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.
Evaluation Strategies of Selected Community-Based Initiatives
Harvard Family Research Project provides a chart of 20 major ongoing evaluations of CBIs.
Schools in Communities
In this course, we deepen the preparation of teachers in training, focusing on schools as organizations in specific political communities wherein people exercise more or less democratic voices in public policies that govern their economic, housing, and education opportunities. Teachers make and influence policies in their classrooms, at their campuses, and in the institutions and/or districts in which they work.
Free. Available online only.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Results-Based Accountability by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
State Results-Based Accountability Initiatives
Diane Schilder and Anne Brady of Harvard Family Research Project summarize the challenges noted by the policymakers, practitioners, and program directors interviewed in Minnesota, Oregon, and other states developing new results-based accountability systems.
Iowa's Budgeting for Results
Harvard Family Research Project reveals how Iowa is implementing Budgeting for Results in executive branch agencies and programs to answer citizens' demands for greater accountability in government.
Key Stages and Common Themes in Outcome Measurement
Nancy McDaniel from the American Humane Association (AHA) outlines the AHA's work to help child welfare professionals clearly demonstrate the results of their work.
The System Accountability Project for Children's Mental Health: Understanding Outcome Information in Context
Mario Hernandez and Sharon Hodges from the System Accountability Project for Children's Mental Health describe the project's goal to better understand the impact that utilizing measurable outcomes has on the planning and delivery of services.
Foundation Consortium for School-Linked Services: Evaluating Comprehensive Integrated Services
Casey Morrigan from Foundation Consortium for School-Linked Services describes her organization's 2-day meeting which included roundtable dialogue between evaluators and funders and the issues raised in local program evaluations of some of California's comprehensive, integrated supports and services initiatives.
Self-Governing Communities and Families: Real-Time Change and Performance
Gary Nelson, Director of Family Forum, outlines the Real-Time Change and Performance Model, which provides a philosophy, process, and a set of tools for improving results for communities and families.
Results-Based Accountability #2
Minnesota and Oregon were among the first states in the nation to develop results-based accountability systems and, as such, have addressed many of the challenges that other states are facing. In this issue of The Evaluation Exchange we share our preliminary analysis of issues arising in the early implementation of these new systems and we include articles by those developing and implementing results-based accountability systems.
New & Noteworthy
This section features an annotated list of papers, organizations, initiatives, and other resources related to the issue's theme.
Electronic Mailbox
A list of useful resources on the Internet.
Challenges in Evaluating Comprehensive School-Linked Services: Toward a More Comprehensive Evaluation Framework
Presented at the 1995 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, this paper discusses the evaluation challenges facing complex school-linked services and describes and assesses how 18 such initiatives have been evaluated. Includes detailed charts and tables.
$10.00 . 40 Pages.
Evaluating Seattle's Family Centers
Julia Coffman at Harvard Family Research Project describes the Seattle's Five-Tiered Approach to evaluating its family centers.
Connecticut's Family Resource Centers
Susan Frankel of RMC Research Corporation outlines the evaluation of Connecticut's school-based family resource model.
Family Resource Centers
This issue of The Evaluation Exchange, Harvard Family Research Project's quarterly evaluation periodical, explores alternative ways of evaluating family resource centers.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Family Resource Centers by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
Evaluating Old Grove's Family Support Center
Harvard Family Research Project presents synopses of three alternative approaches to evaluating a hypothetical Robinswood Family Resource Center.
Empowerment Evaluation in Theory
David Fetterman of Stanford University and the California Institute of Integral Studies describes empowerment evaluation.
Empowerment Evaluation in Practice: First Nations Development Institute
Harvard Family Research Project presents an example of an organization using empowerment evaluation.
Interview With Kathy Martin
Kathy Martin, Chief Operating Officer for Caring Communities on Missouri, shares lessons learned on how to design and implement a result-based accountability system.
The Impact of Family Preservation Services on Family Functioning
William Meezan and Jacquelyn McCroskey, professors at the University of Southern California School of Social Work, outline their recent work on a family preservation program evaluation.
Early Childhood Reform in Seven Communities: Front-Line Practice, Agency Management, and Public Policy
This report examines local examples of successful implementation of reforms. It provides useful information to early childhood practitioners who work directly with children and families, managers who direct early childhood agencies and programs, and policymakers who make decisions about program designs and funding strategies.
Free. Available online only.
Parents and Their Developing Children
This is a course about parent involvement and the relationship between homes, schools, and communities. Content is organized around how the home, family, and school influences the growth, development, and education of younger children. Students will learn how schools relate to parents and will acquire knowledge and skills to implement excellent parent involvement programs.
Free. Available online only.
Self, Family, Community, and Schooling
This course, with its fieldwork component, takes gradual and small steps in grappling with the constituent parts of culture. Taking the notion of self as a center of relationship, we adopt a bottom-up approach in tracing how culture dialectically implicates individual mind and selfhood. Forming several research teams, each group will undertake an empirical studies in designated field sites. Each team, using methodological tools available in visual anthropology and video ethnography (with support from the teaching and technical staff), will be required to relate their research findings to one or more theoretical themes covered in this course.
Free. Available online only.