HOPE Revisited: Preschool to Graduation, Reflections on Parenting and School-Family Relations. Occasional Paper 28

Reported are aspects of the Home-Oriented Preschool Education (HOPE) Program, notably the extensive follow-up study of the program. Contents focus on the history of the HOPE Program, the summative evaluation of HOPE, the preliminary phase of the follow-up study, the study's main phase, measurement procedures used, and the third, fourth, and final stages of follow-up. Topics addressed include prevention of early school failure, prevention of school dropout, program effects on parents, HOPE and school-family relations, as well as children's adjustment, school performance, and HOPE. Findings indicated that participation in HOPE's home visitor treatment resulted in favorable outcomes in parenting, school-family relations, school performance, and children's adjustment. HOPE related to a larger number of favorable results for participants who had sons than for those with daughters. In the instance of Academic Orientation, however, HOPE's effects were quite similar for boys and girls. Conclusions, implications, and recommendations point to the need for all parents of young children to have opportunities to develop their own effectiveness as mediators of their children's educational experiences over all the years of learning. (RH)