Back to PAT - General Information
Guidelines for Approval of a Parent Education Program
The program must:1. implement the "Parents As Teachers" program, including the following:
a. employ a person who has been trained and certified through the Parents As Teachers National Center and who participates in inservice training as required by the Center (20 hours first year, 15 hours second year, 10 hours each year thereafter); andb. implement the curriculum provided by the Parents As Teachers National Center.
2. be conducted twelve months of the year.
3. serve no more than 35 families per part-time (20 hours) parent educator.
4. include a minimum of twelve face-to-face contacts per year with each parent/family group involved in the program, including
a. a minimum of six home visits per year to each parent/family group involved in the program, andb. a minimum of four parent group meetings per year.
5. provide an end-of-year report, a report indicating information about families and children served, respond to a parent satisfaction survey, and provide such other reports and program information as the State Board shall determine.
6. employ as parent educator a person who has earned a minimum of 60 hours of college credit in a field relating to early childhood education and has demonstrated ability to work with young children and their parents.
7. include an internal coordinating committee and a community advisory committee.
8. have conducted a needs assessment as required in the grant application.
9. provide evidence of coordination of services with other community programs with similar purposes.
10. include a cash match for the state dollars awarded through the grant application process established by the State Board of Education.
11. be open to all parents of the community, with a demonstrated effort to balance participation among various family groups through active encouragement of the involvement of first-time parents, teen parents, and at-risk families.
12. conduct child developmental screening, including but not limited to, vision, hearing, the understanding and use of language, motor development and hand-eye coordination, and health and physical development, using standardized instruments which are comprehensive, non-discriminatory, and age-appropriate.
13. serve parents of children ages birth to three.
14. submit implementation plan as required by "Parents As Teachers" curriculum developed as part of the "Parents As Teachers" training.
In addition, it is recommended that programs provide resource centers for use by participating parents and children.
The requirement to utilize the "Parents As Teachers" program is not intended as a limitation and other components, which are not in conflict with the requirements and philosophy of the "Parents As Teachers" program, may be used to enhance the "basic" program as appropriate to the community and the families being served.
The State Board considers the prior experiences of school districts in the development and operation of parent education programs for the award of grants.
AFFILIATION
Benefits of affiliation include the use of the name Parents
As Teachers and the National Center logo indicating association with
a nationally recognized parent education program; access to
information, resources and program materials at reduced cost; access
to consultation and on-site program evaluation; membership in the PAT
National Council, which meets annually; and an opportunity to apply
for participation in an approved trainer of trainers
program.
Annual professional fee for parent educator
certification is $40.
Institute Registration Fee $495
Curriculum - $295
Supervisors Manual - $75