Heather Bastow Weiss

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...See more

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. See less