Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Parent Institute for Quality Education

in Los Angeles Unified School District

September 2003 to May 2004

Evaluation Report

Janet Chrispeels, Margarita González, and Brenda Arellano

Gevirtz Graduate School of Education

University of California, Santa Barbara

July 2004

In September 2003, the Parent Institute for Quality Education asked faculty in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to evaluate the effectiveness of the PIQE 9-week parent education program using an experimental design.  This report presents a brief background on PIQE, the methods used in the study, the results from the treatment and control groups, and concludes with a recommendation that the PIQE program continue to be offered by LAUSD schools based on the strong positive effects of the program on parent participants knowledge, beliefs and practices to support their children's education.  We found that the effect sizes of the PIQE program are larger than reported in those found in other similar programs.  In addition, PIQE is also highly effective in attracting large numbers of Latino parents to its programs.