Skip to main content

Parents As Teachers

An Evidence-Based Practice

This practice has been Archived and is no longer maintained.

Description

Parents As Teachers (PAT) provides high-quality parent education to develop and strengthen the skills parents need to enhance the development of their children from birth to age three. The program provides families with intensive, targeted education and support from the third trimester of pregnancy through the child's third year, with continued limited service and support through age five.

The PAT program is founded on the research of Dr. Burton White, of the Harvard Preschool Project, which focused on improving the quality of the educational system for children during the earliest years of life. Predicated on White's findings, PAT programming provides age-appropriate information on child development and works to improve and increase parenting skills. The program guides parents in promoting and fostering their children's intellectual and social development. PAT services are divided into two basic components: parent education, which includes a minimum of four home visits and four group sessions per program year, and periodic developmental screening for the child's behavioral and health status and growth.

Goal / Mission

The mission of this program is to provide the information, support and encouragement parents need to help their children develop optimally during the crucial early years of life.

Impact

The Parents as Teachers (PAT) program had no effect on improving child or parent outcomes.

Results / Accomplishments

The Parents as Teachers (PAT) program had no effect on improving child or parent outcomes.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Parents as Teachers National Center, Inc.
Primary Contact
Parents as Teachers
2228 Ball Drive
St. Louis, Mo. 63146
(314) 432-4330
http://www.parentsasteachers.org/
Topics
Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education
Community / Social Environment
Organization(s)
Parents as Teachers National Center, Inc.
Source
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Model Programs Guide (MPG)
Date of publication
2002
For more details
Target Audience
Families
Michigan Health Improvement Alliance