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Family Engagement in Education

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2017 Harvard Application

The Harvard Family Engagement in Education: Creating Effective Home and School Partnerships for Student Success institute provides you the opportunity to learn how to design family engagement practices that are directly connected to student learning. The 2017 session will be held 7/24/17 to 7/27/17.

By the end of the program you will:

    • Understand the latest research indicating the importance of family engagement as an element of successful whole-school reform and what this means for work in your context.
    • Align family engagement programs with curriculum.
    • Understand what systemic, integrated and effective family engagement looks like, as opposed to random acts of engagement.
    • Learn how to develop an effective engagement strategy that is employed by school staff, parents and community members, and understand the infrastructure and skills required to sustain it.
    • Learn how to define and measure outcomes and evaluate practice.

For a detailed explanation of the program visit https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ppe/program/family-engagement-education-creating-effective-home-and-school-partnerships-student

How to Apply

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY?

Team Applications

      • Campus leadership teams must include a current Texas public or public charter school principal as the team leader
      • Campus leadership teams may also include the district coordinator of family engagement, campus staff members and/or a school board member. Selected members must be heavily involved in leading campus family engagement work
      • Campus teams may include up to three team members, including the principal.

Individual Applications

      • Individual principals may apply to attend this session; however, precedence will be given to team applications

Other Information

      • Applicants sponsored by Raise Your Hand Texas to participate in the Harvard Leadership Program in 2016 are NOT eligible to apply for sponsorship in 2017. Those sponsored in any previous year (2008-2015) ARE eligible to apply.
      • If you previously attended The Principals’ Center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education through an organization other than Raise Your Hand Texas, you may apply.

NOTE: Applicants who apply directly to The Principals’ Center, Harvard Graduate School of Education will not be eligible for funding from Raise Your Hand Texas. Eligible Raise Your Hand Texas applicants must complete the application on the Raise Your Hand Texas website and do not need to complete an additional application to The Principal’s Center.

WHAT IS EXPECTED OF ATTENDEES?

If selected for the Raise Your Hand Texas Leadership Program, we ask that participants:

      • Develop goals for summer learning
      • Communicate with Raise Your Hand Texas on program deadlines, travel, and other logistics
      • Conduct a survey of your campus family engagement culture prior to attending the institute
      • Grant Raise Your Hand Texas access to your campus data for internal program evaluation
      • Sign a letter of commitment with campus and district level signatures

During Harvard

      • Attend all classes at Harvard during selected course
      • Participate in all Harvard activities and complete all assignments
      • Participate in all Raise Your Hand Texas events

Post-Harvard

      • Construct and submit a one-year family engagement action plan to Raise Your Hand Texas explaining your strategy for applying your summer learning to increasing family engagement on your campus
      • Submit action plan to Raise Your Hand Texas by first day of the 2017-2018 school year
      • Submit a fall and spring update on your action plan to Raise Your Hand Texas
      • Host a summer Professional Learning Community, inviting vertical principal colleagues in the district and the Raise Your Hand Texas Team
      • Attend the 2018 Raise Your Hand Texas Leadership Symposium
      • Grant Raise Your Hand Texas access to your campus data for internal program evaluation
      • Attend at least one Raise Your Hand Texas alumni site visit
      • Volunteer to host a Raise Your Hand Texas site visit

APPLICATION PROCESS FOR TEAMS

STEP 1: Identify a team leader

The team leader is responsible for submitting the team application documents and serving as the primary point of contact for the team.

STEP 2: TEAM APPLICATION

      • A team selection form must be submitted by the team leader. The team selection form includes basic information about the campus, and the names and email addresses of the individual team members. When completing the team selection form, the team leader should be prepared to include the following information:
        1. Campus name and Campus ID
        2. Full name and email address for each team member

STEP 3: TEAM ANALYSIS and DOCUMENT SUBMISSION

      • Teams are required to complete a Family Engagement Analysis. Team leaders should click to login to Google and save a copy of this Google Docs template: Family Engagement Analysis Template. Instructions are in the document
      • Upload 2016–2017 Campus Improvement Plan, required
      • Upload 2016–2017 Parental Involvement Policy, Title I only
      • Upload 2016–2017 School-Parent Compact, Title I only
      • Upload 2016–2017 Family Engagement Plan, if available
      • Team leaders will upload all of the above documents on their Individual Team Member Application

STEP 4: INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBER APPLICATION

      • After the team selection form is submitted, each team member, including the team leader, will receive an email with a link to an individual Team Member Application that must be completed by the application deadline, 9 a.m. December 12, 2016.
      • When completing the individual team member application be prepared to submit the following information
        1. Contact info: Full name, title, home address, mobile phone number, work and personal email addresses

APPLICATION AND SELECTION TIMELINE

Application and selection is a four-step process

    • Step 1 – Online application: The first step of the application process is to complete the full online application process by December 12, 2016.
    • Step 2 – Application review and selection: Applications will be reviewed by and finalist selected by January 23, 2017.
    • Step 3 – Interview process: Selected applicants are required participate in an interview process that begins February 13, 2017.
    • Step 4 – Final selection: Selected attendees will be notified by March 27, 2017. Attendees must confirm participation in the Harvard Summer Institutes by April 24, 2017.

APPLY NOW

Campus leadership teams must include the principal, and may consist of up to three team members

Key Dates

OCT. 28

Application for summer 2017 Harvard Institutes is available.

DEC. 12

Application for summer 2017 Harvard Institutes closes at 9:00 a.m. CST.

JAN. 23

Applicants are notified if they are accepted for an interview.

FEB. 13

Final interviews begin.

MAR. 27

Final selections are complete and applicants are informed.

APR. 24

Finalists confirm participation.