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www.HFRP.org

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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Primarily funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's Research Network on Successful Pathways Through Middle Childhood, as well as by the W.T. Grant Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education. (COMPLETED PROJECT)

Project Description:
The School Transition Study (STS) was a longitudinal study examining the impact of family, school, and community factors on the developmental pathways of low-income children from kindergarten through fifth grade. The research was conducted in three diverse sites across the country, representing rural and urban settings and racially and culturally diverse populations. The study followed a subset of children who participated in the Comprehensive Child Development Project, a national early childhood intervention program for children and families.

STS used surveys, observations, and assessments to study several cohorts of children and their families and schools. A qualitative case study component examined 23 of these children in the first and second grades, along with their families and their schools, through in-depth interviews and field observations.

Key features of the study:

  • An interdisciplinary team of researchers
  • Integration of qualitative and quantitative methods
  • Multiple perspectives of families, teachers, principals, and other key players in children's lives
  • Research to impact policy, practice, and future research

Goals of the research:

  • Increase understanding of how the transition from kindergarten affects both children and families
  • Further the comprehension of the family-school relationships within a broad ecological framework
  • Contribute to the understanding of risk and resilience factors for young children in poverty
  • Explore the role that community and neighborhood play in children's lives
  • Understand the long-term consequences of the Comprehensive Child Development Project, a national early childhood intervention program for children and families.

Select Publications From the HFRP Team

To find most of these publications, navigate to the Publications & Resources section of our website and search by author’s name or publication title.

Books and Book Chapters
Greene, J. C., Kreider, H., & Mayer, E. (2004). Combining qualitative and quantitative methods in social inquiry. In B. Somekh & C. Lewin (Eds.), Research methods in the social sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Mayer, E., & Cepeda, J. (2007). Tomasito's mother comes to school/La mamá de Tomasito visita la escuela. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Weiss, H. B., Dearing, E., Mayer, E., Kreider, H., & McCartney, K. (2005). Family educational involvement: Who can afford it and what does it afford? In C. R. Cooper, C. T. García Coll, W. T. Bartko, H. M. Davis & C. Chatman (Eds.), Developmental pathways through middle childhood: Rethinking context and diversity as resources. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Weiss, H. B., Kreider, H., Lopez, M. E., & Chatman, C. (Eds.). (2005). Preparing educators to involve families: From theory to practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Weiss, H. B., Kreider, H., Mayer, E., Hencke, R., & Vaughan, M. (2004). Working it out: The chronicle of a mixed-method analysis. In T. S. Weisner (Ed.), Discovering successful pathways in children's development: Mixed methods in the study of childhood and family life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Journal Articles
Caspe, M. (2003). How teachers come to understand families. School Community Journal, 13(1), 115–131.

Dearing, E., Kreider, H., Simpkins, S., & Weiss, H. B. (2006). Family involvement in school and low-income children's literacy performance: Longitudinal associations between and within families. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 653–664.

Dearing, E., McCartney, K., Weiss, H. B., Kreider, H., & Simpkins, S. (2004). The promotive effects of family educational involvement for low-income children’s literacy: How and for whom does involvement matter? Journal of School Psychology, 42, 445–460.

Kreider, H., & Lopez, M. E. (1999, January). Promising practices for family involvement. Principal, 78(3), 16–19. (Also available through the ERIC Database, ERIC number EJ579351.)

Weiss, H. B., Mayer, E., Kreider, H., Vaughan, P., Dearing, E., Hencke, R., & Pinto, K. (2003, Winter). Making it work: Low-income working mothers' involvement in their children's education. American Educational Research Journal, 40(4), 879–901.

Papers/Reports
Dearing, E., Kreider, H., Simpkins, S., & Weiss, H. B. (2007). Research digest: Family involvement in school and low-income children's literacy performance. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Kreider, H. (2002). Getting parents “ready” for kindergarten: The role of early childhood education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Kreider, H., & Chung, C. (2004, November). Parents peeking into the classroom: Identifying and building on the authentic involvement of diverse low-income families at school. Presentation at National Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference & Expo, Anaheim, CA.

Kreider, H., Mayer, E., & Vaughan, P. (1999). Early childhood digest: Helping parents communicate better with schools. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Mayer, E., Kreider, H., & Vaughan, P. (1999). Early childhood digest: How busy parents can help their children learn and develop. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Weiss, H., Kopko, K., Kreider, H., Mayer, E., & Vaughan, P. (2000, June). Children's roles in home–school relationships. Poster presented at Head Start's Fifth National Research Conference, Washington, DC.

Weiss, H. B., Dirks, J., Friedman, K., Hanley, G., Kreider, H., Levine, E., Mayer, E., McAllister, C., Vaughan, P., & Wellenkamp, J. (1998). A mixed method approach to understanding family-school communication. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED422111)

Weiss, H. B., Kreider, H., Levine, E., Mayer, E., Stadler, J., & Vaughan, P. (1998, April). Beyond the parent–teacher conference: Diverse patterns of home-school communication. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Weiss, H. B., Kreider, H., Vaughan, P., & Mayer, E. (2000, March). Low-income mothers negotiate work, family, and children's school. Paper presented at the Work and Family: Expanding the Horizons conference, San Francisco, CA.

Weiss, H. B., Mayer, E., Kreider, H., Vaughan, M., Dearing, E., Hencke, R., & Pinto, K. (2007). Research digest: Making it work: Low-income working mothers' involvement in their children's education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Teaching Cases
Caspe, M. (2002). Bilingual voices and parent classroom choices. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Caspe, M., & Kreider, H. (2002). Defining “fine”: Communicating academic progress to parents. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Mayer, E. (2002, October). After school for Cindy. Teaching case presented at the North American Case Research Association conference, Banff, Canada.

Vaughan, P. (2002). A special education plan for Anabela: Does supporting her needs mean holding her back? Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Kreider, H. (1999). Tim Kelly: A school responds to a family in need. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Hannum, A. B. (2001). What words don't say. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Mayer, E. (2001). What's going on with Tomasito? Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Workshop Materials
Caspe, M. (2002). Home-school communication—What's all the commotion? workshop. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Interview
Harvard Graduate School of Education. Family involvement has been shown to promote children's literacy: Heather Weiss, director of HGSE's Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP). Cambridge, MA: Author.

School Transition Study Steering Committee Members

  • Heather Weiss, Harvard University, Co-Principal Investigator
  • Deborah Stipek, Stanford University, Co-Principal Investigator
  • Jennifer Greene, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Penny Hauser-Cram, Boston College
  • Walter Secada, University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Jacqueline Eccles, University of Michigan

© 2016 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College
Published by Harvard Family Research Project