The Parenting Clinic

The PARTNERS Project

Designed to promote children's social and academic success in school

A Collaborative Project of The Parenting Clinic, UW School of Nursing,
Head Start, Seattle Area Schools, and Parents.

Since 1993 The Parenting Clinic at the University of Washington School of Nursing has been working together with Head Start, parents, children, teachers and family service workers to develop programs to help children get off to a good start in school. Our aim is to help children learn positive social skills and effective problem-solving strategies, reduce misbehaviors, learn to follow parent and teacher directions, and feel good about themselves. We know that how children behave, think and feel about themselves in preschool determines, in part, whether they will have problems as teenagers.

The goal of the PARTNERS Project is for all children to reach their full potential by achieving strong self-esteem and success in school. By helping Head Start children get off to a good start, we hope to prevent delinquency, violence, school dropout, and drug and alcohol abuse in their teenage years and to increase the chances of their becoming healthy, nonviolent, productive adults.

Project Activities

Baseline Assessment
Since the PARTNERS Project is funded by research grants, the first step is always a baseline assessment which allows us to measure children's progress over the course of the project. In the fall of the Head Start year, we begin gathering information on all the Head Start children--their social competence at home and at school, their peer relationships, and their academic readiness. This information is gathered by means of classroom observations and teacher questionnaires; for families participating in the program, there are parent interviews and home observations of children. The information obtained from families is kept in strict confidence to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Parenting Program
At half of the Head Start centers, participating parents attend the Parents and Children Parenting Program. This program is a series of parenting videotapes which parents view in groups of 8-14 parents led by family service workers. These discussion groups meet for a minimum of 12 sessions, lasting 2 to 2-1/2 hours per session. Child care and healthy snacks are provided, along with transportation as needed. Both evening and daytime sessions are offered.

Parent-School Partnership
A strong partnership between family and school is at the core of this project. The parenting program emphasizes collaboration between parents and teachers, training parents to work closely with teachers and family service workers in order to improve their children's learning and behavior. Since the parenting groups are led by the Head Start family service workers, they are able to follow up during the week on important issues individual families have raised in the group sessions. In addition, the teachers receive intensive training in classroom strategies which strengthen children's social competence and reduce children's aggressive behaviors. Teachers collaborate with parents in planning to meet the needs of each individual child and help the child transition successfully into kindergarten.

Program Evaluation

To see how well the program has achieved its goals, in the spring we gather the same types of information that we gathered at the baseline by means of classroom observation, home visits, and teacher and parent questionnaires. In addition, we ask parents to evaluate the parenting program. Children from the Head Start centers which did not offer the Parents and Children Parenting Program are also assessed in the same way. Parents and teachers are paid for completing these assessments.

FOLLOW-UP ASSESSMENT OF CHILDREN'S PROGRESS
The PARTNERS Project will be successful only if children maintain the skills they learned in this project and continue to make progress. Consequently, we assess them one year and two years later--in kindergarten and in grade one--by observing them at school and interviewing their parents. We will be asking parents how well their children are coping with kindergarten and first grade, how they are doing academically as well as socially, and how the parents are feeling about their child's progress. Kindergarten and grade one teachers will also be asked for their assessments of children's social competence in the classroom. The teacher's evaluation is a crucial component in understanding how we can improve children's learning and behavior. Information about each child's attendance, academic progress, and any awards or honors will be collected from school records. This information will guide us in refining the program and developing new programs.

ANSWERS TO COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is the PARTNERS Project a part of the University or of the public school system?
The PARTNERS Project is a "partnership" between Head Start, with its associated school districts, and the Parenting Clinic at the UW School of Nursing. The project is funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA).

How many children are participating in the project?
Since 1992, over 500 families have participated in the project. Currently we have funding for another 400 Head Start children and their families and teachers.

How were the children and families selected for the project?
Head Start centers in the Seattle area were invited to participate in the project. Using a standard research approach, we randomly sorted Head Start Centers into two groups, one of which would participated in the PARTNERS Project. All families of children in those Head Start centers were invited to take part in the project, and to date, 80-90% have chosen to participate.

Why are teachers involved?
Next to parents, teachers are the most important people in young children's lives. With their knowledge and expertise about early child development, they can inform us as to what works best to promote children's social skills, effective problem-solving, and academic learning. Teachers' perspectives are important because they see individual children within a large group of similar age children and can therefore evaluate their behavior in context.

Why should teachers and families of children who are not having problems at home or at school participate in the project?
We need the participation of families whose children are not experiencing problems--and their teachers--because these parents and teachers can help us understand how best to help children reach their full potential and feel good about themselves. We want to use what we learn from teachers and families to create programs that will benefit all families. We cannot do this without the participation of all types of children and families.

Besides, almost all children run into some problems in growing up. We hope to develop parenting programs beyond Head Start that can help parents and their children deal with these problems when they arise. We want to foster children's problem-solving skills, regardless of whether they are having behavior problems in their preschool years, because these skills will ultimately help them feel confident in their ability to deal with life's challenges and grow to be responsible adults.

What happens to the information collected in the project?
The research project is concerned with the learning and behavior of children in general, not of particular individual families, children, teachers, or schools. Participants are identified by number only, not by name. Data are used by The Parenting Clinic staff for statistical purposes only. All information is stored in locked rooms at the University. The only people who will have access to the information given to us by teachers and parents are The Parenting Clinic research staff, who have taken a pledge of confidentiality. No agency or court can subpoena our record.

If a child is having a serious problem, what will be done?
Sometimes the information we receive from a child, parent, or teacher may indicate a child has a serious problem. In these situations, we would share this information with the family and refer the child to the appropriate school personnel for follow-up.

How long will the project continue?
If our funding continues, we hope to continue interviewing teachers and parents as the children move into elementary and middle school. We currently have applied for a grant that would enable us to continue the parenting program beyond the children's Head Start year, into their kindergarten and early grade school years.

ADVISORY BOARD

John Bancroft, Executive Director, PSESD Head Start
May Carr, Director, Seattle Public Schools Head Start
Mary Fickes, Family Service Manager, PSESD, Head Start
Ronni Gilboa, Director, Highline Head Start
Julie Jones-Anderson, Family Service Staff, Highline Head Start
Mary Judd, Center Coordinator, Lake Washington Head Start
Mark Kenneally, Family Service Worker, Northshore Head Start
Cathy Morrissey, Family Service Staff, Highline Head Start
Kathy Pruitt, Family Service Staff, Highline Head Start
Anne Quinn, Child Development Manager, Puget Sound ESD Head Start
Bea Sweeney, Education/Disabilities Coordinator, Highline Head Start
Barbara Stratton, former Head Start parent

The Parenting Clinic
School of Nursing
Box 354801 University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98105-46311
(206)543-6010

This project is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration