This paper, a session proposal for a rural and small schools conference, reports on a project undertaken by 166 parents and staff of South Carolina's Target 2000 Parent Education Program to assess the effectiveness of the program's design and implementation process. The main research question studied concerned what were found to be the most effective parent education strategies for involving parents of at-risk preschool children in activities designed to strengthen the parent's status as their children's primary teachers. Through parent and staff interviews and questionnaires, it was found that the most effective parent program practices included: (1) using parent education activities that strengthened the family's literacy environment; (2) carrying out home visits that included both school readiness activities and services based on the individual needs of families; (3) involving parents in both parent-child literacy experiences and adult education; (4) using interagency and community resources to effectively meet parent and family needs; and (5) planning with parents in order to meet various family needs. (MDM)