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.
Out-of-School Time Issue #1
The Fall 2000 issue, the first of a series of two dedicated to the field of out-of-school time and after school, addresses the challenges and possibilities for evaluating after school programs in the new era of accountability. The issue includes an interview with National Institute on Out-of-School Time founder Michelle Seligson, articles relating on-the-ground experiences with evaluation, and our new column, “Ask the Expert.”
Teacher Preparation
This premier issue of FINE Forum represents the first step in a bold new initiative to strengthen teacher preparation in family and community engagement in education.
Free. Available online only.
Resolving Issues at Johnson Elementary School
The director of a Parent Resource Center is concerned to hear that a number of parents are boycotting the program because they think the parent coordinator used her school connections to place her son in a gifted science class. How can the director and principal ease the tension?
Free. Available online only.
Home-School Communication—What's All the Commotion?
This workshop, developed by Margaret Caspe for Harvard Family Research Project, helps teachers understand different approaches to home-school communication and how these shape relationships with families. Concepts are taken from a research study of first and second grade teachers in three sites.
Free. Available online only.
Family-School Partnerships for Students' Reading Success
Written by Sandy Christenson for the Minnesota Reading Excellence Act training sessions, the two modules in this workshop focus on home-school strategies to enhance students' reading success.
Free. Available online only.
Preparation for Building Partnerships With Families: A Survey of Teachers, Teacher Educators, and School Administrators
This study examined the extent to which Kentucky's teachers are prepared to work with families in the roles which they play in the education of their children. These roles include being teachers, supporters, advocates, and decision-makers. The research questions addressed the pre-service preparation by institutions of higher education, staff development activities of local school districts, and gaps in preservice and practicing teacher levels.
Free. Available online only.
Federal Funding in Out-of School Time With Accountability Requirements and Evaluations
These Web documents were produced by HFRP as part of its initial efforts to “map” the out-of-school time field, and detail federal funding streams for out-of-school time programs and related programming alongside their accountability requirements and evaluations. A summary section offers a narrative description of each funding stream. Funding streams are classified as major or minor depending on the amount of money they make available for out-of-school time efforts.
Free. Available online only.
Organizations in Out-of-School Time: An Introduction
The out-of-school time field has grown rapidly over the past decade, with a constant influx of new voices and approaches. This publication is a summary, but far from a complete review, of organizations active in out-of-school time, grouped by topical area.
Free. Available online only.
Suspension at Aurora Middle School
Khoi, a well behaved student who recently emigrated from a Vietnamese refugee camp, is suspended from Aurora Middle School because he stood near a fight. His mother Mai feels helpless because she speaks limited English, and only knows that her son was unjustly suspended. What is the school's role in supporting culturally diverse families?
Free. Available online only.
Methodology (#15)
This issue of The Evaluation Exchange includes several articles on methodological topics, particularly those involving complex initiatives or problems. Topics inlcude the logic model approach to evaluate large and diverse foundation initiatives, the difference between cost-benefit analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis, the challenges to evaluation in the coming years, and community action research.
Making Families Matter at Two-Year Colleges: Training the Early Childhood Workforce to Support Families
$10.00 . 75 Pages.
How Busy Parents Can Help Their Children Learn and Develop
Spanish Translation Available. No matter how busy parents are, there are things they can do to help their children. Parents of first- and second-graders in the School Transition Study research project have discovered creative ways to stay involved in their children's learning and development. Researchers conducting the survey learned important and useful tips to share with busy parents everywhere.
Free. Available online only.
Tim Kelly: A School Responds to a Family in Need
Tim Kelly, a first grade student, comes to school hungry, dirty, emotionally needy, and academically unprepared. His teacher believes his lack of care at home is contributing to his poor school performance. How can a teacher individualize parent involvement?
Free. Available online only.
Generating Family-School Partnerships Through Social Marketing
The outgrowth of a meeting of six national organizations promoting family-school partnerships, this article discusses methods to enhance family involvement through social marketing. By arguing that schools should view parents as “customers,” teachers and administrators can reach out to parents in effective and successful ways.
Free. Available online only.
Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies: Training Child Care Providers to Support Families
Presents a framework of family-centered training.
$10.00 . 111 Pages.
Erik Greer
Erik's first grade teacher is concerned about his intentional aggression towards other children and communicates regularly with Erik's mother about it. Subtle differences in beliefs between Erik's mother and teacher leave both feeling unsatisfied in their attempts to help Erik. How can the two build a partnership to change Erik's behavior?
Free. Available online only.
Children and Youth
This issue of The Evaluation Exchange is devoted to the evaluation of youth programs that support positive youth development. Topics include evaluating strength-based approaches to youth development, youth participation in evaluation, lessons learned from the international community on evaluating youth programs, and foundation grantmaking for children and youth.
Family-Centered Child Care
This report provides a training framework to support families through child care programs. It describes six areas of practice through which providers can develop the knowledge and skills to partner with families. The report contains profiles of family-centered programs and examines how they have applied family support principles in their practice.
$10.00 . 115 Pages.
Helping Parents Communicate Better With Schools
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.
Latino Families: Getting Involved in Your Children's Education
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.
Beyond the Parent-Teacher Conference: Diverse Patterns of Home-School Communication
Discussions about home-school communication generally focus on formal, scheduled school activities offered to all parents, such as parent-teacher conferences or back-to-school nights. In contrast, this paper examines a variety of alternative communication patterns that are important mechanisms for parents and teachers to gain information and make decisions about children.
Free. Available online only.
New Strategies in Foundation Grantmaking for Children and Youth
This report examines trends in foundation grantmaking for children and youth among 19 foundations. The foundations include most of the largest and wealthiest and those whose grantmaking heavily focuses on children and youth. Survey results indicate that, because the problems of youth are interconnected and require comprehensive solutions, foundations are shifting their grantmaking strategies. Several are concentrating more resources on long-term, place-based community strategies designed to improve outcomes for children and youth.
$10.00 . 67 Pages.
Promising Practices for Family Involvement
This ethnographic study examined 11 elementary principals who built relationships with low-income parents with limited resources . Effective principals set goals, expand services to children and families, provide parenting education, negotiate and celebrate cultural differences, build strong relationships, and support teachers. In Principal, 78(3), 16–19. (Also available through the ERIC Database, ERIC number EJ579351.)