Frequently Asked Questions
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What is Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors (AP)?
AP is a program developed by and for Latino parent who have children 0- 5 years of age.
Why was AP created?
It aims to improve the outcomes of the nation’s Latino children by building the capacity and confidence of parents to be strong and powerful advocates in the lives of their children.
Is it evidenced-based?
AP was carefully developed and field tested over 5 years. It is evidence-based, evaluated by UC Berkeley using pre/post surveys and focus groups with more than 1000 parents. To read the full national evaluation report describing AP’s impact on Latino parents click here.
How is AP different?
The Latino values, concerns, and culture became embedded in the content making AP culturally and linguistically relevant. The curriculum is available in English and Spanish.
What are some of AP’s unique features?
Popular Education Mythology
Through popular education, participants in AP build connections between their everyday life experiences, larger social issues that concern them and actions they decide to take that will yield positive consequences for their families.
The goal of popular education is to support participants to critically consider their reality and that of their family and community and take action about issues that affect them.
The accumulation of day to day learning is the core of popular education and AP respects this learning response as a continual lifelong process and recognizes that parents have accumulated life experiences and knowledge that serve as assets.
The Praxis Process
Action: Parents' decisions and commitments are put into practice. Change in behavior occurs and new habits are practiced that positively impact participants, their family and community.
Information: Parents receive process and dialogue about new information that creates new knowledge.
Reflection: Parents reflect on how this information (new knowledge) is relevant and connects to the lives and concerns of parents in a way that allows them to critically consider their reality.
Analysis: Parents analyze & further explore an issue using research, local data and examining solution-orientated responses to the issue. What do we know for sure? What would make a difference?
Awareness: Parents embrace that they are agents of change. They are aware that individuals and communities are a wealthy source of knowledge and are capable and responsible for taking action that will lead to positive outcomes. Solution-orientated options are considered and discussed and decisions and commitments made.
Is the implementation of AP flexible?
Topics are dedicated to weekly sessions that span 10 weeks; although it can be achieved in shorter time (6 weeks) if meeting occurs twice a week. It has been designed to be used as a supplemental tool to further enhance what you already have in place or it can be used alone as the primary resource.
How well does AP align with the PFC framework?
AP strongly aligns with the PFC framework. Two to six of AP’s sessions cover each of the required outcomes.
How does AP support School Readiness?
AP can be implemented as a supplemental tool to address each of the domain elements. Two to four of AP’s sessions cover each of the required domains. AP provides parents basic but critical knowledge they can use daily to take positive action to support their children’s healthy development and education. School readiness and parent advocacy are promoted by addressing best practices in these topics (among others):
- Language Development
- Bilingualism
- Early Literacy
- Health
- Socio-Emotional Wellness
- Parent Leadership & Planning for Family Success