Latino youth currently comprise more than one-fifth of the US youth population (Mather & Foxen, 2010), yet this sizeable group of the nation's future adults lags alarmingly behind non-Latino youth in academic achievement. The proposed program, Padres Preparados: A Cultural Adaptation of an Evidence-Based Parenting Intervention for Latino Families (Prepared Parents), aims to address the Latino achievement gap at an early and critical stage through a parent intervention program designed to increase school readiness skills in preschool- age children. The content of the program will be based on parenting skills specified by the evidenced-based Oregon Model of Parent Management Training (PMTO), which emphasizes five positive parenting skills: skill building; effective discipline; monitoring; problem-solving; and positive involvement. Padres Preparados is also based on research on the benefits of early childhood education and positive parent involvement in building school readiness skills. Parent involvement has been shown to play a crucial role in children's academic success, but Latino parents may hesitate to participate in parent activities because joint school-home programs are not culturally sensitive. To fully engage Latino parents in their children's education, interventions must be adapted in a way that takes into account their culture, language, and context. In fact, the more closely an intervention is adapted to a particular cultural background, the more effective it is. Padres Preparados will be developed specifically for Spanish-speaking Latino parents, adapting PMTO-based content to address the language, cultural values, and unique contexts of this population using the Cultural Adaptation Process model and the Ecological Validity Model. In Phase II, we will build on promising results from the Phase I pilot by developing an interactive, user-friendly, multimedia presentation of culturally adapted PMTO-based parent training will be developed for Latino parents of preschool-age children; the program will be available to parents on DVD and online using computer and mobile technologies. Padres Preparados will be easily adaptable to workshop presentations by preschool parent educators. Social validity and usability data will be collected via focus groups with Latino parents and preschool staff, observations at preschool settings, and meetings with Latino community leaders. These data will inform the development of Modules 2-6 of Padres Preparados, which will focus on positive discipline, clear directions, emotional regulation, difficult behavior and problem solving. (The Phase I module, Enhancing Child Literacy Skills, gave parents PMTO skills to support early-literacy at home and parent engagement at school.) An implementation manual for preschool staff will support staff in serving as program facilitators and parent mentors. Following program development, an eight-week, randomized control evaluation with 122 Latino parents, who have at least one child currently enrolled in a pre-K program, will be conducted to assess the efficacy of the intervention.
The aim of this proposal is to develop a skill-building multimedia Spanish-language intervention, Padres Preparados: A Cultural Adaptation of an Evidence Based Parenting Intervention for Latino Families (Prepared Parents), accessible to Latino parents through Head Start and other preschool facilities. The program, designed to be delivered by preschool staff, will provide parenting and school-readiness skills, which are early and crucial steps toward closing the current achievement gap. A feasibility test of the program will be conducted with parents of children in Head Start programs in Oregon and Utah.
