Mixed Reviews on Head Start Study

Mixed Reviews on Head Start Study

Last week the federal government released "Head Start Impact Study: First Year Findings," which includes results of the first year of Head Start attendance in 2002 of 3- and 4-year old children. The results were treated to quite different spins by proponents and opponents of Head Start.

A Department of Health and Human Services press release offered this interpretation of the results:

"The report...indicates that while children in Head Start reap positive benefits, on most measures Head Start graduates and enrollees continue to lag significantly behind children from economically advantaged families."

A press release from Congressman George Miller, on the other hand, interpreted the results as follows:

"Rep. George Miller (D-CA) today welcomed a new report on the Head Start program from the Department of Health and Human Services, noting that the report documents the important role that Head Start makes in closing the achievement gap between poor children and their more advantaged peers. Notably the report shows that, in less than one school year, Head Start was able to nearly cut in half the achievement gap in pre-reading skills and resulted in parents reading to their children more often -- two factors that, according to researchers, lead to later success in school...This report joins an overwhelming body of research that clearly shows that children who attend Head Start are better prepared to succeed in school than they would be if they had not attended the program."

To form your own opinion on the results, you can access the full report at:

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/acf_news.html

After you have reviewed this report, share your opinion with the early childhood community in the Sound Off feature of our web site at http://mail.ccie.com/go/eed/0645

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