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The Parents as Teachers program and school success: a replication and extension
Edward Zigler1, Judy C Pfannenstiel, Victoria Seitz
1Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy, Yale University, 310 Prospect St., New Haven, CT 06511-2187, USA. edward.zigler@yale.edu
The Journal of Primary Prevention
|April 12, 2008
Summary
The Parents as Teachers (PAT) program improves children's school readiness and academic achievement. This home visiting program shows promise for early intervention, positively impacting children from diverse backgrounds.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Educational Psychology
- Public Health Interventions
Background:
- Poverty significantly impacts children's school readiness and academic success.
- Early childhood intervention programs aim to mitigate disadvantages associated with poverty.
- The Parents as Teachers (PAT) program is a widely implemented home visiting initiative.
Purpose of the Study:
- To replicate and extend previous research on the Parents as Teachers (PAT) program's effectiveness.
- To examine the direct and indirect effects of the PAT program on school readiness and third-grade achievement.
- To investigate the influence of parenting practices on child development outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Utilized path analysis to test causal models of program effects.
- Employed longitudinal data from 5,721 representative kindergarten children in Missouri (1998-2000).
- Tracked participants' academic achievement through the state's third-grade testing database 4-5 years later.
Main Results:
- Causal models demonstrating both direct and indirect effects of the PAT program were strongly supported by the data.
- Parenting practices, such as reading to children and preschool enrollment, were shown to enhance school readiness and achievement.
- The study confirmed the significant and pervasive influence of poverty on child development outcomes.
Conclusions:
- The Parents as Teachers (PAT) home visiting program demonstrates promise as a primary prevention strategy.
- The findings support the program's role in fostering positive parenting practices that lead to improved educational outcomes.
- Addressing socioeconomic factors like poverty remains crucial for maximizing children's developmental potential.
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