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.
Education Organizing
This course will focus on the role of community organizing in fostering school change. We will examine the large range of ways community groups and schools are promoting the active engagement of participants to improve education. Within that context, we will examine efforts to foster collaborations among and between a wide array of stakeholders in education, including community organizations, school personnel, school system administration, unions, the business community, faith institutions, civil rights organizations, and youth. We will also examine the role of political organizing in addressing structural inequalities in education in America, and consider that ways that education organizing strengthens broader community building efforts.
Free. Available online only.
Moving Ahead on Results Accountability: The Human Element
Sara Watson of the Pew Charitable Trusts explains that a results accountability system must extend beyond the purely technical to also address the management of people.
Flexibility and Feedback in a Formative Evaluation
Marjorie Weschler of SRI and Jane David of the Bay Area Research Group describe the importance of flexibility and feedback in conducting formative evaluation.
New Jersey's School-Based Youth Services Program (SBYSP)
This evaluation report from Academy for Education Development (AED) examined a range of services to children and adolescents at 29 secondary schools and 16 primary schools in the New Jersey's School-Based Youth Services Program (SBYSP).
Meaningful Assessment and Continuous Improvement: Using the Foundations Quality Assurance System
Claudia Weisburd and Rhe McLaughlin of Foundations, Inc., describe their Quality Assurance System for program improvement.
Theory of Action in Practice
Claudia Weisburd and Tamara Sniad from Foundations, Inc. describe the use of a theory of change and a theory of action to help address questions about how to develop and evaluate professional development for after school staff.
Pathways from Workforce Development to Child Outcomes
Harvard Family Research Project explores connections between workforce development and child outcomes in four human service sectors.
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)
Assessing Nonprofit Organizational Capacity
Abby Weiss from HFRP describes the tool that the Marguerite Casey Foundation offers its nonprofit grantees to help them assess their organizational capacity.
Research Bibliography: Relations Between Workforce Development and Child Outcomes in Four Human Service Sectors
This web only version of the Theory & Practice section features an expanded article from Harvard Family Research Project that explores connections between workforce development and child outcomes in four human service sectors.
Open Letter to the Editor of the Los Angeles Times
Heather Weiss and M. Elena Lopez of Harvard Family Research Project sent the following letter in response to the Los Angeles Times article “Parents’ Involvement Not Key to Student Progress, Study Finds,” published on October 26, 2005.
Free. Available online only.
Making It Work: Low-Income Working Mothers' Involvement in Their Children's Education
Article in the American Educational Research Journal , Vol. 40 , No. 4, December 2003, pp. 879–901.
Using a mixed method analysis, this article looks at the relation between employment and family involvement in children's elementary education for low-income women, and finds that work is both obstacle to and opportunity for family involvement. This article may be downloaded only. It may not be copied or used for any purpose other than scholarship.
Free. Available online only.
The Federal Role in Out-of-School Learning: After-School, Summer Learning, and Family Involvement as Critical Learning Supports (Voices in Urban Education, Summer 2009)
Our article in Voices for Urban Education makes a research-based case for the federal provision of out-of-school complementary learning supports.
Family Engagement as a Shared Responsibility in a Digital Learning Environment
HFRP director Heather B. Weiss examines how families and others involved with children and youth can ensure that children obtain the access, supports, and opportunities that they need to get the full benefits of digital media for learning.
Taking a Closer Look: A Guide to Online Resources on Family Involvement
This comprehensive resource guide compiles a wealth of information about family involvement from over 100 national organizations. It contains Web links to recent (published in and after 2000) research, information, and tools.
Free. Available online only.
What is the Campbell Collaboration and how is it helping to identify “what works”?
Robert Boruch, a founder of the Campbell Collaboration and professor of education and statistics at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses how the Campbell Collaboration and randomized trials contribute to evidence-based policy.
Family Educational Involvement: Who Can Afford It and What Does It Afford?
This is a chapter in Developmental Pathways Through Middle Childhood: Rethinking Context and Diversity as Resources. Edited by Catherine R. Cooper, Cynthia T. Garcia Coll, W. Todd Bartko, Helen M. Davis, & Celina Chatman. Published by Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. This chapter uses mixed methods to examine associations between school context, family educational involvement, and child literacy outcomes from kindergarten through third grade.
New Strategies in Foundation Grantmaking for Children and Youth
Heather Weiss and M. Elena Lopez of Harvard Family Research Project reveal the results of their W. K. Kellogg Foundation commission to examine trends in foundation grantmaking for children and youth.
Working It Out: The Chronicle of a Mixed-Method Analysis
Chapter in Discovering Successful Pathways in Children's Development: Mixed Methods in the Study of Childhood and Family Life. Edited by Thomas S. Weisner. Published by University of Chicago Press. This chapter chronicles a mixed-method analysis of family involvement in children's learning, drawing observations about the process and added value of combining methods.
Changing the Conversation About Home Visiting: Scaling Up With Quality
The purpose of this paper is to determine what the evidence and conventional wisdom say about scaling up home visiting as one of the best ways to support parents and promote early childhood development. To answer this question, we examined the available research evidence, interviewed leaders from six of the national home visiting models, and interviewed researchers who have studied home visiting. The area of interest for guiding future research, practice, and policy is whether home visiting can be delivered at broad scale and with the quality necessary to attain demonstrable, positive outcomes for young children and their parents.
Free. Available online only.
A Decade of Urban School Reform: Persistence and Progress in the Boston Public Schools
HFRP staff members Abby R. Weiss and Helen Westmoreland describe the evolution of Boston Public Schools' family and community engagement efforts in a chapter of this book.
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.
Preparing Educators to Engage Families: Case Studies Using an Ecological Systems Framework, Second Edition
This book supports teacher training and professional development in the area of family engagement. This volume helps prepare teachers and other professionals to partner with the families of elementary school children for student success and positive development. This second edition pairs child development theory with research-based teaching cases that reflect critical dilemmas in family–school–community relations, especially among families for whom poverty and cultural differences are daily realities.
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.
Family Support and Education Programs and the Public Schools: Opportunities and Challenges
This study examines the advantages and disadvantages of school-based family support and community education programs. The paper analyzes the contexts that engender successful outcomes in community-based educational programs that are situated in school settings.
Hard copy out of stock.