Probably the most significant change to the program will be the major increase in dosage (time spent in the program). So what made it into the final regulation released yesterday? Here are some highlights: HHS released their proposed standards last summer and New America submitted comments, available here. With the 2007 reauthorization, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was tasked with updating the Head Start Performance Standards that all Head Start programs must follow. The Head Start participants followed in the Impact Study and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were in Head Start a long time ago, and since then the program has made positive changes to improve quality.Īnd yesterday, the Obama Administration announced that Head Start is going to see it’s arguably most sweeping overhaul yet. The Head Start program has changed a lot since it was first implemented over 50 years ago. Some Head Start providers might be more effective than others, but overall, these studies show that the program is doing what LBJ intended: giving children in poverty a head start on their future. These studies are further proof that Head Start works. Head Start is often held up as the nation’s original two-generation program because it supports participants and their parents- this study suggests that Head Start could be indirectly benefitting a third generation down the road. To measure these investments, the researchers looked at the frequency of positive parenting practices, such as reading to their child or showing physical affection. They found that Head Start alumni appear to invest more in their own children years later. This study also considered the effect of Head Start on participants’ children. These gains were especially prominent for black participants. The study also shows that Head Start increases students’ self control and positively contributes to participants’ self-esteem. Among Hispanic participants, Head Start participation increased the likelihood of postsecondary credential completion by approximately 15 percentage points. The results show that, compared to siblings who did not attend the program, Head Start participants were more likely to graduate from high school and more likely to have attended college or received a postsecondary degree or certificate. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a survey that has tracked a multi-generational representative sample since 1979, the study compares Head Start children with their siblings who either went to a different type of pre-K or who did not attend any program. Their new economic analysis extends what we know about the long-term impacts of Head Start even beyond middle school. The second study comes from the Hamilton Project at Brookings. Unfortunately, the study did not show the same positive results in reading scores - the researchers noted that this may be because students’ home environments play a bigger role with reading skills than math skills These students had higher state math test scores and were significantly less likely to repeat a grade or be chronically absent. The study found measurable positive effects for girls, Hispanic students, white students, and students who were eligible for the free and reduced-price lunch program who participated in the CAP program. ![]() Georgetown just released a study on Tulsa’s Community Action Project (CAP) Head Start program that finds the positive effects of the program last through the 7th grade. Since the Head Start Impact Study was released in 2010, the program has come under scrutiny because the study found that the modest gains participants made on select school readiness indicators after one year of program participation faded by the end of first and third grade.Įven though other studies have found that Head Start participants experience long-term benefits well beyond third grade, and multiple researchers have dug into the Head Start Impact Study data to figure out what exactly makes some programs more effective than others, critics have been stuck on what they see as disappointing results of the Impact Study.īut two recent studies may further help to change this narrative. ![]() Head Start, the nation’s oldest and largest early education program, has been making headlines over the last few weeks- in a good way.
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