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Preschool home visiting program benefits low-income families
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A home visiting program aimed at low-income families improved the school readiness of preschool aged children, and the benefits were observed up to 4 years after the program ended, according to findings published in JAMA Pediatrics.
“The gap in school attainment associated with family income and education is of significant concern, and this gap emerges in early childhood and then never closes,” Karen L. Bierman, PhD, Evan Pugh Professor of Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies and director of the Child Study Center at Pennsylvania State University, told Infectious Diseases in Children. “Parents are children’s first teachers and greatest supporters, and they stay with children through their entire educational careers. Yet, we haven’t done much research into the best ways to support parents of preschool children — especially in low‐income families — to empower them to help their children succeed at school.”
In fall 2008 and fall 2009, Bierman and colleagues recruited 200 families with preschool- aged children — whose mean age at the beginning of intervention was 4.45 years — from 24 Head Start centers in three Pennsylvania counties for a randomized clinical trial. Families assigned to the intervention group received the Research-Based and Developmentally Informed-Parent home visiting program (REDI-P), which included a specific curriculum, 10 home visits during preschool and six booster visits in kindergarten. Additionally, parents received support to improve the relationship with their child and home learning materials. The control group received math home learning games through the mail. According to the study, follow-up occurred in spring 2013 and spring 2014 when the children were in third grade. The main study outcomes focused on improving competencies in academic performance and social-emotional adjustment, along with reducing problems at home.
“Providing parents with a sequenced set of learning games and activities they can use at home, along with tips and suggestions regarding how best to work with their child, and someone to talk with to personalize their plans provided just the right foundation of support,” Bierman said.
Of the 200 families, 153 had available follow up data and almost all were living in poverty with a median family income of $18,000. Bierman and colleagues observed that children who received REDI-P had statistically significant improvements in all competency areas at the third-grade follow-up. Furthermore, children who participated in REDI-P had a reduced need for educational and mental health services at school. Parents also reported fewer problems at home and less stressful parenting.
Bierman and colleagues said the benefits of REDI-P were sustainable up to 4 years after the conclusion of the program. The study findings confirm that a preschool home visiting program provides a strategy that could help to improve the school readiness and well-being of children, specifically those from low-income families. However, the researchers caution that there may be some limits to expanding this specific program.
“First, the program involved 16 home visits, which is much more extensive than the typical level of home visiting included in Head Start or other public prekindergarten programs. It will be important to determine if the same effects can be gained by using alternative delivery systems that might be less costly,” Bierman said in the interview. “Second, this home visiting program was delivered along with a coordinated preschool program delivered in Head Start. We need to determine whether the parent program would have similar effects if used as a ‘stand‐alone’ program that could be coordinated with a larger array of different preschool or prekindergarten programs.” – by Marley Ghizzone
Disclosures: Bierman reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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