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This article examines efforts by organizations and states to describe the competencies of a parent educator, to explain what parent educators teach parents through parent education, and to show how that informs parent educator competencies. It summarizes examples of certification, licensure, and other accountability programs, and identifies the issues involved, along with ways practitioners can use these identified competencies to assess their level of competency. Finally, the article concludes with a call to continue developing certification and other accountability programs to insure quality in parent education. (Contains 1 figure.)

Parenting education programs have traditionally consisted of teaching skills and providing information about child development, but have not focused on parents' own development as individuals and as parents. The Reflective Dialogue Parent Education Design (RDPED) described in this article helps parents increase their self-awareness and their beliefs and goals as parents. The authors provide a rationale for their approach and the theory underlying their program. They describe two frameworks for conceptualizing parent development: (1) parent-child interaction themes, which focus on parents' goals and actions and the deep motivations underlying them; and (2) parental perspectives, which focuses on parents' views of themselves, their child, and their parent-child relationship. The program developers view parenting as a process of developmental growth and recognize that parents' ideas about their children, their role as parents, and the parent-child relationship change as parents come to know and understand their own personal growth and that of their child. The RDPED classes involve reflective dialogue, scaffolding, and viewing videotaped interactions to guide discussion to help parents think critically about what they can do to strengthen their relationships with their children.

Compared thinking processes and knowledge of five expert and seven novice mothers of infants. Interview data and verbal protocols obtained through three data collection approaches indicated differences in the knowledge, goals, role beliefs, and behaviors as well as cue recognition and interpretation of experts and novices. Findings have implications for parent education programs.(Author/NB)

Discusses two major areas to consider related to parenthood education for adolescents: course or curriculum design and delivery and course assessment. (JOW)

Describes social support as a significant resource for individuals and family members encountering stress. Presents a definition of social support and an instrument, the Social Support Inventory, to measure two dimensions of social support: kind of support, such as emotional, esteem, network, appraisal and altruistic; and source of support, such as friends, family, religious and other groups. (Author/KS)

Intent statements of 795 parent education programs were analyzed for identification of the valued end discussed in the statement and the intended object for the valued end. Results are discussed regarding implications for applying the methodology to other areas of home economics and to the study of the valued ends field. (JOW)

In a comparison of cognitive processes and knowledge structures of expert and novice parents, interview data and verbal records were collected during two visits to five expert and seven novice mothers of infants. Results indicate clear differences between experts and novices in goals for the child, parent role, problem solving, and cue recognition and interpretation. (JOW)

To meet the changing needs of families, today's parent education professionals must be prepared adequately with skills and knowledge; yet, through teaching methods and a regard for learning science that ensures quality outcomes. This article describes the redevelopment and delivery of an online graduate program for parent educators; one that integrates four principles of learning based on contemporary research and a curriculum built around professional competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]