Presents the results of a follow-up study of the value of high-quality parent education and family support in strengthening skills parents need to enhance their children’s early development. The New Parents as Teachers (NPAT) Program, an initial pilot project implemented by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, revealed that NPAT participants were more knowledgeable about child-rearing practices and child development than nonparticipating parents. A statewide expansion of the program, Parents as Teachers (PAT), involved 37 school districts and 400 randomly selected families. Among the key findings were that: (1) parent knowledge of child development significantly increased for all types of families after 3 years’ participation in the program; (2) PAT sample children performed significantly higher than national norms on achievement; and (3) the most frequently observed risk for all families – poor parental coping skills and family stress – was lessened or resolved for half of the families by the completion of the PAT program. The program also successfully maintained the level of frequent home visits that the earlier NPAT program delivered, through additional funding from school districts and effective identification of families who could benefit from increased visits to address child-development or parenting issues.
