A Short History of the Development of the PIAL Curriculum: Kate Goudy

Although there are many contributing and important people behind the Parenting: It’s a Life (PIAL) project, Kate Goudy is one such person who has been an important leadership figure. Over the years under her leadership, PIAL took major steps to become what it is today. When Kate joined the CWRTP project in October 2010, she noticed the potential of PIAL.

At the time she joined, the PIAL curriculum was limited to a white binder that was sent to schools to be used. Under her supervision, a group of graduate students did a phone survey assessment on the utility of the PIAL binder. She mentioned, “We learned that a lot of schools said, ‘I have it. It is over there on that shelf.’ So, they weren't using it on their own.” This assessment prompted the next step of PIAL—a need to get out there into the schools and help them facilitate the PIAL curriculum. “This started slowly,” Kate said. As PIAL facilitators visited schools, they soon found out that the curriculum needed to be more engaging and updated. For example, she mentioned that back then the PIAL survey was focused on national and Iowa statistics based on a video that students watched as part of the module. This was not the ideal way to measure curriculum impact on students. 

Kate recognized these issues which hindered the effectiveness of the PIAL project. As a result, she hired Jo Ann Lee as the program coordinator to focus on PIAL project development. This resulted in improvements in the curriculum, the surveys, the research potential, and other initiatives such as offering a teen dating violence simulation. Additionally, the PIAL team has grown as well with the addition of new staff and undergraduate students. Kate mentioned that her role with PIAL has shifted. Now she considers her role as supportive toward helping “Jo Ann and Rhonda to figure out where they should put their energy.”

Currently, Kate said she is excited for the direction PIAL is heading. Also, her long-lasting dream to extend and pilot a “PIAL College Years” curriculum for the age group 18-22 is coming closer to the launch phase. She said, “No other state is doing this in the nation, and it will be really nice niche for the state of Iowa. We plan to make it so it could be duplicated in other states.” 

Without a doubt, Kate has worked hard to plan for and develop the PIAL project. Thank you, Kate, for your vision and support for PIAL!