Positive impact of parents as teachers

New research was unveiled on the outcomes of Parents as Teachers participation on children's school readiness and how these effects are sustained through third grade.

Edward Zigler, Ph.D., Parents as Teachers National Center board of directors member and Sterling Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, at Yale University, presented the findings for the first time at the national Parents as Teachers 2007 Conference in St. Louis. Zigler's co-author, Judy Pfannenstiel, and Susan Stepleton, president and CEO of Parents as Teachers National Center, were also on hand for the announcement.

"These research findings confirm what Parents as Teachers has been saying all along -- providing positive learning experiences starting at birth or earlier is the best way to maximize school readiness and success," said Stepleton. "Now we have even more scientific evidence to validate the need for access to Parents as Teachers for all families."

For more than 20 years, Parents as Teachers National Center, the St. Louis-based, international nonprofit and resource base of Parents as Teachers, has studied, collected and shared with parents information to help them be their child's best first teacher. The results from Zigler's study emphasize the need to continue advocating for early childhood support and parent education.

The study assessed the school readiness and academic achievement of more than 7,000 Missouri children over a five year time period. The results from Zigler's study demonstrate how Parents as Teachers alone, or in combination with other preschool services, can increase a child's learning aptitude regardless of economic status.

• The research showed that a much higher percentage (82 percent) of children living in poverty who participated in both Parents as Teachers and preschool with greater intensity (a minimum of two years in Parents as Teachers and one year in preschool) entered kindergarten ready to learn than did those who had no involvement in either service (64 percent).
• The same difference in kindergarten readiness was also evident for non- poverty children (93 percent vs. 81 percent).
• In addition, the study evaluated the impact of Parents as Teachers participation on third graders' test scores on the Missouri Achievement Program (MAP) communication arts test. Again, a higher percentage of children who participated in Parents as Teachers and/or preschool reached a benchmark level of performance on the MAP test than did those who had no involvement in either service.

Parent involvement is one area that sets Parents as Teachers apart from other early childhood education programs. Parent surveys showed that parents who participated in Parents as Teachers were more likely to engage in literacy activities with children at home and were more likely to enroll children in preschool. These parenting practices played a direct role in the children's positive outcomes.

"The most important finding in this study is evidence that the Parents as Teachers program improved parenting practices in ways that promote both school readiness and subsequent academic achievement," said Zigler in a previous statement. "Both of these offer potential cost-saving implications for schools in terms of reducing grade retentions and the need for individualized education services."

http://www.parentsasteachers.org