The High Road to Quality Parenting Education:

1. The High Road to Quality Parenting Education: Diverse Paths to the Same Goal Stephen J. Bavolek, Ph.D. RhendaHodnett, MSW

2. Part 1: Impact of My Personal Parenting Beliefs and Attitudes on My Professional Role as a Parent Educator

3. Philosophy of Change

4. Impact of My Personal Parenting Beliefs and Attitudes on My Professional Role as a Parent Educator The parenting beliefs that we currently hold today were influenced by the experiences we had growing up as children.

5. Impact of My Personal Parenting Beliefs and Attitudes on My Professional Role as a Parent Educator What we experienced as a boy or girl, and replicated to some degree as a Father or Mother influences our role as professional parent educators.

6. The Nature of the “I” Biological systems predispose human beings to form and sustain enduring, nurturing relationships.

7. Adapted or Acquired Self The intensity and frequency of positive and negative experiences promote the development of an adapted or acquired self. Positive Adapted Self Negative Adapted Self

8. Beliefs entail … … Perceptions. All the information we receive about ourselves and the world through our senses.

9. Beliefs entail … … Cognition All the abstract conceptual processes that our brain uses to organize and make sense of our perceptions which include memories and unconscious thoughts.

10. Beliefs entail … … Emotions. Emotions help us establish the intensity and value of every perceptual and cognitive experience we have.

11. Beliefs entail … … Social Consensus. The input we receive from others.

12. Behavior is then defined as … … a conscious or unconscious expression of a vast system of cause and effect relationships between our true nature and the adapted beliefs of the Self.

13. What are your beliefs? • Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory • www.nscsonline.com

14. Part 2: Knowledge of Proven Parenting Strategies and Practices

15. Knowledge of Proven Parenting Strategies and Practices Parent Educators need to be knowledgeable of areas of parenting and child rearing that have been proven to promote healthy child and family development.

16. Knowledge of Proven Parenting Strategies and Practices Understanding and honoring parents’ strong beliefs regarding the use of physical punishment as a means of discipline and punishment.

17. Knowledge of Proven Parenting Strategies and Practices Increasing parents’ awareness and understanding about the detrimental effects physical punishment, verbal abuse, inappropriate touch and neglect have on the neurological, emotional, social and physical development of children.

18. Knowledge of Proven Parenting Strategies and Practices Teaching parents the value of using alternative skills and strategies to physical punishment.

19. Knowledge of Proven Parenting Strategies and Practices Increasing parents’ awareness and understanding of the stages of child growth and development which include neurological, physical, social/emotional, and intellectual stages along with …

20. Knowledge of Proven Parenting Strategies and Practices … Kohlberg’s morals stages of development, Erikson’s psycho-social stages of development, Freud’s psycho-sexual stages and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

21. Knowledge of Proven Parenting Strategies and Practices Understanding and personally utilizing discipline techniques that promote the dignity of the child.

22. Knowledge of Proven Parenting Strategies and Practices Understanding brain development and functioning during prenatal, birth to five, school-age and adolescent periods of childhood.

23. Knowledge of Proven Parenting Strategies and Practices The importance and functioning of parent-child bonding, attachment, attunement, and empathy.

24. Knowledge of Proven Parenting Strategies and Practices The importance of teaching children empowerment and protective skills.

25. Part 3: Part 3: Parenting Programs and Practices: Assessment and Evaluation Parenting Programs & Practices: Assessment and Evaluation

26. Assessment and Evaluation:What is it and why is it important? Assessment is the process of gathering data to guide decision making (type of intervention, length, intensity, etc.) • Focus intervention • Analyze change • Evaluation is a process of measuring the relative worth of a service or program. • Ethical practice • Funding

27. The Era of Evidence Based Programs Two categories of Evidence Based programs: • Experimental or Randomized Control Trials (RCT) • Quasi-experimental

28. The Era of Evidence Based Programs Quasi-experimental includes: • Simple pre-posttest design. • Pre-posttest : Longitudinal follow-up. • Comparative Group Design: Group 1 gets Program A and Group 2 gets Program B.

29. Sources to guide decision making • SAMHSA: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration NREPP: National Registry of Effective Parenting Practices and Program • CEBC: California Evidence-based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare

30. What NREPP does and doesn’t do. • NREPP does: • Helps you begin to determine if an intervention might meet the needs of your target population • Rate the quality of the research supporting outcomes and rates quality of training and implementation materials • NREPP doesn’t: • Rate an intervention’s effectiveness • Provide an exhaustive list of interventions • Endorse specific interventions

31. Another example . . . . . • CEBC Categories • 1. Well supported by research evidence • 2 RCT, peer reviewed, valid/reliable measures, etc. • 2. Supported by research evidence • 1 RCT, peer reviewed, • 3. Promising research evidence • Manual, 1 study with control group, peer reviewed, etc. • 4. Lacks adequate research evidence • 5. Evidence fails to demonstrate effect • 6. Concerning practice

32. Assessment and Evaluation Two categories of Assessment: Formal and Informal

33. Assessment and Evaluation Formal assessment tools have proven validity and reliability. • Validity — does the assessment do what it says it’s suppose to do? • Reliability —does it do it consistently?

34. Assessment and Evaluation Informal assessment tools are not concerned as much with validity and reliability. These are instructor/agency made assessments: true/false; multiple choice; fill in the blanks, check-lists, rating scales, observational forms.

35. Assessment and Evaluation The principle purpose to assess and evaluate is to measure the change in behavior. Behavior is made up of: • Performance • Beliefs • Knowledge

36. Assessment and Evaluation Environmental Conditions: • Impact of personal history • Neurological networks that have become normalized

37. Assessment and Evaluation Different inventories are designed to measure different aspects of behavior. What factors are related to your intervention?

38. Assessment and Evaluation Parent-Child Attachment Parenting attitudes and beliefs Knowledge of child development Behavior management skills Parental stress Maternal depression

39. Assessment and Evaluation Sample of instruments used as outcome measures in parent education: *Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory *Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory *Parenting Stress Index *Family Environment Scale

40. Part 4: My Professional Skills as a Parent Educator Part 3: Parenting Programs and Practices: Assessment and Evaluation

41. My Professional Skills as a Parent Educator • Every learning situation can be classified into two categories: • Instruction Centered (IC), and • Learner Centered (LC)

42. My Professional Skills as a Parent Educator IC: The instructor and the instruction is more important than the learner. LC: The learner is more important that the instructor and the instruction.

43. My Professional Skills as a Parent Educator IC: Imparting factual information takes priority to parent learning. LC: The focus on instruction is always on the parent.

44. My Professional Skills as a Parent Educator IC: Completing the session agenda takes priority to engaging and challenging the learner. LC: Engaging and challenging the learner is more important than completing the session agenda.

45. My Professional Skills as a Parent Educator IC: The instructor is active and the learner is passive. LC: The instructor and learner alternate being active-passive.

46. BEWARE: A word of caution! • Model integrity DOES matter • Tailoring a program to meet the needs of the parent requires advanced knowledge & skill on the part of the parent educator • Aspire to have a level of competence that allows you to customize a program without jeopardizing the “proven effective components” that are key to successful outcomes

47. My Professional Skills as a Parent Educator • The following are generally recognized as the skills of a good parent educator: • Keeps the focus on participant learning (parents or child) • Engages parents through small group discussions/debates/role plays/creative expressions. • Investigates the parent’s viewpoint through increasing self-awareness.

48. My Professional Skills as a Parent Educator • Makes concepts and principles simple. • Gives concrete examples to illustrate abstract points. • Adapts while teaching (flexibility). • Reflects after having taught on ways to improve.

49. My Professional Skills as a Parent Educator • Is organized. • Has a command of the content. • Is detail oriented. • Uses dignified discipline techniques (Acting Inn board, Praise, builds self esteem, etc).

50. My Professional Skills as a Parent Educator • Uses visual aids (DVD’s, pictures, illustrations). • Is a good time manager. • Sets high but reasonable expectations for participants. • Administers fair assessments.