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.
Year-Round Learning: Continuity in Education Across Settings and Time Through Expanded Learning Opportunities
This brief provides examples of year-round learning programs along with recommendations for policymakers looking for ways to increase youth engagement in learning,
Free. Available online only.
We Were a "Hard-to-Reach" Family
Former Head Start parent, Nikia Parker, started out as a “hard-to-reach” parent but developed a strong, positive relationship with her family’s Early Head Start home visitor, which enabled her to not only effectively support her own children, but also take on advocacy and leadership roles within the larger Head Start community.
Creating Conditions for Effective and Ongoing Family Engagement
In this Commentary, Harvard Family Research Project’s Senior Research Analyst, Heidi Rosenberg, looks at the ways in which schools, programs, and other community institutions can help facilitate continuous family engagement to help children succeed.
Helping Families Pave the Path to College: Supporting the Developmental Processes That Facilitate College Readiness
Mandy Savitz-Romer is director of the Prevention Science and Practice Program and a faculty member at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Suzanne Bouffard is a research project manager and writer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In this article, Bouffard and Savitz-Romer discuss findings from their recent book, Ready, Willing, and Able: A Developmental Approach to College Access and Success.
Family Involvement News: September 2012
We are committed to keeping you up to date on what's new in family engagement. This list of links to current reports, articles, events, and opportunities will help you stay on top of research and resources from HFRP and other field leaders.
Family Engagement and Children with Disabilities: A Resource Guide for Educators and Parents
This resource guide highlights research reports, journal articles, examples of best practices, and tools that provide information on facilitating a comfortable and effective family–school partnership in the interest of successful outcomes for children with disabilities.
Ready for Success: Creating Collaborative and Thoughtful Transitions into Kindergarten
Because early social performance and academic achievement are predictors of later school success, ensuring that children get off to a good start in kindergarten is critical. This brief, by Harvard Family Research Project's Christine Patton and Justina Wang, examines important elements of high-quality kindergarten transition strategies and profiles promising practices from six states that take an integrated and collaborative approach to helping kindergartners enter school ready for success.
Joining Forces: Families and Out-of-School Programs as Partners in Supporting Children’s Learning and Development
Harvard Family Research Project’s Senior Research Analysts Heidi Rosenberg, Erin Harris, and Shani Wilkes explore how the relationship between families and afterschool is shifting from a focus on increasing afterschool program participation toward a focus on parents’ supporting children’s learning and development in afterschool settings.
Family Involvement News: June 2012
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.
A Field is Born: Reflections on a Decade of Afterschool
Priscilla Little, an independent consultant working in afterschool research and evaluation, reflects on the transformation of afterschool from being merely a “safe haven” for kids whose parents are working to a core component of a holistic education. She also highlights six strategies for engaging families in afterschool programs.
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.
MAKESHOP: Family Engagement in Exploration, Creativity, and Innovation
Jane Werner and Lisa Brahms, from the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, discuss the Museum’s innovative MAKESHOP studio space, which invites children and families to co-create projects and transforms the traditional museum visit experience.
Research Update 8: 21st Century Community Learning Centers—Stable Funding for Innovation and Continuous Improvement
The latest issue in our Research Update series reviews evaluations and research studies that showcase innovations in afterschool programs supported by 21st CCLC funding.
Families and Expanded Learning Opportunities: Working Together to Support Children’s Learning
This is the second brief in our ELO Research, Policy, and Practice series with the National Conference of State Legislatures. In this brief, we explore the ways that families and expanded learning opportunities (ELOs) must work as equal partners in order to ensure ELOs are contributing to children's learning in meaningful ways.
The Effects of a Responsive Parenting Intervention on Parent–Child Interactions during Shared Book Reading
This installment in our Family Involvement Research Digest Series features Susan Landry discussing a recent study—conducted by Landry and her colleagues at the Children’s Learning Institute at the University of Texas—about a mother–child intervention aimed at improving the use of responsive parenting techniques.
Giving Children and Families a Head Start: Research-based Tools for Parent and Family Engagement in Early Childhood
Kiersten Beigel, Family and Community Partnerships Specialist for the Office of Head Start, discusses the recent work by the National Center for Family, School, and Community Engagement and the Center’s research-based tools designed to help Head Start and other early childhood programs reach out to parents and families.
Now is the Time: Helping States Prepare Students for Success from the Very Start
Jacqueline Jones, Senior Advisor on Early Learning to the Secretary of Education at the U.S. Department of Education, highlights the Department’s new Race to the Top–Early Learning Challenge competitive grant program and the decision to make family engagement an integral part of the grant criteria.
New Offices, New Programs, New Interventions: A Look at New Developments in Early Childhood Education
In this FINE Newsletter Commentary, HFRP’s Christine Patton explores how new developments in early learning research, policy, and practice reflect a national “coming together” around the importance of early childhood experiences and their role in later school success.
Service is Everything: How Home Visiting Service Delivery Impacts Family Outcomes
Anne Duggan is Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Duggan reflects on what she has learned from nearly 20 years of evaluative research on home visiting—particularly looking at what factors influence service delivery and family outcomes—and how that research can be applied to practice.
Book Review: A Match on Dry Grass: Community Organizing as a Catalyst for School Reform
Justina Wang, a graduate research assistant at HFRP, reviews a new book by Mark R. Warren and Karen L. Mapp, which offers a glimpse at six communities across the U.S. where families, youth, and local organizers have reshaped the educational landscape in their districts.
Family Involvement News: March 2012
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.
A New Approach to Transitions: Welcoming Families and Their Ideas into Kindergarten Classrooms
Ken Smythe-Leistico is the director of Ready Freddy: Pathways to Kindergarten Success at the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Child Development. In this profile, Ken discusses the Ready Freddy program—created in collaboration with Pittsburgh Public Schools, families, and community partners to increase the likelihood that children will have a successful kindergarten year.
Family Engagement in Early Childhood: A Resource Guide for Early Learning Challenge Grant Recipients
To support Race to the Top—Early Learning Challenge grant recipients’, HFRP produced this selective list of resources about engaging and supporting families with young children. This list of journal articles, practical guides, webinars, and presentations may also be helpful for any other states, districts, and local programs interested in expanding their family engagement work.