Seven practical tips for integrating early math into family engagement programs¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The brief distills the experiences of five Heising-Simons Foundation grantees into seven implementable tips for practitioners: "build on successful family engagement approaches and ensure staff buy-in; focus on developmentally appropriate math concepts; tailor early math projects to a caregiver's language and culture; offer practitioners opportunities for professional development; provide families with early math activities they can use in their everyday lives; help families overcome their anxiety about math; and use data for learning and improvement." These tips are offered as guidance for programs integrating early math into family engagement.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Programs need staff buy-in and existing successful family engagement approaches to build on, per the first tip.

Constraints¶

• The tips emerged from the experiences of five foundation-funded grantees rather than from a controlled evaluation.

Target Learners¶

• Young children in family engagement programs

Target Learning Goals¶

• Early math concepts and mathematical thinking

Related Strategies¶

• Use implementation-study findings to inform design, implementation, and scale-up of early math family engagement interventions

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Harris, B., Petersen, D., & Wulsin, C. S. (2017). Integrating Mathematical Thinking Into Family Engagement Programs. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/integrating-mathematical-thinking-into-family-engagement-programs