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All Publications & Resources
WORKING WITH TEACHERS AND FAMILIES DEVELOPMENT PERIODS
COMPLEMENTARY LEARNING CONNECTIONS

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.

Harvard Family Research Project , Jamie Ferrel (September 2012) Bibliography

We Were a "Hard-to-Reach" Family

Former Head Start parent, Nikia Parker, started out as a “hard-to-reach” parent but developed a strong, positive relationship with her family’s Early Head Start home visitor, which enabled her to not only effectively support her own children, but also take on advocacy and leadership roles within the larger Head Start community.

Nikia Parker (September 20, 2012) Research Report

Helping Families Pave the Path to College: Supporting the Developmental Processes That Facilitate College Readiness

Mandy Savitz-Romer is director of the Prevention Science and Practice Program and a faculty member at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Suzanne Bouffard is a research project manager and writer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In this article, Bouffard and Savitz-Romer discuss findings from their recent book, Ready, Willing, and Able: A Developmental Approach to College Access and Success.

Mandy Savitz-Romer , Suzanne Bouffard (September 20, 2012) Research Report

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.

Harvard Family Research Project (January 2012) Research Report

Voices from the Field: How Can Elementary Teachers Collaborate More Effectively with Parents to Support Literacy Learning?

In this FINE Newsletter Voices from the Field article, Carol St. George, EdD, a visiting assistant professor at the University of Rochester and Title I Family Involvement Coordinator for the Greece Central School District in New York, discusses her use of the Collegial Circle, a professional development activity that engages teachers with parents.

Carol St. George, EdD (March 2011) Research Report

Successful Family Engagement in the Classroom: What teachers need to know and be able to do to engage families in raising student achievement

HFRP invited the Flamboyan Foundation—a private foundation focused on improving educational outcomes for children in Washington, DC and Puerto Rico—to share its classroom family engagement rubric with FINE. This rubric, and accompanying article, provides districts, school leaders, and teachers with a clear picture of what effective family engagement looks like in the classroom through concrete descriptions of how teachers demonstrate strong family engagement through their conversations and daily practice.

Lela Spielberg (March 2011) Research Report

Co-Constructing Family Engagement Roles in Federal Way, Washington

Through open communication and a mutual investment in solving a problem, one parent, school principal, and district-level family advocate helped bring about positive change in a Federal Way, Washington, middle school. Kelley O’Carroll and Angela Griffin write about the shared responsibility of co-constructing an effective solution and how this effort inspired a parent to advocate for the entire student body, not just her own child.

Kelley O'Carrol , Angela Griffin (November 2009) Research Report

Family Involvement News: August 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.

Harvard Family Research Project (August 2009) Research Report

Family Involvement News: May 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.

Harvard Family Research Project (May 2009) Research Report

Effective Home-School Communication

Not all home–school communication succeeds in supporting student learning. In this article, Duke University's JoBeth Allen offers tips for effective communication between schools and families that can help children to learn and grow.

JoBeth Allen (January 2009) Research Report

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.

Ellen Mayer , Joe Cepeda (2007) Research Report

Young Latino Infants and Families: Parental Involvement Implications from a Recent National Study

This study provides a deeper understanding of how cultural practices combine with other factors to shape parenting behaviors among families in the United States in the first year of children's lives. Several findings provide information about ways in which practitioners and Latino families can more effectively engage with young Latino children to influence their cognitive, social, language, and literacy development—and therefore facilitate their school readiness.

Michael L. Lopez , Sandra Barrueco, Erika Feinauer, Jonathan C. Miles (June 2007) Research Report

Making It Work: Low-Income Working Mothers' Involvement in Their Children's Education, Digest Version

This study finds that maternal employment is associated with low-income mothers' involvement in their children's education in complex ways and that working mothers use a variety of strategies to stay involved in their children's education.

Heather B. Weiss , Ellen Mayer, Holly Kreider, Margaret Vaughan, Eric Dearing, Rebecca Hencke, Kristina Pinto (January 2007) Research Report

Family Involvement in Elementary School Children's Education

This research brief synthesizes the latest research that demonstrates how family involvement contributes to elementary-school-age children's learning and development. The brief summarizes the latest evidence base on effective involvement—specifically, the research studies that link family involvement during the elementary school years to outcomes and programs that have been evaluated to show what works.

Margaret Caspe , M. Elena Lopez, Cassandra Wolos (Winter 2006/2007) Research Report

The Family Involvement Storybook: A New Way to Build Connections With Familes

This article describes five ways for teachers to use family involvement storybooks in their early childhood education classrooms. The article also includes a vignette about the impact of sharing a family involvement storybook in one third-grade class.

Ellen Mayer , Martha Kateri Ferede, Elaine D. Hou (November 2006) Research Report

Challenges and Opportunities in Moving Family Involvement Research Into Practice (Presentation)

This presentation by HFRP staff was part of a conference entitled “Family–School Relations During Adolescence: Linking Interdisciplinary Research and Practice.” The conference was held July 20–21 and was hosted by the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University, sponsored by the American Psychological Association. The goal of the conference was to establish better links among research, practice, and policy related to family educational involvement during adolescence, particularly for families from ethnically and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds.

Harvard Family Research Project (July 20, 2006) Conferences and Presentations

Demographic Differences in Patterns of Youth Out-of-School Time Activity Participation

This paper examines whether demographic differences exist in getting youth “in the door” of OST activities, as well as in the number of activities and the amount of time youth spend in activities. Results from two nationally representative datasets show that disadvantaged youth were less likely to participate in a variety of activities than their peers and that they participated in fewer activities. 

Suzanne Bouffard , C. Wimer, P. Caronongan, P. Little, E. Dearing, S. Simpkins (2006) Research Report

Family Involvement in Early Childhood Education

This research brief synthesizes the latest research that demonstrates how family involvement contributes to young children's learning and development. The brief summarizes the latest evidence base on effective involvement—specifically, the research studies that link family involvement in early childhood to outcomes and programs that have been evaluated to show what works.

Heather B. Weiss , Margaret Caspe and M. Elena Lopez (Spring 2006) Research Report

Focus on Families! How to Build and Support Family-Centered Practices in After School

This comprehensive, easy-to-read guide to understanding how to engage families in after school programs is a critical resource for after school providers looking to create or expand an existing family engagement program. It offers a research base for why family engagement matters, concrete program strategies for engaging families, case studies of promising family engagement efforts, and an evaluation tool for improving family engagement practices.

Zenub Kakli , Holly Kreider, Priscilla Little, Tania Buck, Maryellen Coffrey (February 2006) Research Report

Mothering the Mind and Soul: African American Mothers' Beliefs and Practices to Ensure Academic and Social Success for Their Daughters in High School

Interviews with African American mothers of successful high school daughters show that mothers maintain intense interest and direct involvement in multiple aspects of their daughters' educational lives but keep little contact with school officials.

Barbara M. Williams (February 2006) Research Report

Family Involvement in the Education of Secondary-School-Age Students With Disabilities

This study shows how families of students with disabilities are involved in their children’s education both at home and school, and how characteristics of children and families are related to families’ level of participation.

Lynn Newman (September 2005) Research Report

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

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

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

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

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Published by Harvard Family Research Project