|
All Publications & Resources WORKING WITH TEACHERS AND FAMILIES
|
COMPLEMENTARY LEARNING CONNECTIONS
|
Social Capital
This issue of the FINE Forum features some examples families, schools, and communities coming together to enrich children's learning and social development opportunities.
Teaching Cases on Family Engagement: Early Learning (Ages 0–8)
HFRP's teaching cases involve real world situations and consider the perspectives of various stakeholders, including early childhood program and elementary school staff, parents, children, and community members. This handout provides a detailed list of our teaching cases on family involvement, focusing on the earlier years of a child's learning and development.
Renewing Teacher–Parent Relations
This issue of the FINE Forum points to the possibilities of enriching parent-teacher and broader school-community relationships. We hope that you take away ideas for your own practice.
Family Involvement in Mathematics
This issue of the FINE Forum focuses on promising practices to engage families and communities in supporting students' mathematical proficiency.
Family Engagement and Children with Disabilities: A Resource Guide for Educators and Parents
This resource guide highlights research reports, journal articles, examples of best practices, and tools that provide information on facilitating a comfortable and effective family–school partnership in the interest of successful outcomes for children with disabilities.
Early Childhood Education
As we celebrate the Week of the Young Child, the FINE Forum presents some innovative ideas and practices in family involvement in early childhood education.
Academic Achievement
This issue of FINE Forum explores new forms of and strategies in family involvement, all of which share a common goal: expanding and deepening family and community roles to help students meet high standards.
Family Involvement News: January 2009
We at Harvard Family Research Project are committed to keeping you up-to-date on what's new in family involvement. View our list of links to current reports, articles, events, and opportunities in the family involvement field.
Defining “Fine”—Communicating Academic Progress to Parents
Molly is surprised when her son's teacher recommends he attend summer school. She thought he was doing just fine and the family had been doing a lot to make the home a rich reading environment. How can teachers better communicate academic progress with parents? How can administrators support teachers in this effort?
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?
Getting Parents “Ready” for Kindergarten: The Role of Early Childhood Education
This research brief presents preliminary evidence that family involvement in young children's education may contribute to a smooth transition to elementary school for children, and also helps parents remain involved in their children's learning in school.
Families and Teachers as Partners
This digest provides suggestions on how families and teachers can work together in schools to provide enriching experiences for children.
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.
Valuing Families as Partners
Elena Lopez explores the benefits of creating strong partnerships between early childhood programs and families.
Math Teachers' Use of Class Websites to Support Parent Involvement
Interviews with 84 math teachers about the use of their class websites suggest that sites could be used more effectively to share information with parents and to support parent involvement.
After School for Cindy: Family, School, and Community Roles in Out-of-School Time Teaching Case
Second grade teacher Nikki believes that participation in a formal after school program would help her student Cindy academically at school. However, Cindy's single working mother Marla prefers to keep Cindy with her in the afternoons after her numerous struggles with securing quality affordable care in the community. What are the roles of family, school, and community in promoting children's learning and development in out-of-school time?
What's Going on With Tomasito?
Tomasito's embarrassment at having his parents drop by the school limits the development of a strong, trusting, and communicative parent-teacher relationship. Shy and quiet Tomasito does not share information about his home life with his teacher who in turn holds many misconceptions about his home context. How can teacher and family communicate better?
Tomasito's Mother Comes to School/La mamá de Tomasito visita la escuela
Spanish Translation Available in Storybook Corner. This online bilingual storybook about family involvement at school is designed to engage children and their families. For educators, the printable online storybook is an easy-to-use family involvement tool that supports literacy. The story was developed from research and is based on the real experiences of one Latino boy and his family who are acculturating to the U.S.
Connected Educators, Connected Families
Elementary school principal and “connected educator” Joe Mazza discusses how he has integrated technology—including social media—into his school’s family engagement strategies to enhance his school’s ability to connect with families. He also stresses the importance of balancing technology-based engagement strategies with in-person relationship-building efforts.
“Daddy Says This New Math Is Crazy”
Beth Martin, a fourth grade teacher, finds her students respond well to the new mathematics curriculum she is using in her class, but at home parents struggle to understand the new math and help their children with homework. How should Beth and her colleagues respond to parents' skepticism about the new curriculum and support their involvement at home?
School Won't Let Mom Talk About Her Casino Job
A middle school principal will not allow a single mother employed by the local casino to address her daughter's class during Career Week because he is concerned about promoting gambling. How can this school reorganize to serve and respect all families?
Drawing on Parents’ Strengths: The Role of Districts and Schools in Empowering Families to be Effective Partners in Learning
Trise Moore, Family Partnership Advocate for Federal Way Public Schools Washington state, discusses her work in the district’s Family Partnership Office to promote strong partnerships among parents and district- and school-level staff.
Culture Clash at Intermediate School #91
Disciplinary problems at an intermediate school in the Bronx are compounded by the lack of experienced teachers whose race and class backgrounds differ from their students'. When two students get into a fight, the new teachers seek solutions that sharply contrast with the norms of the students and their families. How can teachers come to understand the families and communities in which they teach?
Ongoing Child Assessment and Family Engagement: New Opportunities to Engage Families in Children’s Learning and Development
This paper by the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement, a new center formed by HFRP and Brazelton Center at Children's Hospital Boston and other partners for the Office of Head Start, focuses on child assessment data as a tool for parent and family engagement in the early childhood arena. It is the first in a series that will help early childhood care and education programs identify ways that they can share information in order to strengthen partnerships and work toward common goals.
Schools, Families, and Community
Students who are currently working or preparing to work in the fields of education and human services will be engaged through interactive learning experiences to understand the development of partnerships with schools to reach, engage, and support families. The model for community success includes building partnerships and providing supports and opportunities that promote active and positive working relationships. The discussions, assignments, and in-class activities will provide students with a vision and practical knowledge of what effective partnerships look like and how to strategize ways of tapping into community resources.