Child Trends conducted a random assignment evaluation of Abriendo Puertas/Opening
Doors, one of the largest programs in the United States working with low-income
Latino parents of preschool-aged children. Since it began in 2007, the program
has served over 30,000 parents/families in 34 states. The Child Trends
evaluation of Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors looked at the effectiveness of the
10-session parent education and discussion program on a range of outcomes
designed to improve parenting behaviors associated with helping young children
prepare for success in school.
Evaluation
Findings
Child
Trends’ evaluation of the Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors program found positive
outcomes in parenting practices that foster key child development areas
associated with academic success, as well as increased library use and
knowledge about quality child care. Specifically, the evaluation study found
that the Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors program successfully led to the
adoption of parenting practices that enhance preschool children’s learning and
preparation for school. Latino parents participating in the program gained
knowledge about high-quality child care and education settings, and improved
their organizational strategies and ability to plan and set goals for their
families. Parents also gained an
appreciation for their role as models for their children. Importantly, many of
these practices were sustained over time.
Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors successfully enhanced the following
behaviors and knowledge base:
* Parent educational
activities at home: Reviewing the letters of the alphabet and reading to their
child more frequently;
* Approaches to reading
with the child: Stopping from time to time to talk about the story with the
child and reading with an expressive and enthusiastic voice;
* Library use: Checking out
children’s materials to take home;
* Knowledge about aspects
of child care quality: Understanding the importance of child care providers
reading to children every day, teaching them how to play with others and
providing healthy snacks; and
* Family organization and
planfulness: Developing plans to reach family goals for their children and
taking time to respond appropriately to children’s behavior.
“Child
Trends’ evaluation of the Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors program reveals how,
with relatively few resources, a culturally-informed and well-managed effort
can improve parenting behaviors that benefit pre-school aged children as they
start their academic journey,” said Kristin Anderson Moore, Child Trends senior
scholar and lead author of the report. “Research has found that the road to
educational success begins with the parents at home before children begin
school, and we know that children’s educational success is central to ensuring
a future healthy society,”she added.
Studies
find that kindergartners who enter school with basic knowledge of arithmetic
and reading are more likely to fair well in elementary school. Less than one in
five Latino children ages three to six recognizes the 26 letters of the
alphabet compared to more than one in three black and white children, for
example. Studies also find that
students’ school grades in elementary and middle school are good predictors of
school completion. Although Latino high school dropout rates have declined over
the past ten years, they are still higher than all other racial/ethnic groups.
“All
parents want their child to succeed. Research has found that parenting
practices can make a big difference in preparing preschool aged children for
school success. The Child Trends’ evaluation study of our program identifies
what works best, helping us ensure that we use tested, effective strategies to
continue to enhance our training program,” said Sandra Gutierrez, national
director of the Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors program.
In
this study, other behavioral outcomes such as employing healthier lifestyle
changes, fostering children’s emotional development, and advocating for their
child, the Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors program did not record significant
behavioral changes. Focus group discussions with the parents provided cultural
and programmatic context for the findings. The evaluators explained that,
according to the parents, it may be that they more readily exhibited behavioral
changes related to parental support for educational outcomes in the home since
these changes aligned well with their educational aspirations for their
children and the cultural value of “familismo,” which, among other things,
stresses the importance of family and parental adherence to being responsible
for their children. At the same time, parents were less likely to apply the
tools they learned in the program related to healthy living and advocacy
because these did not align with their habits, economic resources and/or their
perceived cultural roles and norms.
“The
beauty of evaluation studies is that they facilitate evidence-based planning of
programs and contribute valuable information to the field by identifying what
works best. Communications research has consistently found that behaviors are
hard to change, especially within a short period of time. It is of note that
the Child Trends’ evaluation found that parents in the Abriendo Puertas/Opening
Doors program made important behavioral changes to foster their children’s
learning and many of these changes were sustained over time,” explained
Federico Subervi, member of the Child Trends Hispanic Institute’s Advisory
Council and communication scholar at Kent State University.
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