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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Findings From HFRP's Study of Predictors of Participation in Out-of-School Time Activities: Fact Sheet
This Fact Sheet summarizes findings and implications from HFRP's recently completed Study of Predictors of Participation in OST Activities. With funding from the W.T. Grant Foundation, we examined the child, family, school, and neighborhood predictors of children's participation in OST activities, paying special attention to disadvantaged youth.
Free. Available online only.
Demographic Differences in Youth Out-of-School Time Participation: A Research Summary
This 2-page Research Summary synthesizes findings from two HFRP publications that examine demographic differences in children's OST participation. This summary, which contains a subset of findings contained in the Fact Sheet, presents key findings on differences in multiple dimensions of participation in a range of OST activities and among youth from varying family income levels and racial and ethnic groups.
Free. Available online only.
Data Sharing Resources for Afterschool and Expanded Learning Programs and Systems
This resource highlights tools, publications, and reports that provide examples of promising practices for and guidance on data sharing for afterschool and expanded learning programs and systems.
Free. Available online only.
After School Evaluation Symposium
This 2-day meeting brought together the perspectives of diverse stakeholders to inspire new ideas and foster stronger links between research, practice, and policy. Participants discussed issues of access, quality, professional development, the role of evaluation research, and systems-building efforts.
Free. Available online only.
Featured Teaching Case: After School for Cindy
Harvard Family Research Project’s Teaching Cases support teacher training and professional development by highlighting challenges that schools, families, and communities may encounter in supporting children’s learning. In this month’s FINE newsletter, we feature After School for Cindy, which explores the roles that family members, school staff, and community organizations play in one child’s out-of-school time and demonstrates the importance of family engagement across learning contexts.
Family Involvement News: September 2013
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.
Family Engagement in Public Libraries Is Valued, but There Is Work to Be Done
Ever wonder what libraries around the country are doing to engage families? Learn the answer to this question and others through HFRP and PLA’s national survey of family engagement in public libraries—– the results of which are presented here.
Other Organizations' Out-of-School Time Publications
See other organizations' publications and resources related to community youth development and youth civic engagement, and The National 21st Century Community Learning Centers program evaluation.
Partnerships for Learning: Promising Practices in Integrating School and Out-of-School Time Program Supports
This new report from HFRP is aimed to help out-of-school time (OST) program leaders, decision-makers, and funders to understand and implement effective OST–school partnerships for learning.
Learning From Logic Models in Out-of-School Time
This brief offers an in-depth review of logic models and how to construct them. A logic model can be a powerful tool for illustrating a program's theory of change to program staff, partners, funders, and evaluators. Moreover, a completed logic model provides a point of reference against which progress towards achievement of desired outcomes can be measured on an ongoing basis, both through performance measurement and evaluation.
Free. Available online only.
Perspectives: Guiding Families on Children’s Media Use
Three experts reflect on their work in engaging families in a digital learning environment. We asked them to address the question, How can institutions offer relevant and useful guidance to parents and families about scaffolding their children’s digital media use?
Building Villages to Raise Our Children: Six Volume Set
This set of six volumes offers practical advice for establishing and managing a family support program.
Hard copy out of stock.
Social Media—Engaging Families in Children's Learning and Use of Digital Media
Are you interested in using social media to find out how families can navigate digital media to enhance children’s learning? Start here—we guide you to organizations and individuals that bring the latest DML research into public focus!
Building Villages to Raise Our Children: Collaboration
Written for program administrators and staff, this guide offers practical advice for establishing and managing community outreach in a family support program.
$10.00 . 66 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.
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.
Focus on Families! How to Build and Support Family-Centered Practices in After School
This comprehensive, easy-to-read guide to understanding how to engage families in after school programs is a critical resource for after school providers looking to create or expand an existing family engagement program. It offers a research base for why family engagement matters, concrete program strategies for engaging families, case studies of promising family engagement efforts, and an evaluation tool for improving family engagement practices.
Free. 48 Pages.
Family, School, & Society: The Social Context of Development and Learning
In this course we will consider the social and cultural contexts which shape developmental and educational processes. The primary focus will be on understanding the nature of contemporary social problems including racism, sexism, ethnic prejudice, social class oppression, and ability discrimination as they affect children, families, and schooling. Emphasis will be given to the special role of education in linking community resources for an integrated approach to addressing problems in children's lives.
Free. Available online only.
Five Professional Development Resources That Promote Family Engagement
When organizations invest in developing the competencies of its professionals to engage families everyone benefits. To help accomplish this we share five of our favorite resources on professional development in family engagement along with tips on why they work.
Moving Beyond the Barriers: Attracting and Sustaining Youth Participation in Out-of-School Time Programs
This brief culls information from several implementation and impact evaluations of out-of-school time programs to develop a set of promising strategies to attract and sustain youth participation in the programs.
Free. 16 Pages.
Finding the Right Hook: Strategies for Attracting and Sustaining Participation in After-School Programs
This article offers promising recruitment and retention strategies to school administrators seeking to boost participation rates in their school-based after school programs.
Expanded Learning Opportunities in New Jersey—Pathways to Student Success
This Expanded Learning Opportunities (ELO) policy brief, prepared for New Jersey After 3’s Expanded Learning Time Summit in September 2010, describes the potential benefits of participation in a range of well-implemented ELO programs and initiatives for students of all ages, including afterschool and summer programming, and underscores the benefits of strong partnerships for learning between schools and out‐of‐school learning supports. It concludes with a set of key policy factors to consider when adopting different ELO approaches.
A Review of Out-of-School Time Program Quasi-Experimental and Experimental Evaluation Results
This Snapshot provides an overview of what the quasi-experimental and experimental evaluations in the HFRP's OST Database reveal about the impact of out-of-school time programs on an array of academic, prevention, and youth development outcomes. It also includes a resource list of other out-of-school time evaluation reviews and related evaluation information.
Hard copy out of stock. Available online only.
Performance Measures in Out-of-School Time Evaluation
This Snapshot outlines the academic, youth development, and prevention performance measures currently being used by out-of-school time programs to assess their progress, and the corresponding data sources for these measures.
Free. Available online only.
Evaluation of 21st Century Community Learning Center Programs: A Guide for State Education Agencies
This brief offers an in-depth look at the 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) evaluation requirements (both performance measurement for accountability and program evaluation) and provides practical suggestions about how to implement 21st CCLC evaluation at the state and local level. It includes a checklist of issues to consider when designing state and local 21st CCLC evaluations.
Hard copy out of stock. Available online only.