Margaret Caspe

• Harvard Family Research Project

Young children's mathematical knowledge develops in the context of relationships with important caregivers as they engage in everyday activities and routines. The purpose of this study was to document how Latine families define mathematics and discuss using math in their everyday lives. Seventy-one primary caregivers of Latine heritage with prescho...

Children's exposure to everyday math talk contributes positively to their early math development, yet little is known about family everyday math in culturally and linguistically diverse communities. The present study described the spatial language used by 75 low-income, bilingual, Latine caregivers as they taught their preschoolers to set a table f...

Libraries are increasingly focusing on families. Educational research confirms that family engagement in children’s learning and development predicts school readiness, positive social behaviors, high school graduation, interest in STEM careers, and post-secondary education. A Librarian’s Guide to Engaging Families in Learning will inspire libraries...

Libraries are increasingly focusing on families. Educational research confirms that family engagement in children’s learning and development predicts school readiness, positive social behaviors, high school graduation, interest in STEM careers, and post-secondary education. A Librarian’s Guide to Engaging Families in Learning will inspire libraries...

Innovation often means finding new ways to make better use of resources that already exist in our communities. A new initiative to connect schools and libraries was just the right catalyst to enhance family engagement.

Public libraries today are undergoing significant transformations as well as interacting with patrons in new and different ways (Knight Foundation 2017). Part of this transformation is the way libraries are engaging entire families. Libraries are playing a stronger role than ever before in supporting families to promote children’s early literacy an...

Across cultures, oral narratives are woven into the fabric of everyday events and interactions. We tell stories to our peers as a way to establish and maintain friendships; caregivers tell stories to their children as a means to entertain and educate; and at school children and teachers share stories in the process of acquiring literacy. Narrative...

Across cultures, oral narratives are woven into the fabric of everyday events and interactions. We tell stories to our peers as a way to establish and maintain friendships; caregivers tell stories to their children as a means to entertain and educate; and at school children and teachers share stories in the process of acquiring literacy. Narrative...

This issue brief presents findings from the Universal Preschool Child Outcomes Study, which examined a diverse group of Los Angeles preschoolers. The study integrated three strategies—card sorts, focus groups, and cognitive interviewing—to measure how parents rate their children’s social-emotional behavior. The brief examines the implications...

Booksharing is often considered one of the most important activities parents can do to promote young children's early literacy skills. However, there is relatively little research on the style and nature of booksharing in Latino homes. This study examined the relation between maternal booksharing styles and low-income Latino children's subsequent l...

Children develop narrative ability in the context of the conversations they have with significant others, mainly family members. Within these conversations, children acquire language and literacy and become socialized to the discourse patterns, beliefs, and values of the community in which they live. Recent research has begun to highlight that Lati...

This research brief summarizes the latest evidence base on effective involvement for elementary school children--that is, the studies that link family involvement in elementary schools to children's academic achievement and social development. It synthesizes the outcome-based empirical research published between 1999 and 2006 that were cataloged in...

The purpose of the brief is to help educators, service providers, and local evaluators in schools, intermediary and community-based organizations, and social service agencies become more effective by highlighting the best program and evaluation practices of family-strengthening intervention programs. At a time when evidence-based practice matters,...

The present study examined the narrative styles of Spanish-speaking Peruvian and English-speaking U.S. American, college-educated mothers as they shared a wordless book with their three-year old children. Results show two distinct book reading narrative styles: Storytellers, who act as the sole narrator of an engaging story with minimal child parti...

This resource guide contains annotated Web links to recent (published in and after 2000) research, information, and tools about family involvement. Family involvement involves a broad range of constructs and this is reflected in the guide, which covers resources about parenting practices to support children's learning and development, home-school r...

The building of connections between family, school, and community can ben-efit children from before the time they enter Kindergarten until after they have left our schools. Through an analysis of 13 in-depth teacher interviews, this study explores the role of the teacher in the home-school partnership and how teachers come to understand families in...

1 OVERVIEW The United States is more ethnically diverse than ever before. This trend is especially apparent in today's early childhood classrooms. For example, 56 percent of children under age 6 are white, 22 percent are Latino, 14 percent are African American, and 4 percent are Asian, with the remaining students representing biracial and American...

2 In 1997, Harvard Family Research Project developed policy and practice recommendations to elevate the preparation of teachers in family involvement and authored the brief New Skills for New Schools: Preparing teachers in family involvement. 1 Since the publication of New Skills for New Schools, the education reform landscape has changed dramatica...