be used to understand the connection between academic outcomes and program activities.
New & Noteworthy
The New & Noteworthy section features an annotated list of papers, organizations, initiatives, and other resources related to the issue's theme of Building and Evaluating Out-of-School Time Connections.
Family Involvement News: September 2013
We are committed to keeping you up to date on what's new in family engagement. View our list of links to current reports, articles, resources, and events in the field.
Family Engagement in Public Libraries Is Valued, but There Is Work to Be Done
Ever wonder what libraries around the country are doing to engage families? Learn the answer to this question and others through HFRP and PLA’s national survey of family engagement in public libraries—– the results of which are presented here.
New & Noteworthy
The New & Noteworthy section features an annotated list of papers, organizations, and initiatives related to the issue
Featured Teaching Case: After School for Cindy
Harvard Family Research Project’s Teaching Cases support teacher training and professional development by highlighting challenges that schools, families, and communities may encounter in supporting children’s learning. In this month’s FINE newsletter, we feature After School for Cindy, which explores the roles that family members, school staff, and community organizations play in one child’s out-of-school time and demonstrates the importance of family engagement across learning contexts.
New & Noteworthy
The New & Noteworthy section features an annotated list of papers, organizations, initiatives, and other resources related to the issue's theme of Out-of-School Time.
New & Noteworthy: Expanded Web Only Version
This web only version of the New & Noteworthy section features an expanded annotated list of papers, organizations, initiatives, and other resources related to the issue's theme of Building and Evaluating Out-of-School Time Connections.
Professional Development Revisited
In our last issue, we examined the evaluation of professional development in OST and other human service fields. Here, we highlight new resources that have come to our attention since the publication of that issue.
CORAL: A Multi-Site Initiative to Improve Academic Achievement and Build Community Capacity
Kathleen Hebbeler of SRI International describes the evaluation of CORAL, which seeks to help communities view academic achievement as the shared responsibility of multiple sectors of the community.
Strengthening Family Ties
Sharon Hemphill and Holly Kreider describe how the Boys & Girls Clubs of America is implementing and evaluating an initiative that goes “beyond the walls” to support families in order to promote children’s success.
After School Programs for High School Students: Launching the Evaluation of After School Matters
Barton Hirsch and Larry Hedges present their innovative design for evaluating After School Matters, a Chicago initiative that draws on connections with community members, businesses, and schools.
Building the After School Field: A Conversation With Evaluators, Policymakers, and Practitioners
Karen Horsch and Kathleen Hart of HFRP summarize HFRP's conversations with after school evaluators, researchers, and stakeholders to map the out-of-school time field.
Youth Involvement in Evaluation & Research
This brief draws on information collected from focus group interviews with representatives of 14 programs that are involving youth in their evaluation and research efforts. It examines the elements of successful youth involved research projects and offers short profiles of the 14 organizations included in the study.
Hard copy out of stock. Available online only.
Staff Characteristics and Professional Development in Quality After School Programs
Denise Huang describes her work with the National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning to identify best practices for learning in after school programs, including characteristics of effective professional development.
A Conversation With Audrey Hutchinson
Audrey Hutchinson of National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education, and Families discusses the evaluation of linked after school services by cities.
Discovery Youth: A Museum-Based Program Connecting Youth With Community
Jessica Intrator from the Children's Discovery Museum describes a program that connects youth with a community institution to promote technology skills, health awareness, and positive social and academic outcomes.
Seamless and Connected—Education in the Digital Age
Through connected learning, says Mizuko Ito, schools, museums, and libraries are employing innovative strategies, leveraging digital media to make learning more relevant and engaging to youth, and linking the crucial spheres in a learner’s life—peers, interests, and academic pursuits.
Project HOPE: Working Across Multiple Contexts to Support At-Risk Students
In this article, Barbara Jentleson and Helen Westmoreland, from Duke University, highlight the mechanism of connecting complementary-learning contexts through staffing patterns and practices.
Coaching for Quality
Sarah Jonas describes the Children's Aid Society's model of site-based coaching for quality after school programming and the supports they provide to build the capacity of their coaches.
Designing Quality Assessment Tools in Early Childhood Education and Youth Development
Ted Jurkiewicz and Charles Hohmann from the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation describe the design of High/Scope's new Youth Program Quality Assessment tool.
Focus on Families! How to Build and Support Family-Centered Practices in After School
This comprehensive, easy-to-read guide to understanding how to engage families in after school programs is a critical resource for after school providers looking to create or expand an existing family engagement program. It offers a research base for why family engagement matters, concrete program strategies for engaging families, case studies of promising family engagement efforts, and an evaluation tool for improving family engagement practices.
Free. 48 Pages.
Engaging Families in Out-of-School Time Programs
A group of researchers illlustrate how the practice of family engagement can link the out-of-school time, school, and home contexts.
Extracting Evaluation Lessons From Four Recent Out-of-School Time Program Evaluations
Thomas J. Kane from the University of California, Los Angeles, distills lessons for future research from his review of four recent after school program evaluations.