October 2007 Announcement
Dear FINE Member,
We at FINE are committed to the notion of learning and continuous improvement.
In that spirit, this month we take a step back and ask FINE members what they
like about FINE and what we could improve upon. After a brief hiatus, we will
return with our analysis of the results of our FINE Member Survey. Expect to
receive results from the survey, along with more field-building family involvement
resources, when the FINE announcement resumes in January.
New From FINE
Articles and Reports
- The
Next Generation of Antipoverty Policies
The newest issue of The Future of Children explores the increasing
poverty rate over the past two decades and, through a series of chapters
by renowned scholars, presents proven and recommended policy strategies
to help combat poverty in America. Many of the articles in this issue explore
the government’s role in supporting families through work conditions,
child care provisions, and improved educational opportunities.
- Do
Title I School Choice and Supplemental Educational Services Affect Student
Achievement?
This RAND research brief summarizes the results of a research study on
how school choice and supplemental education services (SES)—core ingredients
of NCLB’s parent involvement provisions—impact student achievement.
The brief concludes that SES positively affects student achievement, that
school choice has no effect on student achievement, and that differences
exist among those who use various services.
- Public
School Practices for Violence Prevention and Reduction
A recent issue brief by the National Center for Education Statistics describes
results from a 2003-2004 survey of school-level violence prevention, honing
in on three strategies schools use to reduce crime: efforts to involve parents,
safety and security procedures, and discipline policies. The brief reports
that more than half of the schools in their sample formally obtained parent
input on school crime policies and provided training to parents to deal
with behavior issues. About one fifth of schools also involved parents in
the school building to maintain discipline.
- Youth
Service-Learning: A Family-Strengthening Strategy
This policy brief from the Family Strengthening Policy Center of the National
Assembly frames service-learning as a strategy that promotes healthy families
and communities, and synthesizes research on the benefits of service-learning
for a broad range of stakeholders, including children, youth, families,
and communities. The highlighted benefits for families include connecting
parents and siblings to community resources, helping youth become competent
and effective contributors to the family, and helping family members learn
new skills. The brief highlights examples of successful service-learning
programs in action, describes challenges at the federal, community, policy,
and programmatic levels, and offers recommendations to help improve access
to and quality of service-learning, particularly in low-income and ethnic
minority communities.
Tool Kits
-
Empowering Parents School Box
This fall, the U.S. Department of Education released a tool kit to empower
and support parents to be involved in their children's education. The tool
kit provides information on No Child Left Behind and tips and tools parents
can use to support learning at home and in school, as well as posters and
brochures. For a free copy of the tool kit, call 1-877-4ED-PUBS or visit
the website.
Upcoming Events
- Parent
Leaders: An Untapped Resource
The Center for Parent Leadership at the Prichard Committee announces its
2-day seminar, to be held in Lexington, KY, on November 13–14. Through
participating in interactive sessions and hearing real-life success stories,
participants will learn about best practices for planning and implementing
effective parent leadership programs in their own settings.
- On
Their Turf: Creative Approaches to Supporting Teens & Young Families
The 2007 national conference from the Healthy Teen Network will take place
in Baltimore, MD, November 14–17. The conference will feature creative
approaches for engaging teens and young families in addition to exploring
issues related to teen pregnancy and prevention.
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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