The History of HIPPY

HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) originated in Israel in the late 1960s as a research and demonstration project at the NCJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, supported by the Ford Foundation.

The program was developed by Avima D. Lombard, an immigrant from the United States and researcher at the Institute who had previously served as an Evaluation Coordinator for Head Start while completing her doctoral studies at UCLA. At the time, Israeli researchers had long been concerned about persistent differences in school achievement between children from long-established Israeli communities and those from families who had immigrated from North African and Asian countries—differences that remained evident even though many children from immigrant families attended Israeli preschools.

Researchers increasingly recognized that these disparities were linked to differences in language, cultural expectations, and familiarity with the learning practices of Israeli schools. As Lombard later explained, the Institute believed that meaningful change could occur by focusing on the home environment—both enriching children’s early learning experiences and strengthening parents’ confidence in their role as educators in the home.