This intensive parent-child education initiative produced big benefits for Texas families. Here’s how.

A new study from Rice University's Kinder Institute found that AVANCE's free, nine-month Parent-Child Education Program (PCEP) delivers real, lasting benefits for Texas families. Children gained the equivalent of months of extra development. Parents grew more confident and kept teaching at home long after the program ended.

PCEP runs for nine months and offers weekly three-hour sessions. Parents attend child development classes, toy-building workshops, and receive personalized home visits. At the same time, children take part in an early childhood program focused on language, thinking skills, and motor development. The program is free and serves mostly lower-income and Latino families with children under age 4. AVANCE operates in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and the Rio Grande Valley — and has served Houston-area families since 1988. About 3,300 adults and children enrolled in PCEP during the 2025–26 school year.

If you have a child under 4, you can look into PCEP directly through AVANCE. If you work with a school district, Head Start, or Early Head Start program, ask whether your organization has a partnership with AVANCE or could explore one. Educators and community leaders can also learn more about how AVANCE licenses its curriculum to other organizations. And if you're simply a curious neighbor, sharing what you've learned about this program with families of young children could make a real difference.

No fixed date

Not location-specific

PCEP connects to Houston's early childhood ecosystem in a direct way. AVANCE has operated here since 1988. The program aligns with local Head Start and Early Head Start efforts, school district family engagement goals, and broader work around economic mobility for lower-income families. The Kinder Institute — based at Rice University in Houston — plans to keep tracking participating families through Texas school and employment records to see whether early gains carry forward into the long run.

Early childhood is a critical window. PCEP is built on one simple idea: parents are their children's first teachers. When parents learn alongside their kids, the benefits don't stop when the program does. The study found that most developmental gains actually grew after families finished PCEP — because parents kept applying what they learned at home. That's a rare outcome. Most programs see their gains fade over time.