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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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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.
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.
In this Q & A, the developers of Comienza en Casa │“It Starts at Home,” talk about supporting migrant families to ensure their children have smooth transitions to school through the use of real-world and digital activities.
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.
In this Q&A, Chip Donohue talks with HFRP about early childhood educators’ participation in online distance education courses and discusses how the topic of family engagement is being integrated into these classes.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This issue of the FINE Forum focuses on promising practices to engage families and communities in supporting students' mathematical proficiency.
Free. Available online only.
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.
Lori Takeuchi, Joan Ganz Cooney Center Research Director, discusses the Center’s report findings on families’ and children’s educational-media use, including families’ selection of educational media for their children and ways that practitioners can support families in their choices. Takeuchi notes some of the following findings: when parents use media alongside their children, the educational value of the experience is enhanced; educational-media use varies based on the age of the child; and children are applying what they learn from educational media to nonmedia activities.
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.
We are committed to keeping you up to date on family engagement news. The following resources highlight the latest tools and discussions from HFRP and review recent findings in the areas of family engagement policy as well as family-school partnerships.
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.
These resources look at issues related to digital media and learning in early childhood and focus on such topics as children’s media use in the 21st century, family perspectives on children’s media use, and research-based guidance for practitioners and parents.
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?
We are committed to keeping you up to date on family engagement news. The resources in this section highlight the latest tools and discussions from HFRP and review recent findings in the areas of family engagement policy, strategies, and research, along with family engagement and digital learning.
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.
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.