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.
How can research and evaluation improve practice regarding access and equity in out-of-school time programs?
Five experts in the field of youth development and OST programming address the question of how research and evaluation can improve practice regarding access and equity in out-of-school time programs.
Making a Decision About College: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Marisela Castillo, a high school senior, looks forward to going to a good college to prepare her for medical studies, but she knows that she will have to leave her family in order for that to happen. Should Marisela forgo her dreams for the sake of a family who depends on her household contributions? Should she leave her family to pursue those dreams? An interactive version is also available.
Free. Available online only.
Family Involvement in Mathematics
This issue of the FINE Forum focuses on promising practices to engage families and communities in supporting students' mathematical proficiency.
Free. Available online only.
Effective Interventions and School Reforms for At-Risk Children
What are effective interventions for at-risk children? This course will address this question with a focus on children in poverty and children suffering social and emotional risks. We will examine several school initiatives—including the movement to implement standards and high-stakes tests, promising charter and pilot schools, and efforts to improve teaching, as well as selected early childhood initiatives, mentoring programs, and after school interventions. While the primary focus of the course will be on the impact of interventions on children's academic development, we will also look at their impact on children's social and ethical development.
Free. Available online only.
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.
Family-School Partnerships
The goal of the module is to prepare educators to engage parents and family members in children's school success. Students enrolled in the module will learn about the major theoretical approaches to family involvement (e.g., developmental, sociocultural, psychological, and political). They will understand the range of ways families and schools can work together as well as the dilemmas of practice. The module will give students an opportunity to problem solve and reflect on the issues regarding family-school partnerships and to assess the benefits of family involvement for students, families, and schools.
Free. Available online only.
Parents, Families, and Communities in Schools
This course examines effective methods for including parents, families, and communities in schools. Emphasizes a systems perspective that includes consultation and collaboration in addressing academic, career, and personal/social success for all students. Family dynamics and influences on school success will be addressed. Application of school counseling consultation, collaboration, and family support for all students will result in a school-based project integrated into a school's comprehensive counseling program. Essential professional practices addressed in this course.
Free. Available online only.
Public Communications Campaigns and Evaluation
This issue of The Evaluation Exchange, Harvard Family Research Project's quarterly evaluation periodical, focuses on public communication campaigns and their efforts to achieve desirable social outcomes. Articles in the first half of the issue offer promising practices and tips for campaign designers and implementers. Articles in the second half examine how campaigns are being evaluated and associated issues, challenges, and innovations.
Free. 20 Pages.
Using Behavior Change Theory to Communicate Effectively: The Case of Latino Parent Involvement
Anne Pollock (HGSE) and Julia Coffman and M. Elena Lopez (HFRP) reveal how to design communications that are more effective at changing behavior by keeping in mind the factors that influence behavior.
Credibility, Relevance, and Inescapable Truths: Effective Messages for Youth
Tim Mask describes three strategies for improving the effectiveness of behavior change campaigns that were used with success by the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi.
Blogging (BLOG’ing)
Julia Coffman of Harvard Family Research Project wants to save you from the embarrassment of making the same mistake she made.
Understanding Research: Ten Tips
Stephanie Schaefer of the National Association of Child Advocates offers tips on how to evaluate research information for its credibility.
Keeping It Local
Julie Parente of the statewide child advocacy organization, Voices for Illinois Children, describes a component of their “ground strategy” for effectively communicating campaign messages.
A Conversation With Ethel Klein
Ethel Klein, a longtime campaign strategist and pollster, is president of EDK Associates, a strategic research firm based in New York City. Dr. Klein has designed campaigns for nonprofit organizations and foundations on many varied issues.
Beyond the Usual Suspects
Julia Coffman, from Harvard Family Research Project, describes methods for campaign evaluation that are unique to the communications arena.
Keeping Smokey Looking Good at Sixty
For 60 years the Advertising Council has worked on hundreds of public service campaigns on a broad range of social issues, including such well-known campaigns as Smokey Bear and McGruff the Crime Dog. George Perlov offers a look at the role of research and evaluation inside the Ad Council.
International Communication Research and Evaluation at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs
Maria Elena Figueroa from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs reveals the Center’s methods for evaluating communication campaigns and offers five examples of their evaluations in progress.
What do evaluators of public communication campaigns need to do to advance their work and this field?
Gary T. Henry is a professor in Policy Studies and Political Science at Georgia State University, co-editor-in-chief of the journal New Directions for Evaluation, and co-author of Evaluation: An Integrated Framework for Understanding, Guiding, and Improving Policies and Programs (2000, Jossey-Bass).
How can evaluations of public communication campaigns be of more use to social change efforts?
Dr. Sharyn Sutton and Elizabeth Heid Thompson of the social marketing firm, Sutton Group, in Washington D.C. have worked on the research, strategic planning, and execution of numerous social change efforts and public service campaigns.
New & Noteworthy
This section features an annotated list of resources related to the issue's theme of Public Communications Campaigns and Evaluation.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Public Communications Campaigns and Evaluation by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
Using Information Architecture to Improve Communication
Erin Harris from Harvard Family Research Project with Suzanne Muchin, CEO of Civitas, illustrate the design concept “information architecture” for displaying complex information clearly and simply.
Selected Evaluation Terms
This resource provides definitions of evaluation terminology frequently used in the out-of-school time field. It also provides answers to frequently asked evaluation questions.
Free. Available online only.
Evaluation's Role in Supporting Initiative Sustainability
This paper offers ideas for the roles that evaluation can play in helping ensure a discussion about sustainability is started early enough and maintained throughout an initiative. The ideas in this paper are based on Harvard Family Research Project's broad spectrum of experience in the past two decades with large-scale initiatives.
Free. Available online only.