Family–School Partnerships Project
Harvard Family Research Project's interest in family–school partnerships
is based on our belief that family involvement and home–school partnerships
are critical to children's academic achievement and social development. Our
goal is to support the development of this field, which includes those programs,
organizations, institutions, and people dedicated to engaging families, schools,
and communities to work in partnership for positive student outcomes.
Recent Family–School Partnerships Project News
We partnered with the Southwest Educational Development
Laboratory to host a 1-day symposium to promote dialogue about new directions
for research, evaluation, and practice in family, school, and community
connections. Read about
the event and the speakers' presentations.
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We seek to:
- Expand and strengthen the professional development of those who work with
children, youth, and families.
- Design and advance evaluation to help improve the effectiveness and sustainability
of family–school partnerships.
- Act as a leader by providing policymakers, educators, programs, and foundations
with information to guide the strategic development of the field.
To accomplish these goals, HFRP's strategies focus on knowledge development,
professional development, and evaluation.
Knowledge Development
Effective family–school partnerships depend on a sound research base.
We support the family involvement field by linking research to policy and practice.
We identify critical areas of inquiry and conduct systematic research, creating
new conceptual frameworks to guide policy and program development. These critical
areas include the types of family involvement practices and home–school
partnerships that matter most for children's learning and development, and the
specific processes by which home and community contexts impact children's outcomes,
from birth to adolescence. Our activities are wide ranging and include basic
research, program documentation, evaluation, and policy analyses.
We also activate dialogue with policymakers and practitioners, use our knowledge
base and tools to support program planning and implementation, and initiate
strategic partnerships with public and private entities to disseminate our conceptual
frameworks, evaluations, and tools. Some of the highlights of our ongoing work
include the following:
- Our ecological School Transition Study of low-income
and culturally diverse children, their families, and their schools to understand
the influence of family–school relationships on children's successful
developmental pathways
- Analysis of policy issues and best practices in the fields of early childhood
education, family–school–community partnerships, and out-of-school
time
- Scan of the infrastructure of family involvement and home–school partnerships,
focusing on how national organizations support and advance the field through
knowledge and tool development, professional development, convening, and creating
initiatives
- Syntheses of the latest research on topics such as family literacy, community
organizing for school reform, and family involvement outcomes for children
from early childhood through secondary school
- Convening researchers, evaluators, and practitioners to communicate and
develop a research and evaluation agenda that promotes greater investments
in family involvement programs
Professional Development
Strong family–school partnerships depend on competent and committed teachers
and principals who reach out to families. Beginning with our report New
Skills for New Schools, we have worked and continue to work to strengthen
the preparation and continuing professional development of teachers, school
leaders, and other educators who work with children, youth, and families. To
this end we sponsor the nationwide Family Involvement Network
of Educators (FINE). One of FINE's central goals is to support educators
and trainers in their efforts to prepare teachers in family involvement.
Some of the highlights of our professional development work include:
- Development and dissemination of research-based teacher education tools
for preservice training and professional development through FINE
- Authoring a volume
of teaching cases to support educator preparation in family involvement
- Consultation with national nonprofit organizations, schools of education,
and federal education programs to promote principal and teacher competencies
in working with families and communities
- Creation of innovative resources such as children's storybooks to increase
home–school communication and partnership
Evaluation
Evaluation supports the development and improvement of family, school, and
community partnerships. It informs policymakers about the benefits of these
partnerships and the types of programs and practices that promote student outcomes.
Through ongoing evaluation, schools and communities learn how to change their
practices for the better.
We partner with organizations such as foundations, national nonprofit organizations,
and regional and state-level public agencies to advance their family, school,
and community programs. In order to assist these organizations in meeting their
desired outcomes, we design evaluation and learning processes and provide various
forms of feedback and opportunities for organizations to learn from the experiences
of their peers.
We support evaluation by providing tools that bridge evaluation theory and
practice. Some of the highlights of our work include:
HFRP's Related Projects
Family Involvement
Network of Educators (FINE)
Out-of-School Time Learning
and Development Project
Out-of-School Time Program Evaluation
Database and Bibliography
School Transition Study
Professional Development
HFRP's Related Resources & Publications
HFRP's family, school,
and community publications
FINE resources and publications
Out-of-school time resources and publications
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