What is Parents as Teachers?
The Parents as Teachers (PAT) program is an evidence-based early childhood home visiting framework that builds strong communities, thriving families and children who are healthy, safe and ready to learn. Parents as Teachers certifies professional parent educators to implement the program. Parent Educators emphasize parent-child interaction, development centered parenting, and family well-being in their work with families.
The Parents as Teachers model has four components: personal visits, group connections, screenings, and resource referrals. Together, these form a dynamic package of services for families. Parents as Teachers serves a range of families with varying needs and offers services to parents with children at any point from the prenatal period through kindergarten. For more information, visit the National Parents as Teachers website at parentsasteachers.org.
The first Parents as Teachers sites started serving families in St. Louis, Missouri in 1981 with the belief that parents are their children's first and best teachers. In 1984, Kit Bond and the Missouri General Assembly passed the Early Childhood Education Act to establish the Parents as Teachers program statewide. This propelled Parents as Teachers into a national and international program, now serving families in all 50 states and six countries. From its onset, the Parents as Teachers model has focused on identifying developmental and health delays and providing parents with knowledge and tools to support child development and well being.
Here you will find general information on the Parents as Teachers model. Much of the information below comes directly from the Parents as Teachers National Center website.
EVIDENCE BASED HOME VISITING MODEL
The Parents as Teachers Evidence-Based Model is the comprehensive home-visiting, parent education model used by Parents as Teachers Affiliates. The model provides services to families with children from prenatal through kindergarten. Affiliates follow the essential requirements of the model, which provide minimum expectations for program design, infrastructure, and service delivery. Parents as Teachers provides support for affiliates to meet those requirements as well as further quality standards that represent best practices in the field.
THERE ARE FOUR DYNAMIC COMPONENTS TO THE PARENTS AS TEACHERS MODEL:
· Personal Visits
· Group Connections
· Resource Network
· Child Screening
TOGETHER, THESE FOUR COMPONENTS FORM A COHESIVE PACKAGE OF SERVICES WITH FOUR PRIMARY GOALS:
· Increase parent knowledge of early childhood development and improve parent practices
· Provide early detection of developmental delays and health issues
· Prevent child abuse and neglect
· Increase children’s school readiness and success
The Parents as Teachers model for providing services to families with children from the prenatal period to kindergarten has been tested by rigorous peer-reviewed studies and shown to produce results. Affiliates follow the essential requirements of the model, which provide minimum expectations for program design, infrastructure, and service delivery. Parents as Teachers provides support for affiliates to meet those requirements as well as further quality standards that represent best practices in the field.
LOGIC MODEL
The Parents as Teachers logic model is the theoretical framework the program uses to create positive outcomes for both families and children. It starts with the values and goals of the program on the left hand side and then to the activities that work towards those goals and eventually the outcomes that reflect the goals.
DESIGN
Below is the Parents as Teachers Stages of Implementation Diagram demonstrating the various steps sites go through to establish service and the components that make up those steps. Georgia Parents as Teachers assists sites in each step of this process and is represented by the light blue ring surrounding the core circle (titled Program Support and Technical Assistance)
