A closer look at the effectiveness of early childhood education in at-risk families

Various reviews and meta-analyses provide heterogeneous but predominantly positive assessments of programs for early child care and education. Against this background, the crucial point is whether and under what conditions a program exhibits effects in a certain target group. This question is examined in the present article at the example of the program Parents as Teachers (PAT) in at-risk families. Based on five systematically selected studies, the analyses show that PAT is effective with weak to medium effect sizes and that only implementations in accordance with the program’s manual will demonstrate effectiveness.