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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Family Involvement News: September 2015
Explore how libraries are taking a leading role in learning, discover ways to reimagine learning in your community, and learn how parents—through policy and advocacy—are being empowered to engage in their children’s learning.
Teaching the Bridging Worlds Case
Cases are a powerful tool to support teacher preparation in family engagement. Read how five faculty members facilitated the case Bridging Worlds: Family Engagement in the Transition to Kindergarten and learn how the case influenced both students and faculty.
Transition as a Shared Responsibility: The Bridging Worlds Reader’s Theater
By coupling the Bridging Worlds case with a Reader’s Theater, we helped students examine the complexities involved in sharing responsibility for student learning during the transition to school.
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.
Creating Coordination Among Families, Schools, and Communities: A Mock Team Meeting
Communication is key during the transition to school, and a mock team meeting based on the perspectives presented in the Bridging Worlds case helped school psychologists gain confidence talking with representatives from different learning settings.
Communication Is Key to Strong Family‒School Partnerships During the Transition to School
One way to help educators better understand how parents and teachers think and feel during the transition to school is by pairing the Bridging Worlds case with an Empathy Map.
Identifying Assumptions About and Barriers to the Transition to School
Through a case discussion, the Bridging Worlds case became a catalyst for robust dialogue discussion about the assumptions teachers make during the transition to kindergarten and their potential consequences for children and families.
Lessons From Blended Professional Learning: The Case of Family Engagement
Simulations, virtual learning communities, web conferences, text-based chats, and interactive cases are all ways that blended professional learning methods are supporting educators’ ability to engage families. Learn more in this commentary that explores new opportunities for blended professional learning in family engagement.
Bridging Worlds Interactive Case: Meet Maya Warren, Kindergartner
We begin the Bridging Worlds Interactive Case by meeting Maya Warren. Maya is a fun-loving 5-year-old girl who, despite success in preschool, is having a difficult transition to kindergarten.
Bridging Worlds Interactive Case: Meet Nicole Warren, Maya’s Mother
In this section of the Bridging Worlds Interactive Case, we meet Nicole Warren, Maya’s mother. Nicole reflects on her daughter’s difficult transition to kindergarten and thinks about what she might do to improve the situation.
Bridging Worlds Interactive Case: Meet Teresa Guzman, Preschool Teacher
In this section of the Bridging Worlds Interactive Case, we meet Maya’s former preschool teacher, Teresa Guzman. Teresa considers the role of early childhood programs in preparing children and families for kindergarten.
Bridging Worlds Interactive Case: Meet Tanya Robinson, Kindergarten Teacher
In this section of the Bridging Worlds Interactive Case, we meet Tanya Robinson, Maya’s kindergarten teacher. Tanya is concerned that children and families are not kindergarten ready.
Bridging Worlds Interactive Case: Meet Esther Lasher, Head Start Educational Director
In this section of the Bridging Worlds Interactive Case, we meet Esther Lasher, the educational director of the Grant Head Start Program. Esther works to smooth the transition to kindergarten by planning with multiple community and school representatives.
Bridging Worlds Interactive Case: Supporting Data
In this section of the Bridging Worlds Interactive Case, we examine some school-level data to develop a better understanding of the factors influencing Maya’s difficult transition to school.
Bridging Worlds Interactive Case: Piecing It All Together
In the final section of the Bridging Worlds Interactive Case, we piece it all together. We think about the principles guiding smooth transitions to school, assumptions people in the case make, and how difficult issues might be resolved.
Family Involvement News: Summer 2015
In our Family Involvement News, discover who is thinking about families in the reauthorization of ESEA, how home visits support engaged families, and why collaboration among schools, communities, and families is important for student success.
Explore More: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Resources
Children can develop 21st-century skills, even outside of the classroom. This resource guide offers hands-on, maker-inspired activities, along with advice from museums, libraries, and afterschool programs, for educators and families to use when exploring STEM topics with children.
Q & A With S. Craig Watkins: Family Engagement in Connected Learning
In this Q & A, S. Craig Watkins discusses the family’s role in the connected learning model, and how students can link what they learn in schools, afterschool programs, and their communities using digital technology.
“This Is Their House, Too”: An Afterschool Space Designed for and by Teenagers
Engagement in afterschool programming is one way to keep middle and high school youth engaged in their education. Learn about how the Everett Boys & Girls Club located just outside of Boston, uses intentional informality to keep students coming back and wanting more.
Resources for Promoting Child Development
Celebrate the Week of the Young Child by learning about Head Start’s ongoing commitment to supporting early childhood educators in implementing a comprehensive, two-generation approach to child development and well-being. As Head Start reaches its 50th anniversary, learn about its exemplary resources.
Four Important Things Research Tells Us About the Transition to School
The transition to school is a process—not just a one-time event—and begins during children’s preschool years and continues into and on through the early elementary grades. Find out four important things research tells us about the transition.
Engaging Families in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Project-Based Learning
To be successful, children need a strong science, technology, engineering, and math foundation. Learn how Iridescent, a project funded in part by the National Science Foundation, connects families, engineers, and children to develop these skills early on in school.
Building Bridges to Success
In 2010, Silicon Valley Community Foundation started a bold and innovative initiative designed to ensure success by third grade for all children in San Mateo County, California. It focuses on ready children, ready families, ready schools, and ready communities
Bibliography of Transition Research
What is the evidence base to support family engagement in the transition to school? You can check out the articles in this bibliography to read about why transition to school matters for children, families, and communities.