Lessons and best practices from foundations across the country on grantmaking to school districts.

For this issue's FINE Newsletter commentary , HFRP consultant Margaret Caspe talks with Heather Weiss, Sherry Cleary, and Jane Quinn about innovation in their respective disciplines. Caspe, who is also Associate Director of Early Childhood Programs at the Children's Aid Society, presents the central themes through a framework designed to help schools and organizations move beyond typical problem solving to discover new ways of thinking.

In this issue of the FINE Newsletter, we feature the teaching case, "Daddy Says This New Math Is Crazy," which highlights the dilemmas that arise when innovations in teaching methods and curriculum are neither developed in collaboration with families and communities nor well-communicated to these critical stakeholders. 

Moria Cappio and Melanie Reyes from The Children’s Aid Society share their experiences reinventing family engagement strategies in their East Harlem Early Head Start/Head Start program to reach out to immigrant families by including parent civic advocacy.

We at Harvard Family Research Project are committed to keeping you up-to-date on what's new in family involvement. This list of links to current reports, articles, events, and opportunities will help you stay on top of research and resources from HFRP and other field leaders.

Barbara Taveras and Caissa Douwes from New Visions for Public Schools and Karen Johnson from BASE High School in New York City share how high schools in New York City have begun to engage families in students’ academic success and college readiness by supporting parents in understanding achievement data.

This new report from Harvard Family Research Project and Private/Public Ventures highlights key strategies to promote out-of-school-time program participation among older youth.

This research synopsis summarizes the findings from Engaging Older Youth, a new report from Harvard Family Research Project and Private/Public Ventures that highlights key strategies to promote out-of-school-time program participation among older youth.

This paper offers an expanded definition of family engagement based on research about children’s learning and the relationships among families, schools, and communities in support of such learning. The topics presented in this paper were originally introduced as commentaries in the August 2009, November 2009, and April 2010 issues of the F.I.N.E. Newsletter.

This bibliographic resource builds on the work presented in the Family Involvement Makes a Difference series to provide a selected listing of recent publications across the full developmental spectrum.