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.
Reimagining the Parent-Teacher Conference
Starting meaningful conversations before the school year, focusing on student data throughout the school year, leveraging technology, and engaging families outside of school are four new trends we see transforming the traditional parent-teacher conference.
Preparing Educators to Engage Families: Case Studies Using an Ecological Systems Framework, Third Edition
Incorporating the use of HFRP research-based teaching cases and theoretical perspectives, this revised book looks at family engagement issues from the early years through pre-adolescence.
Reading Interactive Math Storybooks
Researchers from Teachers College, Columbia University, explore how a relatively new type of book– interactive math storybooks – can help parents appreciate and foster their child’s mathematical thinking.
Preparing Teachers to Work With Parents
This study surveyed 96 teacher education programs in the United States and examined how these preservice programs incorporate parent involvement in their curriculum.
Free. Available online only.
Teaching Future Educators and Families: Helping Maximize Children’s Learning
In this article, Pérsida Himmele talks about hosting engagement workshops for families and using what she learns from families to inform future teachers and provide them with meaningful in-class experiences to practice their family engagement skills.
Re-thinking Family Engagement: Moving Beyond the Program Model Toward Systemic Engagement that Promotes Student Learning
Anna Hinton, Director of Parental Options and Information in the Office of Innovation and Improvement for the U.S. Department of Education, shares her vision for transforming family engagement at the federal, state, and local levels.
Making Data Come Alive for Families through Young Children’s Play
Amy Horenbeck, training director from the Tools of the Mind program based at the Center for Improving Early Learning at the Metropolitan State College of Denver in Colorado, discusses a different approach to early childhood education and using children's work as a unique type of student data to track development and share children's progress with parents.
Evaluating School-Linked Services: Considerations and Best Practices
Nine evaluators of school-linked services programs identify considerations and best practices related to evaluating outcomes, sustainability, and collaboration to help determine how school-linked services programs work, what their impact is, and whether they should be expanded.
Free. Available online only.
Aiming for Accountability: Florida
Efforts include GAP benchmarks; performance-based program budgeting, and the Florida Department of Children and Families accountability system for planning, budgeting, and evaluation.
$5.00 . 48 Pages.
Aiming for Accountability: Georgia
Efforts include the Policy Council for Children and Families, Family Connection and Community Partnerships, and performance measures mandated by the Budget Accountability and Planning Act of 1993.
$5.00 . 48 Pages.
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.
Aiming for Accountability: Iowa
Efforts include the Council on Human Investment, Innovation Zones, and the Department of Management's strategic plan.
$5.00 . 41 Pages.
Aiming for Accountability: Minnesota
Efforts include Minnesota Milestones, Children's Services Report Card, Performance Reporting, and Family Services and Children's Mental Health Collaboratives.
$5.00 . 50 Pages.
Aiming for Accountability: North Carolina
Efforts include the state's performance/program budgeting system, the Department of Health and Human Services, and Smart Start.
$5.00 . 42 Pages.
Aiming for Accountability: Ohio
Efforts include Ohio Family and Children First, Early Start, the Wellness Block Grant, and the Family Stability Incentive Fund.
$5.00 . 46 Pages.
Aiming for Accountability: Oregon
Efforts include Oregon Benchmarks, the Oregon Commission on Children and Families, the Oregon Option, and the Community Partnership Team.
$5.00 . 50 Pages.
Aiming for Accountability: Vermont
Efforts include the State Team for Children and Families, Success by Six, and the Department of Education.
$5.00 . 40 Pages.
Evaluation Options for Family Resource Centers
This report examines different evaluation designs and their respective strengths and limitations. Using a realistic prototype of a child and family resource center, the authors present three alternative plans for evaluation.
$10.00 . 112 Pages.
Indicators: Definition and Use in a Results-Based Accountability System
This brief defines and explores the role of indicators as an integral part of a results-based accountability system. The brief shows how indicators enable decision makers to assess progress toward the achievement of intended outputs, outcomes, goals, and objectives.
Free. Available online only.
A Model for Statewide Parent Involvement Leadership in Colorado
Tina House of the Colorado Parent Involvement Network for Education discusses a collaborative approach to providing statewide leadership for family engagement.
Parents Write Their Worlds: A Parent Involvement Program Bridging Urban Schools and Families
A participatory research project examines a school-based writing workshop in which parents write stories for a literary magazine that is circulated in the school and community.
Free. Available online only.
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.
Fast Forward: What Education Could Be in 2043
In this Guest Commentary, GreatSchools founder and CEO Bill Jackson offers a vision for the future of family engagement in which parents demand more from both the educational system and themselves to help prepare their children for a complex, globally-connected workforce. He also lays out the steps that educators need to take to realize this vision and help students succeed.
Families, Schools, and Community Resources
Analyzing family, school, and community resources and needs as related to the family life cycle, examining child welfare and education and ecological approach, and exploration of careers related to children and families. Strategies to improve communication and collaboration are emphasized with a focus on family types, cultures, economic conditions, school systems, community services, political forces, advocacy groups, and other factors that impact young children and their families.
Free. Available online only.
Supporting Relationships and Family Engagement in the Transition to Kindergarten
Presenting the Bridging Worlds case with a Fishbowl activity helped educators came to understand the need to support relationships between families and schools during the transition period.