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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Ongoing Evaluations of Programs in Parent Leadership and Family Involvement
Kelly Faughnan and Cassandra Wolos of HFRP present two listings of upcoming program evaluations, the first in parent leadership and organizing, the second in family involvement in education.
Technology Goes Home: Connecting Families, Communities, and Schools
Kelly Faughnan from HFRP describes a program that connects families and schools in the Boston area through the mechanism of technology.
Libraries Engaging Families: Reflections From the Public Library Association’s President
Public Library Association (PLA) president Felton Thomas Jr. writes about the importance of public libraries in engaging families, and how PLA and Harvard Family Research Project have begun a journey together to support libraries in this work.
Getting Serious About Excellence With Equity
Ronald Ferguson, Director of the Achievement Gap Initiative and Lecturer at Harvard University, proposes that parents must be part of a broader movement for excellence with equity.
Partnering With Parents and Communities: Are Preservice Teachers Adequately Prepared?
This study examines how the topic of school, parent, and school partnerships are incorporated into preservice teacher education. Preservice teacher comfort levels with parent involvement is documented.
Free. Available online only.
It's Never Too Early: Promoting College Prep in Middle School After School Programs
Lucy Friedman describes how a collaborative after school initiative links with universities and families to promote college and career preparation among middle school youth.
People, Power, and Change
Fulfilling the democratic promise of equity, inclusion, and accountability requires the participation of an “organized” citizenry with the power to articulate and assert its interests effectively. Organizing is one way to confront these challenges by revitalizing old democratic institutions and creating new ones. In this course, students learn how to engage with social, economic, and political problems from an organizer's perspective ... and how to act to solve them.
Free. Available online only.
Empowering Parents to Improve Education: Evidence from Rural Mexico
Paul Gertler, Harry Patrinos, and Marta Rubio-Codina summarize a study on the outcomes associated with a school-based management intervention in Mexico.
Understanding Family Involvement in the Preparation of Graduate Students: Measuring Family-Centered Beliefs, Skills, Systems, and Practices
Family-centered practices by professionals serving families and their young children with disabilities have become a cornerstone of personnel preparation programs in early childhood intervention (ECI) and early childhood education. Our research project sought to develop a measure to examine the family-centered beliefs, skills, work systems, and work practices of ECI and ECE graduate students.
Free. Available online only.
Accomplished Teachers and Their Interactions With Parents: A Comparative Analysis of Strategies and Techniques
This study found that teachers with National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification have more positive attitudes, are more tenacious in their approaches, and have more strategies for engaging families than noncertified teachers.
Free. Available online only.
Family Support Services Promote School Readiness
This study demonstrates that a wide variety of parent and child factors are linked to school readiness and that parenting education and support services promote family activities that relate to positive child outcomes.
Free. Available online only.
Promoting Involvement of Recent Immigrant Families in Their Children's Education
The purpose of this article is to present a conceptual framework and promote promising practices for involving Hispanic, immigrant parents/caregivers of students in their children's education. Toward this end, the article presents a model for how teachers and immigrant parents/families can be trained and encouraged to work as partners to improve student performance.
Free. Available online only.
Strengthening Programs and Summative Evaluations Through Formative Evaluations
Two evaluators from SRI describe the benefits realized by the Parent Institute for Quality Education when they prefaced their summative evaluation with a formative evaluation.
The Countdown to Kindergarten: A Collaborative Approach
Sonia Gómez-Banrey, Director of Countdown to Kindergarten (CDtoK) for Boston Public Schools (BPS), and Katherine (Kacy) Hughes, Senior Project Manager for Early Childhood and Family Learning at Boston Children’s Museum, highlight key components of the collaboration between BPS and the Museum as part of the CDtoK program to help BPS families better prepare their children for kindergarten.
Raising Expectations for Out-of-School Time
Samantha Grant, a program evaluator at the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Youth Development, and a parent, offers guidance to families looking to make good decisions about their children’s out-of-school time activities.
An Aligned Family Involvement System in Kansas
Jane Groff from the Kansas Parent Information Resource Center talks about how the endorsement of statewide family involvement standards by the Kansas State Board of Education has resulted in the development of a common vision for family involvement across state education systems and agencies.
“As Long as I Got Breath, I'll Fight”: Participatory Action Research for Educational Justice
A participatory action project in the South Bronx explores how young people, their parents, and community members have mobilized for educational resources, opportunities, and the fulfillment of their dreams.
Free. Available online only.
Padres de Familia como Agentes de Cambio
En este Perfil de Liderando el Ramo, Sandra Gutiérrez, la directora nacional del programa Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors, programa que está enfocado en la familia latina, comparte su visión de cómo las familias son fundamentales para transformar las vidas de nuestros hijos y de nuestras comunidades. [This article is also available in English as Parents as Agents of Change.]
Parents as Agents of Change
In this Leading the Field profile, Sandra Gutierrez, national director of the Latino family-focused Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors program, shares her vision of how families are fundamental to transforming the lives of our children and our communities. [Este artículo también está disponible en español como Padres de Familia como Agentes de Cambio.]
What Words Don't Say
Martin, an African-American student struggles with peer problems at his elementary school. He experiences racism and classism. How can Martin's mother and his teacher dialogue about sensitive issues?
Free. Available online only.
Engaging With Families in Out-of-School Time Learning
This Snapshot provides an overview of how researchers are evaluating out-of-school time programs’ engagement with families.
Hard copy out of stock. Available online only.
Preparing Teachers to Engage Parents
This research report reviews parent involvement modules created for preservice teachers focusing on parent-teacher communication and collaborating with community. The online, problem-based modules were designed by the North Texas Partnership for Parent Engagement.
Free. Available online only.
Using Information Architecture to Improve Communication
Erin Harris from Harvard Family Research Project with Suzanne Muchin, CEO of Civitas, illustrate the design concept “information architecture” for displaying complex information clearly and simply.
Evaluation Strategies of Selected Community-Based Initiatives
Harvard Family Research Project provides a chart of 20 major ongoing evaluations of CBIs.
Supporting Ongoing, Constructive, and Meaningful Conversations About Student’s Progress
Plan for your upcoming parent-teacher conferences and beyond! Use our list of five of our favorite resources to support ongoing conversations about each student’s progress.