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WORKING WITH TEACHERS AND FAMILIES DEVELOPMENT PERIODS
COMPLEMENTARY LEARNING CONNECTIONS

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?

Ellen Mayer (2005) Teaching Case

Understanding Family Involvement in the Preparation of Graduate Students: Measuring Family-Centered Beliefs, Skills, Systems, and Practices

Family-centered practices by professionals serving families and their young children with disabilities have become a cornerstone of personnel preparation programs in early childhood intervention (ECI) and early childhood education. Our research project sought to develop a measure to examine the family-centered beliefs, skills, work systems, and work practices of ECI and ECE graduate students.

Angie Giallourakis , Kristie Pretti-Frontczak, Bryan Cook (September 2005) Research Report

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.

Heather B. Weiss , Eric Dearing, Ellen Mayer, Holly Kreider, Kathleen McCartney (June 2005) Research Report

Learning by Listening: A Longitudinal Study of Family Literacy

This study explores the reading concepts held by urban families and how home reading practices intersect with school literacy practices.

Catherine Compton-Lilly (June 2005) Research Report

Partnering With Parents and Communities: Are Preservice Teachers Adequately Prepared?

This study examines how the topic of school, parent, and school partnerships are incorporated into preservice teacher education. Preservice teacher comfort levels with parent involvement is documented.

Carolyn B. Flanigan (May 2005) Research Report

British Bangladeshi and Pakistani Families and Education Involvement: Barriers and Possibilities

This study explores the experiences of British Bangladeshi and Pakistani parents in their interactions with schools and their involvement in children’s education.

Gill Crozier , Jane Davies (May 2005) Research Report

Intermediary Organizations as Capacity Builders in Family Educational Involvement

Article in Urban Education, 40(1), 78–105.
In this article the authors argue that intermediary organizations play a crucial role in capacity building for family involvement, by providing alternatives to school-centered approaches to family involvement and engaging families with intensive support that schools seldom offer.

M. Elena Lopez , Holly Kreider, Julia Coffman (2005) Research Report

Making the Case for Parental Involvement and Engagement: Part I: Parental, Family, School, and Community Partnerships Make a Difference (Workshop)

Engaging families in education holds tremendous potential for boosting children's achievement, but also ranks among educators' greatest challenges. Staff at Harvard Family Research Project paired up with staff at the Institute for Responsive Education at Cambridge College to make the case for family involvement to educators. Research and evaluation findings on the benefits, challenges, and effective strategies in family involvement were reviewed and illustrated with descriptions of established program models and exemplary practices from local schools.

Harvard Family Research Project (May 11, 2005) Conferences and Presentations

Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: A Model to Facilitate Meaningful Partnerships for Families and Schools

Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln studied the effectiveness of a behavioral intervention model where parents, educators, and service providers work collaboratively to address children's developmental needs in a Head Start program.

Susan M. Sheridan , Brandy L. Clarke, Diane C. Marti, Jennifer D. Burt, Ashley M. Rohlk (April 2005) Research Report

Research and Evaluation of Family Involvement in Education: What Lies Ahead? (Panel Session)

This panel session at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association in Montreal, examined the current knowledge base and future directions for family involvement research and evaluation. Heather Weiss identified priority areas for future research and evaluation and criteria for selecting these areas. Panelists Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey, William Jeynes, Joyce Epstein, and Anne Henderson discussed research and evaluation on parent–child and parent–student–school relationships, home–school communication and parental expectations, school-based partnership programs, and community organizing, respectively.

Heather Weiss , Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey, William Jeynes, Joyce Epstein, Anne Henderson (April 14, 2005) Conferences and Presentations

Perceived Academic Support From Parents, Teachers, and Peers: Relation to Hong Kong Adolescents' Academic Behavior and Achievement

This study found that perceived academic support from teachers and parents contributes indirectly to the academic achievement of Hong Kong students.

Jennifer Jun-Li Chen (April 2005) Research Report

Risk and Resilience in Children and Families: Implications for Public Policy

With the implementation of welfare reform, government's increasing reliance on block grants rather than categorical funding, increasing devolution of responsibility for service delivery to the state and local level, increasing use of contracted services, and growing budget shortfalls at all levels of government, the social safety net in the United States is undergoing rapid transformation. How well the emerging “system” will protect children and support families is unknown. This course is designed to examine current and proposed child and family policies.

Julie B. Wilson (Spring 2005) Syllabus

“Syneducation” (Synekpaidefsis): Reinforcing Communication and Strengthening Cooperation Among Students, Parents, and Schools

Educators need to develop an effective synergy between parents and schools to promote student success. We use the term syneducation (synekpaidefsis;3 synergy + education) as the acquisition of a common educational experience (simultaneously and in cooperation) by individuals of different ages and educational backgrounds (Mylonakou, 2004). Our approach focuses mainly on how schools can give clear messages to parents about the necessity of their collaboration with schools.

Iro Mylonakou , Ioannis Kekes (March 2005) Research Report

Accomplished Teachers and Their Interactions With Parents: A Comparative Analysis of Strategies and Techniques

This study found that teachers with National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification have more positive attitudes, are more tenacious in their approaches, and have more strategies for engaging families than noncertified teachers.

Rick Ginsberg , Lauri Hermann-Ginsberg (March 2005) Research Report

The Welfare-to-Work Transition and Parent Involvement in Education: A Southern Case Study

This exploratory case study examines whether the transition from welfare to work influences parental involvement in elementary school education.

Catherine D. Shiffman (February 2005) Research Report

Reading, Writing, and Reform in the Bronx: Lessons for Community Engagement in Schools

Five community-based education organizing groups use various strategies to build trust and commitment among parents and teachers.

Celina Su (January 2005) Research Report

Evaluating Family Involvement Programs

This issue of The Evaluation Exchange brings together the current knowledge base of programs in family support and family involvement, providing a continuous perspective on family processes with regard to children's learning and development, from a child's early years through adolescence. Articles address the challenges of evaluating family programs, such as the need for conceptual clarity, methodological rigor, accountability, and contextual responsiveness. Rounding out the issue are examples of ongoing evaluations of parent leadership and organizing to ensure that schools serve all children at high standards.

Evaluation Exchange Issue

Helping Every Student Succeed: Schools and Communities Working Together

This four-session discussion guide by the Everyday Democracy (formerly the Study Circles Resource Center)is intended for communities trying to close the achievement gap in their schools.

Everyday Democracy (formerly the Study Circles Resource Center) (2005) Tool for Practice

Engaging Parents in an Urban Public High School: A Case Study of Boston Arts Academy

An urban public school successfully engages parents by offering a variety of school-based activities, a welcoming environment, and frequent communication between staff and parents.

Monique Ouimette , Jay Feldman, Rosann Tung (December 2004) Research Report

Family, School, and Community Connections Symposium: New Directions for Research, Practice, and Evaluation

We teamed up with the National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools at the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) to present this 1-day Family, School, and Community Connections Symposium: New Directions for Research, Practice, and Evaluation.

Cathy Jordan , Mary Grassa O'Neill, Heather Weiss (December 2, 2004) Conferences and Presentations

The Effects of Comprehensive Parent Engagement on Student Learning Outcomes

This study examined the school-level effects on tested student achievement in 129 high poverty elementary schools that implemented a common set of comprehensive parent-engagement strategies over a 2-year period.

Sam Redding , Janis Langdon, Joseph Meyer, Pamela Sheley (November 2004) Research Report

Do Educational Programs Increase Parents' Practices at Home?: Factors Influencing Latino Parent Involvement

Latino parents become more involved in their children's education when they understand the school system and know how to help their children.

Janet Chrispeels , Margarita Gonz (November 2004) Research Report

“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?

Becky Smith McCarthy (2004) Teaching Case

Preparing Teachers to Engage Parents

This research report reviews parent involvement modules created for preservice teachers focusing on parent-teacher communication and collaborating with community. The online, problem-based modules were designed by the North Texas Partnership for Parent Engagement.

Mary M. Harris , Arminta Jacobson, Rebecca Hemmer (November 2004) Research Report

The Promotive Effects of Family Educational Involvement for Low-Income Children

Article in the Journal of School Psychology, 42(6), 445–460. In this article the authors longitudinally examined associations between family involvement, children's feelings about literacy, and children's literacy achievement from kindergarten through fifth grade. Children's feelings about literacy mediated associations between family educational involvement and literacy achievement. Also, family involvement was more positively associated with literacy outcomes for children whose mothers were less educated compared with children whose mothers were more educated.

Eric Dearing , Kathleen McCartney, Heather Weiss, Holly Kreider, Sandra Simpkins (October 2004) Research Report

© 2010 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College
Published by Harvard Family Research Project