June 2007 Announcement
Dear FINE Member,
Here are this month's FINE member updates. Please
feel free to forward this information to your friends and other education colleagues.
To help educators address the needs of the large and growing school population
of Spanish-speaking students, this month we showcase new resources for engaging
English Language Learner (ELL) families in their children's education. We are
particularly proud to introduce our original research-inspired bilingual storybook
about family involvement, Tomasito's Mother Comes to School/La mamá
de Tomasito visita la escuela. We also share additional resources on the
Family Involvement Storybook Corner about engaging Latino families in their
children's learning and a new Research Digest that uses data from a national
study to investigate the importance of family involvement in Latino infants'
development.
New From FINE
- Tomasito's Mother Comes
to School/La mamá de Tomasito visita la escuela
When his Spanish-speaking mother makes an unexpected visit to his classroom,
second-grader Tomasito is angry and embarrassed...until he discovers that
his mother and teacher actually want to get to know each other better
in order to help him learn. This online storybook about family involvement
at school includes a children’s story, along with an informational
guide for adult family members and discussion questions. The story draws
from the real experiences of one Latino boy and his family who are acculturating
to the U.S.
The storybook is designed to engage children, inform and inspire their
families, and help educators build connections with families, all while
supporting literacy. Developed from research by HFRP's Ellen Mayer and full
of vibrant illustrations by award-winning children's book illustrator Joe
Cepeda, this bilingual storybook is an easy-to-use family involvement resource
that can be downloaded, viewed, and printed out for free on HFRP’s
Family Involvement Storybook Corner website. You can find the storybook
and related resources for parents and educators at the link above.
- Storybook Corner Resources
for Engaging Latino Families
Additional resources for engaging Latino and ELL families in their children’s
learning are also available on the Storybook Corner. See our new family
literacy “Word Walk” handout—available in both English and
Spanish—for a fun, informal summer walk that parents and children can
take together around their neighborhood to promote literacy. In addition,
there is a tool kit that features Pat Mora's storybook, Tomás
and the Library Lady, which includes a journal from a teacher who used
the storybook to build relationships with ELL families, as well as thoughts
from both the storybook author and an educator about engaging Latino families.
- Research Digest: Young
Latino Infants and Families: Parental Involvement Implications From a Recent
National Study
Michael López and his colleagues use data from the Early Childhood
Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort to show that family engagement matters
for all young children regardless of social, cultural, or ethnic group.
The researchers find that there are no differences in cognitive and motor
competencies between Latino children and their White peers at 9 months of
age. Although few differences in parenting behaviors exist across ethnic
groups, the researchers observe that Latino families are less likely to
read books and share stories with their children than parents from other
ethnic backgrounds and suggest ways to support Latino children's literacy
development during the early childhood years.
New From HFRP: Professional Development
-
Closing the Achievement Gap: Linking Families, Schools, and Communities
On November 1–3, Harvard Family Research Project will host its second
professional development institute at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
(HGSE) on building complementary learning. Designed to give a variety of
stakeholders strategies for tackling the achievement gap and fostering learning
for all children, the institute explores how schools, families, out-of-school
time programs, and other organizations and agencies can forge connections
to build systems of support for children and youth. For more information
or to register, call the office for Programs in Professional Education at
HGSE at 1-800-545-1849 or click on the link above.
- Programs
in Professional Education at HGSE
This 2-page Research Summary contains a subset of findings contained in
the Fact Sheet and presents key findings on differences in multiple dimensions
of participation in a range of OST activities among youth from varying family
income levels and racial and ethnic groups. Each summer and fall, the Harvard
Graduate School of Education (HGSE) provides professional development training
for more than 1,800 teachers, principals, and school leaders. Their programs
provide the latest research, information and “best practices”
for improving student achievement. In addition to the Closing the Achievement
Gap institute described above, we list below the titles of three upcoming
summer 2007 programs at HGSE:
• Leadership: An Evolving Vision, July 12–20
• Critical Issues in Urban Special Education: Improving Outcomes for
Young Children At Risk, July 16–20
• Charter Schools: Charting a Course for the Next Decade, August 3–6
Additional information about these and other Harvard programs is available
at the link above or by calling 1-800-545-1849.
Books
Policy
- Milestones
in Parent Involvement of America's Schools
In this document, the National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education
(NCPIE) describes the history of parent involvement and the evolution of
current policies seeking to build partnerships between families. This overview
is based on a presentation to NCPIE by Arnold Fege, Anne Henderson, and
Bob Witherspoon.
- “Making
it Work”: A Q&A With Hirokazu Yoshikawa
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education,
describes findings from his study of the New Hope Project in Milwaukee,
which show how maternal employment patterns relate to both parenting and
student outcomes.
Articles & Reports
- Educating
Newcomers
The most recent edition of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform's
quarterly publication, Voices in Urban Education, demonstrates how
education systems can be improved for immigrant children and youth. School
and community connections emerge as an important theme across the articles
in this issue.
- Assessing
Initiatives for Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care
This report from the National Center for Children in Poverty presents an
overview of current efforts to document or evaluate common types of child
care for children under 5 years old—namely, child care provided by
family members, friends, and neighbors. The report includes information
about program goals and service delivery strategies as well as program examples.
Upcoming Events
- Southwestern
Fatherhood & Families Conference
The Arizona Fathers & Families Coalition is holding its annual regional
institute in Tucson, Arizona, on July 12, 2007. The conference, entitled
“Embracing Fathers, Families, and Our Future,” will focus on fathers'
impact on child development and best practices to reach out to diverse—particularly
Latino—fathers. To register, go to the link above.
Funding Opportunity
- Richard
Riley Award
The KnowledgeWorks Foundation, in partnership with the American Architectural
Foundation, seeks submissions for the Richard Riley Award. The award recognizes
design and educational excellence in "schools as centers of community."
The winning school will receive a $10,000 prize. For more information, visit
the link above.
Contact Us
If you experience a problem reading this newsletter or have questions and
comments concerning our work, we would love to hear from you. Please send an
email to fine@gse.harvard.edu.
Enjoy!
The FINE Team at Harvard Family Research Project
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