« Arizona S.U. Study Stings Charter Schools | Main | CA Unused Property as Real Estate Developments? »
June 15, 2005
Headstart Study Suggests Some Benefits, but Reporting Hits HS Hard
As a former kinder teacher, I believe strongly in the importance of 0-5 education, especially in disadvantaged communities and for English Language Learners. A recent study on HeadStart looks at student performance in five areas compared to national averages. Although the study appears somewhat favorable, reporting on the work itself has thrown a negative a spin on the issue. It's dissapointing to see the media harming a reasonably good, slowly progressing program through sensationalistic headlines.
NPR's report Head Start Study Suggests Minimal Benefits:
The results of a new large-scale study of the federal Head Start program suggest that in some areas, the childhood development program produces only minimal, short-term benefits. The findings are from the study's first phase. Program supporters say it's too early to draw conclusions.
Citation from the study itself (isn't the achievement gap what we're really working on here?). Head Start Impact Study First Year Findings, Executive Summary:
Comparing the skill levels of children in the Head Start Impact Study with those of the general population of 3- and 4-year-olds in the United States (including those who were not from low-income families) on the Woodcock-Johnson III Letter-Word Identification test showed that, after one year, the mean performance of Head Start children was still below the average performance level for all U.S. children, by about one-third of a standard deviation (about 5 points). However, at the end of one year, Head Start was able to nearly cut in half the achievement gap that would be expected in the absence of the program (as indicated by comparing the means for the Head Start and non-Head Start groups in Exhibit 4).
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation