Guide to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth

HEAD START

OVERVIEW

The Head Start program is a national subsidy program which provides funding for preschool programs which are designed to help prepare children socially and cognitively for the start of elementary school. Experimental evaluations of Head Start found that the program was effective in increasing early cognitive development in the areas of reading, writing, and vocabulary. Mixed results were found with respect to children’s social and emotional development and functioning. Mixed results were also found relating to children’s health in areas such as health insurance access and health status and behaviors.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: Children ages 3-5 who live in economically disadvantaged families

The Head Start program is a nationwide government program which provides grants to agencies which provide services for school readiness in areas which are economically disadvantaged. Funding from the Head Start program helps provide services which enable children in economically disadvantaged families to attend programs which will help them develop the social and cognitive skills necessary to succeed at primary school. The average nationwide cost for each child in Head Start is $4,534. The average cost of the Head Start family child care home program was $9,046 per child.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Puma, M., Bell, S., Cook, R., Heid, C., & Lopez, M. (2005). Head Start impact study: First year findings. Final Report. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. Washington, DC.

Evaluated population: 2,559 three-year-old and 2,108 four-year-old children were recruited from 84 randomly selected Head Start agencies across 23 states. The sample was approximately 26% white, 28% black, 40% Hispanic, and 6% other ethnicity. Approximately 11% of the families in the study were receiving TANF benefits and 12% of families had an income of less than $500 per month.

Approach: Parents who were applying for the Head Start program were randomly assigned to either the Head Start intervention group or a control group. Parents and children in the control group did not receive Head Start services but were permitted to seek out other support services on their own, including preschools very similar to Head Start. Children were assessed on measures of cognitive skills, social-emotional development, physical health, and parenting practices.

Results: Children in the Head Start condition had slightly higher scores on measures of pre-reading and pre-writing skills than children in the control condition. Three-year-old treatment children also had somewhat higher vocabulary skills. Parents of children in the Head Start condition also rated them as having more developed literacy skills. The intervention did not have any impacts on oral comprehension, phonological awareness, or early mathematics skills.

3-year old children in the study had lower levels of problem behaviors compared with their counterparts in the control condition. This program impact was not observed in the 4-year-old age group. The intervention did not have any impacts on social skills or social competencies for either 3 or 4-year-olds.

Parents of 3-year old children in the intervention reported that their children had better health status than children in the control group. This program impact was not found for 4-year-old children. Parents of 3 and 4-year-old children in the Head Start intervention reported that their children had better access to dental care compared with children in the control condition.

Parents of 3 and 4-year-old children in the intervention condition reported more frequent reading to the child compared with those in the control condition. Parents of 3-year-old children in the intervention condition reported that they used less physical discipline compared with parents in the control group. This program impact was not found for parents of 4-year-olds. No impacts on safety practices were found.

Faddis, B. J., Ahrens-Gray, P., & Klein, E. L. (2000). Evaluation of Head Start family child care demonstration. Final Report. US Department of Health and Human Services. Commissioners Office of Research and Evaluation and Head Start Bureau. Portland, OR: RMC Research Corp.

Evaluated population: 972 families with 4-year old children who were recruited from a nationally representative set of Head Start sites in the Midwest, West coast, Southeast, Southwest, Northeast, and the Great Plains. 37.3% of these children were white, 30.0% were African-American, 25.0% were Hispanic, 3.5% were Asian, 2.1% were Native American, and 2.2% were of some other race. 53% of families in the evaluation were single-parent families. The mean family income was $12,000 and over 70% of families were receiving public assistance.

Approach: To qualify for the study, each family had to have a child who was 4 years old and in the year prior to entering kindergarten. In addition, parents had to be working, in job training, or in school. Parents were recruited to participate in the study by each of the 18 individual agency sites. After meeting study criteria, children were randomly assigned to the Head Start family child care home program intervention condition or a center based control condition in which children attended classroom sessions. Children were evaluated at entry into the study, after their Head Start year, and at 1-year kindergarten follow-up on measures of cognitive development, social and emotional development, and physical development.

Results: Children in the Head Start family child care condition were rated higher by teachers on a measure of cognitive development than children in the classroom conditions. Children in the family child care condition were rated higher on music and movement skills than children in the classroom condition. There were no differences between children in the family child care condition and the classroom condition on tests of cognitive development. The intervention and control condition children did not differ on measures of adaptive behavior, or social-emotional outcomes. At the kindergarten 1-year follow-up interval, children in both conditions performed equally well on measures of cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

Website: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/hsb/

References

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: 4 years / Program age ranges in the Guide: early childhood

Program components child care/early childhood education; provider-based; parent or family component

Measured outcomes: education and cognitive development; social and emotional health and development; physical health; behavioral problems

Program information last updated 5/11/07