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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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A collection of innovative family engagement practices with a link for you to share with us your family engagement story!
Find inspiration for your family engagement efforts from around the world.
Even with technological advances that allow parents to track their child’s academic progress remotely, and more transparency in student data (such as test scores and attendance rates), face-to-face interaction between parents and teachers is still the cornerstone of school family engagement efforts. These newly revised tip sheets provide key strategies for both parents and teachers to walk into conferences informed and prepared, in order to ensure the most successful outcomes. A tip sheet aimed at school principals also outlines how school administrators can support parents and teachers to that end. Now available in Spanish, this tool is a powerful resource for families and educators alike.
Ensuring children's smooth transition from early education programs to kindergarten requires that attention be paid to the resources and linkages among schools, child care and early education services, and families. In this Q+A, Robert Pianta, professor of Clinical and School Psychology at the University of Virginia, shares his recent research on children's transitions and gives tips on how to support families during this time.
Creative anywhere, anytime learning experiences take center stage at Imajine That Museum and Educational Play Space, where families bring their children to play, socialize, and learn together as a family. Read this exciting Q and A with Susan Leger Ferraro and Fran Hurley, about how Imajine That provides an array of innovative learning opportunities to enthusiastic families.
This annotated bibliography provides a selected listing of journal articles, research briefs, and reports that focus on early childhood transitions and school readiness. They cover a variety of topics central to the issue of early childhood transitions, including family engagement and home–school and program–school partnerships. Because the Head Start program is one of the most frequently studied early childhood initiatives, many of the resources focus on the transition from Head Start to preschool/kindergarten.
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.
How can you turn daily bedtime and mealtime routines into learning opportunities for young children? How can commuting, shopping, and other everyday activities offer vibrant learning moments for children? Read about the Let’s Play app to learn how!
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.
Presidents’ Day is a time to reflect on the importance of leadership. Learn how policymakers, researchers, and practitioners are leading the field of family engagement.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Latino parents share their perspectives on what teachers should know in order to teach children more effectively and emphasize that Latino parents care about their children's education.
Free. Available online only.
We teamed up with the National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools at the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) to present this 1-day Family, School, and Community Connections Symposium: New Directions for Research, Practice, and Evaluation.
Free. Available online only.
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.
With Head Start’s 50th anniversary right around the corner, Kiersten Beigel from the Office of Head Start shares the vision for family engagement and ways that different federal agencies can join together to realize it.
This research brief presents preliminary evidence that family involvement in young children's education may contribute to a smooth transition to elementary school for children, and also helps parents remain involved in their children's learning in school.
Free. Available online only.
This digest provides suggestions on how families and teachers can work together in schools to provide enriching experiences for children.
Free. Available online only.
Spanish Translation Available. Good communication between parents and teachers has many benefits. This Early Childhood Digest shares information on how to establish good parent-teacher communication.
Free. Available online only.
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.
Spanish Translation Available. This Early Childhood Digest provides tips on how families can support their children in childcare, preschool, Head Start, and kindergarten.
Free. Available online only.
Parents’ involvement at school is related to children’s higher literacy, particularly for those from socially or economically disadvantaged families.
Free. Available online only.
What is family involvement and how can families choose early childhood programs that encourage it? This issue of Early Childhood Digest looks at these questions, and provides information on how to choose an early childhood program that encourages family involvement.
Free. Available online only.