Parent Education Core Curriculum
Framework and Indicators

THE PARENT EDUCATION CORE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK AND INDICATORS*

Introduction
A large and growing body of research supports the importance of the parent-child relationship and its impact on the healthy growth and development of the child. In addition, evidence is growing that parent education can impact parents’ interactions with their children in ways that lead to better child outcomes.

Given evidence that participation in parent education can enhance parents’ interactions with their children, which, in turn, supports the child’s development in specific areas, a critical look needs to be given to the nature and quality of the way parent education is delivered including the content that is addressed in parent education delivery. If we are to expand the delivery of parent education to reach more parents in our communities, we need to be certain that we are doing so in the most effective ways possible.

The impetus for developing the Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework, Indicators, and the process for using them were strongly influenced by this growing emphasis on accountability in education promoted by public policymakers, other funders, and the general public. The parent education curriculum resources presented in this document add standardization to the field and lead to a new level of clarity and professionalism in what should be taught in parent education. It is intended that the content of what is taught in parent education fits within this framework.

Purpose and Goals of the Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework and Indicators

The Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework and Indicators is not intended to be a prescribed curriculum. It provides a framework that defines and places parameters around the core content – what we teach – in parent education. Parent educators should continue to have autonomy and exercise creativity in assessing the specific and unique needs and expectations of each parent and parent group with whom they work and in designing curriculum and selecting resources to best meet their needs and expectations. The framework and indicators are a foundation for doing this work.

One of the visions of the committee that developed the Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework and Indicators was that it focuses the role of the professional parent educator on that of being an educator, not just a group facilitator. Group facilitation skills are one of an array of teaching methods for delivering parent education content. This may be a shift for some parent educators who view their role as one of mainly facilitating a self-directed group learning process.

The specific goals of the Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework and Indicators are to provide a resource that:

Frames or defines the body of knowledge in the field of parent education.
Identifies the intended content and objectives of parent education in ECFE and Even Start in Minnesota.
Is applicable across the field of parent education with any type of parent education program, population, setting, and delivery mode.
Is a planning tool for development and delivery of parent education curriculum and lesson plans.
Provides guidance for parent goal setting in parent education.
Guides assessment of parent education outcomes and programs.
Promotes accountability in parent education programs and with individual parent educators.
Informs practice in parent education.

Organization, Structure, and Procedures for Using the Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework and Indicators

The Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework contains four levels of information:

Domains:

Parent Development
Parent-Child Relationship
Early Childhood Development
Family Development
Culture and Community

Components: Areas of content within each domain
Categories: Units of more specific learning content within each component
Indicators: Long-term learning goals in each category for parents participating in parent education. Each indicator has the stem “Parents support their children’s development when they…” followed by a specific indicator.

The Procedures for Using the Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework and Indicators is to be used in curriculum planning and development of lesson plans. In the Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework planning process, Phases I and II focus on planning the curriculum for a series of parent education class sessions or home visits using the Integrated Curriculum Planning Grid. Phase III focuses on implementing the class curriculum plan through lesson planning using the Integrated Lesson Plan and evaluating it once it is implemented. Throughout the teaching of a class, a parent educator continues to follow the steps of the planning procedures to adjust curriculum and lesson plans to meet parent learning needs.

This framework is designed specifically for parent education for parents of young children, but it can be adapted to parent education for parents of children of other ages. Indicators for school-age children or adolescents can be used with the process described in this document for implementing the framework.

For Further Information
Full document and Word copies of the planning forms are available: http://cehd.umn.edu/CI/Programs/FYC/parent-framework.html

* The Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework and Indicators were developed over a period of three years by a group of Minnesota Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) program coordinators and parent educators, serving on the State ECFE Curriculum Committee chaired by Sue Stoner and associated with the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), and Betty Cooke, during the time she was with the MDE and in Family Education at the University of Minnesota. The procedures for using the framework and indicators build upon earlier work by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, Marietta Rice, and Mary Scott, all parent educators. Beth Yokom, a parent educator in Minnesota with broad experience with various audiences in ECFE and the Even Start Family Literacy Program, was hired during 2004 as a consultant to the ECFE Curriculum Committee, with partial support from Federal Even Start Family Literacy funds. She completed a draft of the framework and indicators, outlined the process for use of the framework and indicators, and conducted several six-hour workshops about implementing the framework and indicators.

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