“How Do We Know They Know?” Development of the AVANCE Parenting Questionnaire for AVANCE National

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: Hispanic Research Issues SIG Poster Sessions

Abstract

For over four decades, AVANCE has been delivering a culturally-relevant parent education curriculum to low-income, predominately Latino communities. Internal assessments have consistently shown that parents and their children profit immensely from participating in their programs. However, these data should be interpreted cautiously. Methodological limitations have undermined the validity of their data and ultimately threatened to disrupt their stream of funding. Through a partnership with AVANCE, we have begun the process of developing a more rigorous and defensible method for assessing their programmatic strengths and weaknesses. In this report, we detail our procedure for creating and pilot testing an instrument that measures participants’ knowledge of child development theory. Implications for AVANCE and other organizations with a parent education focus are discussed.

Authors

• Rick Sperling, St. Mary's University San Antonio

• Felicia Cruz, Saint Mary's University of San Antonio

• Benjamin Cardenas, Saint Mary's University of San Antonio