AVANCE - Assessment of Effectiveness

Assessment of Effectiveness

The effectiveness of the Parent-Child Education Program was evaluated over a four-year period, from 1987 – 1991 with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The evaluation studied a group of 486 individuals, comprising 207 participants in the AVANCE program and 279 in a control group. The data collected related to maternal knowledge, behavior, attitudes and continuing education. The study continued over a two-year period and concluded that “most of the program goals were attained to an impressive degree.” It found the two-generation Parent-Child Education Program for low-income families to be beneficial in such aspects as the home learning environment, maternal behaviors and attitudes towards children. A review of the program in Early Childhood Education Journal, found that children in the AVANCE-Dallas chapter academically outperformed their peers. In the 2005 TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, 88% of child graduates met the passing standard for reading, compared to 73% in the Dallas Independent School District and 83% in the state.

A 1991 survey of 23 women and 32 children who had participated in AVANCE’s first program group showed that 94% of the children had completed high school, received a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) or were still in education. In addition, 57% of the mothers who had previously dropped out of school, went back and resumed studies, subsequently attaining a GED.

As part of a 1994 report into the state of care for children in U.S.A., the Carnegie Corporation commented on the AVANCE programs: “Evaluations show that Avance (sic.) programs improve families' ability to provide an emotionally stimulating and nurturing environment for their young children, positively influence mothers' childrearing attitudes and knowledge, and expand mother's use of community resources.” This was at a time, the report continued, when three million children, comprising almost 25% of all American infants and toddlers, lived in poverty.

Dr. Susan B. Neuman investigated AVANCE’s Parent-Child Education program as part of research into early intervention initiatives. She is Professor in Educational Studies at the University of Michigan, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education, and was primarily responsible for implementing the No Child Left Behind Act. The AVANCE program was one of nine non-school intervention initiatives that Dr. Neuman examined. She found high performance levels for children who had participated in the program. 100% of children scored excellent or satisfactory on the Dallas school district’s kindergarten test of pre-reading skills. Dr. Neuman concluded that AVANCE and the other programs demonstrated "impressive results".