Our Mission

Parents as Teachers promotes the optimal early development, learning and health of children by supporting and engaging their parents and caregivers.

What We Do

Parents as Teachers National Center is a nonprofit with a focus on the earliest years of life. We help other nonprofits implement evidence-based programs that improve the learning and health outcomes of children and families. While our business mainly revolves around the training, support and replication of our home visiting program nationally, we also have a small public policy team to help maintain and influence public decisions that keep our affiliates sustainable.

Research and Quality Internship/Practicum

Parents as Teachers offers multiple internship opportunities typically for public health and social work graduate students with the Research and Evaluation Department at the Parents as Teachers National Center in St. Louis. Parents as Teachers National Center not only focuses on enhancing child development but the wellness of the child and the entire family. A sample of projects that interns may assist with are below.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Conduct literature and evidence reviews on the impact of home visiting models both specific to Parents as Teachers and general to the field and document themes and outcomes related to parenting practice, parent-child interaction, child development, family engagement, community engagement, and more

• Provide data collection and evaluation technical assistance to affiliates
• Data collection, entry and management
• Assist with analyzing and summarizing data
• Dissemination products such as reports, fact sheets, and presentations

Project Descriptions:

Affiliate Satisfaction Survey

Parents as Teachers is working to annually track important priorities identified by the Advisory Board and PATNC Strategic Framework. These priorities help us gain a better understanding of how our affiliates operate throughout the year, both independently and in coordination with the National Center. They also help us identify any changes in affiliate needs from year to year. We assess these needs through the Affiliate Satisfaction Survey, where affiliates self-report their responses on an annual basis.

The specific tasks assigned to an intern will depend on our current needs. These tasks may include:

• Participating in weekly calls with supervising staff members
• Assisting in updating survey for annual launch and/or revision
• Communicating with different departments to assess their needs
• Data collection and management/cleaning
• Assisting with analyzing and summarizing the data
• Writing fact sheets summarizing research/evaluation findings
• Assisting in preparing for presentations/meetings, including opportunities to lead, facilitate, or assist during such presentations/meetings

Note: this is an annual opportunity to work on the project at different stages, with openings available from November to July.

Affiliate Performance Report (APR), Internship I

Parents as Teachers is seeking to gain a better understanding of affiliate patterns, changes, and support needs through the use of the annual Affiliate Performance Report (APR). The APR is a self-report provided by affiliates that outlines the services they have delivered throughout each program year. It also serves as a tool to assess affiliate adherence to the agreed upon 21 Essential Requirements. Adherence to these requirements determines the Model Fidelity status of each affiliate and plays a role in our QEIP assessment for determining Blue Ribbon awards.

We have collected Affiliate Performance Report data at various timepoints, and a cleaned and regularly maintained longitudinal APR dataset is currently available for program years 2017-2018 through 2022-2023. Data collection is ongoing and occurs at the conclusion of each program year. We have already conducted some descriptive statistical analysis and exploratory predictive modeling on the collected data. However, there remains a vast amount of untapped data that holds great potential. We are highly interested in producing further publications utilizing this dataset.

As an intern, your specific duties will vary depending on our needs. They may include:

• Participating in weekly calls with supervising staff members
• Managing and cleaning the data
• Recoding the data
• Assisting with analyzing and summarizing the data
• Writing fact sheets summarizing research and evaluation findings
• Assisting in preparing for presentations/meetings, including opportunities to lead, facilitate, or assist during such presentations/meetings

Note: this is an ongoing opportunity to work on the current longitudinal APR dataset (2017-2023), with openings available throughout the year.

Affiliate Performance Report (APR), Internship II

Parents as Teachers is currently conducting an evaluation of affiliate patterns, changes, and support needs through the use of the annual Affiliate Performance Report (APR). The APR is a self-assessment conducted by affiliates to report on the services provided during each program year and to ensure compliance with the 21 Essential Requirements. Adherence to these requirements determines affiliate Model Fidelity status and aids in our QEIP assessment for granting Blue Ribbon awards. We have gathered data at various timepoints and currently have data available for program years 2017-2018 through 2022-2023. As data collection is an ongoing process, this internship offers an excellent opportunity to gain practical experience in data management. The specific responsibilities of the intern will be determined based on our needs, but may include:

• Participating in weekly calls with supervising staff members
• Data management/cleaning using Excel, Stata and/or SPSS
  • Including data coding, recoding, logs and other files to maintain detailed records for validity and replication purposes using Stata and/or SPSS
• Assisting with analyzing and summarizing data in a rapid turnaround window
  • Assisting with tracing data errors and red flags and resolving related issues
• Assisting in preparing for presentations/meetings, including opportunities to lead, facilitate, or assist during such presentations/meetings

Note: this is an annual opportunity to work on each completion of the APR cycle, with openings available in Fall and Winter Semesters.

Virtual Foundational and Model Implementation Training Survey (VFMI Survey) 

Parents as Teachers successfully implemented a swift transition to fully virtual training in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data has been collected at various time intervals, including a 3-month and 1-year follow-up survey (VFMI survey) conducted from June 2020 to December 2022. This comprehensive dataset has been utilized to extract descriptive statistics, qualitative recommendations, and potential concerns. Additionally, a preliminary analysis has been conducted using two-sample t-tests to assess trainee knowledge and skill retention over time. While the data collection phase has concluded, there are still ample opportunities to further analyze this dataset. These opportunities include analyzing the qualitative data and comparing the outcomes of on-ground and virtual training. Parents as Teachers has a keen interest in producing additional publications to evaluate the outcomes achieved during different stages of this project.

The responsibilities of an intern will be tailored to meet specific needs, which may include the following:

• Participate in regular calls with supervising staff members
• Manage and clean the dataset
• Assist with data analysis and summarization
• Bilingual Spanish-speaking interns have the opportunity to evaluate the results of the subsampled Spanish-survey cohort
• Create fact sheets that succinctly summarize research and evaluation findings
• Provide support in preparing for presentations and meetings
• There are also opportunities to independently lead, facilitate, or assist during such presentations and meetings.

Supporting families experiencing mental health challenges

Parents as Teachers is working to better understand how home visiting can support families experiencing mental health challenges. From best practices in conducting screening, to connecting to services, to adding mental health services within home visiting. The specific duties of an intern will depend on the needs. Intern may:

• Participate in monthly/quarterly calls with researchers or implementing agencies.
• Support the development of a theory of change/logic model for the project.
• Conduct literature review of research related to families experiencing mental health challenges for families with children under the age of 5.
• Conduct a content analysis of Parents as Teachers curricula and resources supporting this topic.
• Develop surveys or interviews to learn from organizations implementing Parents as Teachers.
• Write fact sheets summarizing research/evaluation findings.
• Assist in preparing for and attend presentations/meetings.

Supporting and engaging fathers in home visiting

Parents as Teachers is working to better understand how home visiting can support and engage fathers in services. The specific duties of an intern will depend on the needs. Intern may:

• Participate in monthly/quarterly calls with researchers or implementing agencies.
• Support the development of a theory of change/logic model for the project.
• Conduct literature review of research related to engaging fathers in home visiting or other systems supporting families with children under the age of 5.
• Conduct a content analysis of Parents as Teachers curricula and resources supporting this topic.
• Develop surveys or interviews to learn from organizations implementing Parents as Teachers.
• Write fact sheets summarizing research/evaluation findings.
• Assist in preparing for and attend presentations/meetings.

Supporting families experiencing substance use disorder

Parents as Teachers is working to better understand how home visiting can support families experiencing substance use disorder. From best practices in conducting screening, to connecting to services. The specific duties of an intern will depend on the needs. Intern may:

• Participate in monthly/quarterly calls with researchers or implementing agencies.
• Support the development of a theory of change/logic model for the project.
• Conduct literature review of research related to families experiencing substance use disorder for families with children under the age of 5.
• Conduct a content analysis of Parents as Teachers curricula and resources supporting this topic.
• Develop surveys or interviews to learn from organizations implementing Parents as Teachers.
• Write fact sheets summarizing research/evaluation findings.
• Assist in preparing for and attend presentations/meetings.

Supporting immigrant families

Parents as Teachers is working to better understand how home visiting can support immigrant families in the early years of their child(ren)’s life. The specific duties of an intern will depend on the needs. Intern may:

• Participate in monthly/quarterly calls with researchers or implementing agencies.
• Support the development of a theory of change/logic model for the project.
• Conduct literature review of research related to supporting immigrant families in home visiting or other systems supporting families with children under the age of 5.
• Conduct a content analysis of Parents as Teachers curricula and resources supporting this topic.
• Develop surveys or interviews to learn from organizations implementing Parents as Teachers.
• Write fact sheets summarizing research/evaluation findings.
• Assist in preparing for and attend presentations/meetings.

Tribal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visitation

Parents as Teachers is one of the approved evidence-based home visiting models that is implemented in the Tribal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. The specific duties of an intern will depend on the needs. Interns may:

• Participate in monthly/quarterly calls with Tribal MIECHV funders or implementing agencies.
• Create an inventory of evaluation activities underway for PAT Tribal MIECHV implementing agencies.
• Conduct interviews or implement surveys to understand Tribal MIECHV implementation agencies experience with evaluation and interest in future research projects.
• Write fact sheets summarizing research/evaluation findings.
• Assist in preparing for and attend presentations/meetings.

State Office Annual Report (SOAR)

Parents as Teachers is actively seeking a comprehensive understanding of how State Offices provide their support to affiliates throughout the year, both independently and in collaboration with other organizations. This pivotal support is evaluated on an annual basis through State Office self-reported responses on the State Office Annual Report, which examines the spectrum of services offered and assesses the State Office’s capacity to adhere to the 26 Essential Responsibilities. The extent of an intern’s responsibilities will be contingent upon the specific needs identified.

The potential range of tasks for the intern may encompass:

• Participate in weekly calls with supervising staff members
• Assist in updating survey for annual launch and/or revision
• Data collection and management/cleaning
• Assist with analyzing and summarizing data
• Flag potential data or survey issues for the attention of the supervising staff members
• Write fact sheets summarizing research/evaluation findings
• Assist in preparing for presentations/meetings
• Including opportunities to lead, facilitate, or assist during such presentations/meetings

Note: this is an annual opportunity to work on the project at different stages, with openings available from December to June.

Education and/or Experience:

Enrolled in a Master’s program for social work, public health, psychology, or education.

Computer Skills:

To perform this job successfully, an individual should have proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and knowledge of SPSS desired but not required.

Language Skills:

• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations.
• Ability to analyze, synthesize, and summarize information accurately and clearly.
• Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals.
• Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.

Work Environment:

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

**Please note that this internship will evolve as Parents as Teachers National Center opportunities evolve. This intern experience description is not intended to limit the experience to items listed on this page. As the student identifies areas that he/she would like to grow in, we will make every effort to ensure that they gather the desired experience(s) necessary to be successful in their careers.

APPLICATION INFORMATION

Interested candidates should download the Internship & Practicum Interest Form. Send completed Interest Form and Resume/Curriculum Vitae to jobs@parentsasteachers.org.