Building the Future of Family Involvement

Our understanding of learning—what it is, where it takes place, and who enables it—is changing and so too are our strategies for promoting it. In 2005, Harvard Family Research Project introduced the concept of complementary learning—the idea that integrating school and nonschool supports in an aligned and systemic way can better ensure learning and positive development for all children and youth. In this issue, we spotlight one of the central components of complementary learning: family involvement. Our Winter 2005 issue demonstrated how evaluations of new family involvement programs and interventions were building a knowledge base for the field. Today, we and other field leaders see the need and opportunity to move beyond individual programs to continuous and systemic family involvement efforts. Building these investments in policy and practice requires reframing family involvement within a complementary learning framework. As our Theory & Practice article outlines—and articles throughout the issue illustrate—investments in family involvement are important across ages and settings and through the coconstructed efforts and shared responsibilities of many stakeholders. In our Questions & Answers article and in his recent book (reviewed on page 19), Rudy Crew, Superintendent of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, highlights the importance of this shared responsibility. He talks about the role of administrators and teachers in helping parents become “Demand Parents” who understand both their rights and responsibilities when it comes to engaging with and expecting support from schools. e v a l u a t i o n