The Impact of Head Start Programs

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the impact of head start programs on the preschooler's cognitive skills, math skills and language and literacy skills when entering kindergarten. The paper reviews various articles discussing the success of head start programs and provides the results found in each study. It discusses the implications of the research findings.

From the Paper:

"This report relates the fact that the children who attend Head Start are lagging behind others in school readiness and that this is believed to be due to the fact that some of these programs are not of the quality needed to "maximize children's growth in language, cognitive and social skills. Technical assistance and support for local programs are needed to assure that Head Start teachers use effective instructional practices likely to promote school readiness." (Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Head Start Accountability and Educational Performance Measures Final Report, 2007) The Early Head Start Research and Evaluation project is stated to be a "rigorous, large-scale, random-assignment evaluation of Early Head Start designed to carry out the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers for a strong research and evaluation component to support continuous improvement within the Early Head Start program." (Administration for Children and Families, 2007)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Waldfogel, Jane (2007) What the Children Need. The Family and Public Policy - Harvard Edition World.
• Executive Summary of Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Head Start Accountability and Educational Performance Measures Final Report (2007)
• Sadowski, Michael (2006) The School Readiness Gap. Harvard Education Letter July/August 2006. Online available at: http://www.edletter.org/past/issues/2006-ja/readinessgap.shtml.
• Bolson, M.; Garcia, VC; Steinhaus, KA (2006) Implementing the Pre-Kindergarten Act: Progress Report. Online available at: http://www.ped.state.nm.us/prek/downloads/03036/PreK%20Progress%20Report_Jan2006final.doc.
• Quality Pre-Kindergarten: Summary of Research Findings (2006) Online available at: http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:cVzJazNIRgYJ:www.pde.state.pa.us/early_childhood/lib/early_childhood/Summary_Pre-School_-_October_2006.pdf+The+Impact+of+Head+Start+Programs+on+cognitive+skills,+math+skills,+language+skills+as+it+relates+to+preschooler+entering+Kindergarten&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us

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