Holly Kreider is a Project Manager and Research Associate at Harvard Family Research Project. Dr. Kreider leads family involvement research on the School Transition Study, a longitudinal, mixed-method study of low-income children’s successful development through middle childhood. She also co-founded the Family Involvement Network of Educators (FINE), which makes research findings on family-school-community partnerships accessible and applicable to education professionals nationwide. Dr. Kreider’s research interests include the processes and outcomes of family involvement for the development of children and youth, particularly underserved low-income children; qualitative and mixed methodologies in social science research; and innovative pedagogy in higher education, including the case method. She also serves as an instructor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, co-teaching a module on Family-School Partnerships. Prior to joining HFRP, she worked as an evaluation consultant to public schools and residential treatment facilities and as a counselor with children, youth and families. Publications include New Skills for New Schools: Preparing teachers in family involvement; Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies: Training child care providers to support families, and Making it work: Low-income working mothers’ involvement in their children’s education. Dr. Kreider received her Ed.D. from Harvard University.

M. Elena Lopez serves on the senior management team of the Harvard Family Research Project. Her research interests focus on the relationships of families, schools and communities in children’s education. She has also evaluated public and philanthropic initiatives to improve the well-being of children and families. As a co-founder of the Family Involvement Network of Educators, Dr. Lopez seeks to improve the connections between research and practice and to advance educator preparation in family involvement in education. Her other professional experiences include lecturing at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, providing technical assistance on capacity building for family involvement, and serving on national advisory and governing boards. Publications include Paths to School Readiness, Early Childhood Reform in Seven Communities, and Family Centered Child Care. Dr. Lopez received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from Harvard University.

Celina M. Chatman is Associate Director for the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy (CHPPP), a research center at the University of Chicago’s Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies. Under the direction of Harris School Professor and developmental psychologist C. Cybele Raver, CHPPP endeavors to both conduct and bring the highest quality research to bear on local and national policy affecting children, youth and families. Before joining CHPPP, Dr. Chatman was a Senior Research Associate at the University of Michigan’s Gender and Achievement Research Program, where she conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses of data on identity and achievement motivation among adolescents, with emphasis on race and ethnicity. She also served as Science Writer for the MacArthur Foundation’s research Network on Successful Pathways through Middle Childhood. Dr. Chatman has co-edited two other volumes: Developmental Pathways Through Middle Childhood: Rethinking Context and Diversity as Resources (in press, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates), and Social Identity, Coping, and Life Tasks: How Identity Matters (forthcoming, Russell Sage Foundation). She also serves as a reviewer for Developmental Psychology and the Journal for Research on Adolescence, and has served as ad-hoc reviewer for the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Dr. Chatman’s other publications include both conceptual and empirical articles and book chapters on racial and ethnic identity in adolescence through adulthood, the role of stereotypes and other biases in teachers’ expectations about students, and racial and ethnic inter-group relations. Dr. Chatman received her Ph.D. in social psychology from Rutgers University.

Heather B. Weiss is Founder/Director of Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP; www.hfrp.org) and Senior Research Associate/Instructor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Founded in 1983, HFRP’s mission is to improve practice, intervention and policy supporting children’s successful development from birth to adulthood. Toward this mission, Dr. Weiss and colleagues conduct, synthesize, and disseminate research and evaluation information; develop professional and organizational learning tools; support evaluation, continuous improvement and accountability; and spark innovation. Key activities include publication of The Evaluation Exchange, a quarterly review of recent advances in evaluation and practice in child and family policy; establishment of a national database of out-of-school time and youth program evaluations to inform policy and practice; creation of the national Family Involvement Network of Educators (FINE), consisting of over 3,000 professionals to whom HFRP provides a breadth of informational services; and development of the Home Visit Forum, a group of national home visit programs working together in their utilization of evaluation to improve services.

Dr. Weiss writes and speaks about child and family policy and programs, serves on advisory boards for several public and private organizations, and provides consultation on strategic grant-making and evaluation to numerous foundations. Publications include articles and papers on family involvement in children’s development, measuring and encouraging youth participation in after-school and youth programs, and the use of data and evaluation in democracies. Dr. Weiss received her doctorate in Education and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.