New Parents as Teachers: Evaluation of an early parent education program

Abstract

A structural equation, latent trait model was used to identify treatment effects for a quasi-experimental design based on post-treatment status alone. This evaluation concluded that a high quality parent education and support program during a child's first three years increases the child's intellectual development at age three. Staff assessments indicated that high quality parental involvement with the parent educator during home visits was the key to the program's success. The relationship of background characteristics and socioeconomic advantage to children's abilities was not significant. The consistent relationships between observed at-risk characteristics and outcomes provide support for the theory that stress-producing situations can have direct impact on children's language development and achievement—even by age three.