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.
Learning Organizations
This issue of The Evaluation Exchange, Harvard Family Research Project's quarterly evaluation periodical, investigates what it takes for organizations that serve children and families to become learning organizations. It addresses the questions: What constraints do these organizations face? How do they do it? Who needs to be involved?
Electronic Mailbox
A list of useful resources on the Internet.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Learning Organizations by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
Useful Learning for Public Action
Heather Weiss of Harvard Family Research Project and William Morrill of Mathtech discuss implementing knowledge development investments to solve the country's basic problems.
Making the Case for Children
William Novelli, President of the National Center for Tabacco-Free Kids, writes about implementing an information campaign to inform citizens and policymakers about children's health.
Civic Participation and the Citizens Research Method
Serene Fang of Harvard Family Research Project explains the Citizen Research method to better inform and engage citizens in understanding and influencing policymaking.
Interview With Patricia McGinnis
Patricia McGinnis, President and CEO of the Council for Excellence in Government, discusses the potential of and constraints to public sector organizational learning in the current climate of accountability.
Aiming for Accountability: Iowa
Efforts include the Council on Human Investment, Innovation Zones, and the Department of Management's strategic plan.
$5.00 . 41 Pages.
Family Resource Centers: Where School Readiness Happens
Family resource centers are places where you can get information on raising and educating your child. This issue of the Early Childhood Digest describes family resource centers and how they can help you get your child ready for school.
Free. Available online only.
The Parent Services Project
The Parent Services Project (PSP), a nationally recognized child care training program, is based on the belief that caring for children requires caring for families, and that family support strengthens both parents and the community. This paper outlines the history of PSP and summarizes its main teaching points and training methodology.
Hard copy out of stock.
Evaluation Options for Family Resource Centers
This report examines different evaluation designs and their respective strengths and limitations. Using a realistic prototype of a child and family resource center, the authors present three alternative plans for evaluation.
$10.00 . 112 Pages.
Aiming for Accountability: Georgia
Efforts include the Policy Council for Children and Families, Family Connection and Community Partnerships, and performance measures mandated by the Budget Accountability and Planning Act of 1993.
$5.00 . 48 Pages.
Aiming for Accountability: Florida
Efforts include GAP benchmarks; performance-based program budgeting, and the Florida Department of Children and Families accountability system for planning, budgeting, and evaluation.
$5.00 . 48 Pages.
Evaluating School-Linked Services: Considerations and Best Practices
Nine evaluators of school-linked services programs identify considerations and best practices related to evaluating outcomes, sustainability, and collaboration to help determine how school-linked services programs work, what their impact is, and whether they should be expanded.
Free. Available online only.
A Mixed Method Approach to Understanding Family-School Communication
This paper presents the initial findings from an ethnographic case study, focusing on the mixed-method research strategy used in the MacArthur Comprehensive Child Development Project Follow-up Study. The aim of the study was to expand the understanding of children's developmental trajectories as they traverse the elementary school years. This paper presents three case study vignettes of children in the second grade, each highlighting a different aspect of family-school communication from the perspective of the children's parents, and highlights the methodological strengths of ethnography. The third vignette uncovered the complexity and contradictions and race, racism, and informal communication between home and child for one African-American child. (Available in ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED422111)
Resource Guide for Family-Centered Child Care
This guide offers ideas and resources for implementing family support principles in child care, and an annotated bibliography of up-to-date publications and training materials that child care providers can use to improve their efforts to support families.
$4.50 . 27 Pages.
Family Involvement in Early Childhood Programs: How to Choose the Right Program for Your Child
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.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Evaluation in the 21st Century by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
Learning From the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Evaluation Grants Program
Heather Weiss and Karen Horsch of Harvard Family Research Project highlight the experiences from an evaluation approach that rethinks the traditional program–evaluator relationship and enables us to learn what works and what does not.
Evaluation in the 21st Century
This issue of The Evaluation Exchange, Harvard Family Research Project's quarterly evaluation periodical, investigates new themes for evaluation in the 21st century. It focuses on new voices, new methods, and new relationships. It compiles a variety of perspectives and provocative and thoughtful ideas about where evaluation is heading.
Interview With Carol H. Weiss
Evaluator, educator, and author Carol Weiss shares her thoughts about what the next century might mean for the field of evaluation, the training of evaluators, and the connection between evaluation and policymaking.
Cluster Evaluation
James Sanders of the Evaluation Institute discusses the utility of cluster evaluation as a way to examine multiple programs.
Beyond Basic Training
Betty Cooke of the Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning describes Minnesota’s experiences using program staff as data collectors. Stan Schneider and Berle Mirand Driscoll from Metis Associates writes about using students as ethnographers in a study of a family resource center. Cheryl Fish-Parcham of Families USA and Theresa Shivers of United Planning Organization/Head Start write about using client families in a study of managed health care.
Following up With the Evaluation Work of Asian Neighborhood Design
Maurice Lim Miller follows up a previous article on an evaluation tool used by the Asian Neighborhood Design, which is now being used to examine welfare reform efforts in San Francisco.
Welfare, Information, and the New Federalism
Thomas Gais of the Rockefeller Institute of Government discusses the use of information technology in welfare reform.