Parents as Teachers Report
THE PROGRAM
Parents as Teachers is a program designed to give children the best possible start in life, and to prepare them for school success by supporting parents in their role as children's first and most important teachers. The program is based on two simple truths: babies are born learners, and parents play a critical role from the beginning in determining what their children will become. The belief that all parents deserve to be supported in their role as first teachers led the Parents as Teachers National Center to design a program for the voluntary participation of all families, and to adapt it to the needs of broadly diverse families, cultures, and special populations. Ideally, the program reaches first-time parents, but all families are eligible to participate, regardless of the number or age of other children. Availability of the program to all families avoids the potential segregation; stigma and labeling associated with targeted programs.
ENACTING LEGISLATION
The Kansas program began in 1990 with funding of $980,000. Ninety-two school districts participated. The program is now funded at $6,667,000 and includes 228 school districts. The programs in Kansas are designated for families of children prenatal to the third birthday. The program expenditure is approximately $800 per child, but this amount varies with extent, intensity and location of service. The local school district matches every $1.00 of state funds with $.65 of local funds. There were 3,877 families on the waiting list for services.
PURPOSE
Parent as Teachers (PAT) is a primary prevention program. It is designed to maximize children's overall development during the first three years of life, thus laying the foundation for school success and minimizing developmental problems, which might interfere with learning. Parents benefit from practical information and support, particularly during the crucial early years, birth to age three.
The goals of the Parents as Teachers Program are to (1) empower parents to give their children the best possible start in life through increased knowledge of child development and appropriate ways to foster growth and learning, (2) give children a solid foundation for school success, (3) prevent and reduce child abuse, (4) increase parents’ feelings of competence and confidence, and (5) develop true home-school-community partnerships on behalf of children. To achieve these goals, Parents as Teachers provides the following components:
* Regularly scheduled personal visits by credentialed parent educators who offer timely information about stages of child development, model and involve parents in age-appropriate activities with the child, and respond to parents' questions and concerns. Parent educators offer general guidance and tips on home safety, effective discipline, constructive play activities and other topics.* Group meetings with parents of like-aged children where parents can share their experiences, common concerns, frustrations, successes and build informal support networks.
*Monitoring of children’s progress by both parents and home visitors to detect and treat any emerging problems as early as possible.
* A referral network that helps parents who need special assistance (medical or financial help, for example) that is beyond the scope of the program.
Home visits are usually one hour long and are scheduled monthly, biweekly, or weekly, depending on family needs and local program budgetary restrictions.
CURRICULUM
In 1996, the Parents as Teachers National Center undertook a significant update and revision of the PAT curriculum designed to translate the latest research about brain development into improved outcomes for young children. Through collaboration with neuroscientists from the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis and, early childhood development specialists, a neuroscience-infused revision of the standard PAT curriculum was created. Neuroscience principles which can be linked to infant and toddler experiences that impact development have been translated into language that parent educators and parents can understand and apply.
The new Born to Learn curriculum includes detailed home visiting plans in weekly, biweekly, and monthly formats, resource materials for parent educators and handouts to parents written at two different reading levels, and a 16 segment video series. The videos feature neuroscientists, pediatricians, and early childhood specialists speaking directly to parents in easily understood language, and include segments keyed to individual home visiting plans.
Early Head Start family advocates and Infant-Toddler specialists have also adopted the curriculum. This collaboration and shared training with Parents as Teachers parent educators provides for consistent information for families. It also encourages coordination in training, recruiting families, and providing facilities for all of the programs.
IMPACT
Research and Training Associates of Overland Park, Kansas Park conducted an evaluation of the Kansas program in 1997. Seventeen school districts, including urban, suburban and rural communities were involved in the study. The parents and teachers were asked to report on the children’s success in kindergarten. The following findings were reported:
*PAT children demonstrated significantly more aspects of positive social development than did comparison children.*PAT children were significantly more advanced than the comparison children in intellectual and language development.
*PAT parents were more knowledgeable about child-rearing practices and child development than were comparison parents.
*PAT parents and children performed well, regardless of socio-economic disadvantages and other traditional risk factors.
*PAT parents were more likely to regard their school districts as responsive to their children's needs.
*Ninety-nine percent of responding PAT parents reported a high degree of satisfaction with all project services with home visits being identified as the most valuable.
These findings repeat the results of evaluations completed in Missouri.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education conducted a school readiness assessment project in 1998. The study involved kindergartners from a stratified random sample of school districts across Missouri and assessed 3,500 beginning kindergartners in 80 schools on 7 dimensions of school readiness. The highest performing children had participated in Parents as Teachers and in preschool care and education programs, with children in high-poverty school districts scoring above average. Among children whose preschool care and education was in child care homes, or who had not been in a preschool program, those who had been in Parents as Teachers scored significantly higher than children who had not. In addition, teachers rated special-needs children who had participated in Parents as Teachers, preschool care and education, and early childhood special education programs as similar to average children. (Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education)
Missouri research studies indicate that PAT has long-term benefits. These studies evaluated parents and children who took part in the original Missouri pilot project in 1981. At the time of this study, the children were completing first grade. The study shows:
*PAT children scored significantly higher on standardized measures of reading and math achievement than did comparison children.*A significantly higher proportion of PAT parents initiated contacts with teachers and school officials.
*In six areas evaluated by teachers - reading, math, language arts, personal/social development, work habits and physical education - pilot-project children's rated performance was higher than that of comparison children. In the area of spelling, pilot children's rated performance was significantly higher than that of comparison children.
GAPS
There is substantial and ongoing evidence that inequities in preschool opportunities contribute to the achievement gap for students at risk of school failure. There are some opportunities for young children in Kansas. However, we still cannot offer Parents as Teachers and 4-Year-Old at-Risk services to all families. Children must exit the Parents as Teachers program on their third birthday, but are not eligible for 4-Year-Old services until they are four. Head Start programs provide for children meeting income guidelines. Early Head Start focuses on prenatal care to the third birthday and traditional Head Start serves four and five year olds. There are very few educational services for three-year old children.
ENDING STATEMENTS
There are 77 school districts, which do not have Parents as Teachers, and in the districts, which have the program, there are often long waiting lists. Additional funds are necessary to make the program available and affordable for all Kansas families. Ongoing neuroscience research proves that children’s first years are the most crucial for shaping their capacity to learn. Investing in children early in life benefits both children and taxpayers. Parents as Teachers makes a difference in the lives of children and families in achieving the nation’s goal of helping to prepare children for success in school and in life.