Head Start

Background

Directed by the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start is a comprehensive early childhood program primarily for children of age 3–4. Initiated as 8-week summer programs in 1965, such summer programs were phased out by 1983 and Head Start had expanded to a year-round program. Head Start’s programmatic educational philosophy has consistently emphasized the whole child, including nutrition and other health services, early childhood education curricula, social services for children and parents, and parental involvement.

The program is most similar to a traditional, high-quality preschool program typically afforded children of families whose funds permit enrollment of their children in enriched early learning or cognitively stimulating childcare programs. Head Start also, in its emphasis on school readiness for reading and math, attempts to reduce inequalities that often exist between lower- and upper income children.

With a budget of US$8.6 billion for Fiscal Year 2014, the program served 872,530 children, aged 3–4 (another 172,614 children, ages 0–3, are served in the Early Head Start program) at an average cost per child of US$9,272.43. Beyond broad guidelines, eligibility is locally determined. Children must be aged 3–5, and at least 90% of a local program’s enrollees must be from families that have incomes at or below the poverty level or who are receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Most participating families are single-parent families, and nearly 12% of the children have handicapping disabilities.

Influence on Individual Development

The first evaluation research emphasized only child IQ outcomes for the Head Start summer programs. This national evaluation of Head Start, commissioned during President Nixon’s administration, was conducted by the Westinghouse Learning Corporation and published in 1969. It was determined that parents strongly supported the program and that the cognitive gains, measured by IQ tests, made by Head Start children were lost on entry into elementary school. Continued support for the Head Start program became increasingly dependent on scientific studies with Head Start-eligible children. In 1982, for example, Irving Lazar and Richard Darlington published a monograph on the lasting effects of early education using pooled data from 12 independently designed preschool studies with completed follow-up components. Findings indicated favorable impacts on family-related variables, including maternal attitudes toward school performance and vocational aspirations for children. Significant gains in children’s IQ scores were not reported, although advances beyond control participants in school achievement scores were found. Like Head Start programs, these programs were characterized by significant parental education components as well as defined preschool educational curricula for the children. However, quality implementation was assured in these programs.

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