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Early Childhood Policy Research
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 Mathematica evaluates programs designed to improve the well-being of young children and their families, particularly those at greatest risk in our society. The projects reviewed here illustrate the diversity of themes we address, the range of clients we serve, and the breadth of our early childhood and family research. Read more about our work in the early childhood area.
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Head Start Oral Health Initiative
 The prevalence of dental caries among low-income children is a health emergency.
A new report describes early implementation experiences of 52 Head Start grantees implementing oral health models to address this problem. Many used grant funds to hire staff with clinical dental experience. Most formed partnerships with dental professionals, local oral health coalitions, and advocacy groups to increase access to dental care for children and families. Education was central to the models. Read more about the study. |
New Study Looks at Early Head Start
 Mathematica's six-year descriptive study of Early Head Start will be a rich source of data describing the experiences of children and their families. Researchers will follow children from infancy to three years of age. Important data sources include direct child assessment and videotaped parent-child interactions; interviews with parents, teachers, home visitors, and program directors; and observations of the home environment and child care settings. Read more.
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Reports: |
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"Results from the ‘I Am Moving, I Am Learning’ Stage 1 Survey." Daniel Finkelstein, Robert Whitaker, Elaine Hill, Mary Kay Fox, Linda Mendenko, and Kimberly Boller, October 2007. The Head Start “I Am Moving, I Am Learning” initiative aims to prevent childhood obesity by increasing the time children spend in physical activity, improving the quality of these activities, and promoting healthy food choices. This report examines the extent to which grantees who participated in spring 2006 training implemented enhancements. Most tried to do so and chose enhancements related to physical activity and structured movement more often than enhancements related to nutrition. Most programs felt their implementation was successful, although only half had a written plan for implementation, so it is not clear if these efforts can be sustained.
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"Oral Health Promotion, Prevention, and Treatment Strategies for Head Start Families: Early Findings from the Oral Health Initiative Evaluation." Patricia Del Grosso, Amy Brown, Heather Zaveri, Sandra Silva, Beth Zimmerman, Anne Hopewell, and Diane Paulsell, September 2007. Dental caries is a chronic childhood disease that disproportionately affects children living in poverty.
This report describes early implementation experiences of 52 grantees implementing oral health models to address this problem. Many used grant funds to hire staff with clinical dental experience. Most formed partnerships with dental professionals, local oral health coalitions, and advocacy groups to increase access to dental care for children and families. Education was central to the models, which provided a range of support services, including transportation, translation, and systems for tracking services. Site Profiles
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"National Evaluation of Early Reading First: Final Report to Congress." Russell Jackson, Ann McCoy, Carol Pistorino, Anna Wilkinson, John Burghardt, Melissa Clark, Christine Ross, Peter Schochet, and Paul Swank, May 2007. The Early Reading First program provided grants that were designed to enhance teacher practices, instructional content, and classroom environments in preschools to ensure that young children, especially those from low-income families, start school with the skills needed for academic success. This report to Congress presents program impacts on children's language and literacy skills and on the instructional content and practices in preschool classrooms. The report notes that the program had positive, statistically significant impacts on several classroom and teacher outcomes and on children's print and letter knowledge. Executive Summary
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"Findings from the Survey of Early Head Start Programs: Communities, Programs, and Families." Cheri A. Vogel, Nikki Aikens, Andrew Burwick, Laura Hawkinson, Angela Richardson, Linda Mendenko, and Rachel Chazan-Cohen, December 2006. This report highlights information from a survey of Early Head Start programs that examined management structures and program services nationally. The report describes program approaches to service delivery, management and staffing, and partnerships. It also examines the characteristics of communities in which Early Head Start programs operate, the characteristics of enrolled families, and the wide range of services programs provide. The report draws upon qualitative information from in-depth site visits to elaborate and expand on survey findings.
More Reports
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Journal Articles: |
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“Parental Interactions with Latino Infants: Variation by Country of Origin and English Proficiency.” Natasha J. Cabrera, Jacqueline D. Shannon, Jerry West, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Child Development, September/October 2006. In 2001, Latino children represented 18 percent of the U.S. population 18 years of age and younger, with this percentage expected to rise during this century. This study examined variation in mother-infant interactions, father engagement, and infant cognition as a function of country of origin, socioeconomic status, and English language proficiency in a national sample of Latino infants born in the United States and living with both biological parents. Differences between Mexican-American infants, who had lower mother-infant interactions and less father physical play than did the other Latino infants, were associated with differences in acculturation (both parents' English proficiency). Indicators of acculturation and paternal reports of happiness with partner were associated with paternal engagement. Indicators of acculturation were also related to mother-infant interactions. Infant cognitive scores were associated with maternal interaction but not father engagement, and maternal but not paternal mental health.
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"Mother-Child Bookreading in Low-Income Families: Correlates and Outcomes During the First Three Years of Life." Helen Raikes, Gayle Luze, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, H. Abigail Raikes, Barbara Alexander Pan, Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda, Jill Constantine, Louisa Banks Tarullo, and Eileen T. Rodriguez, Child Development, July/August 2006. Although reading to preschoolers has been shown to influence their later language and cognitive development, few studies have examined these relationships for children under age 3. Researchers studied over 2,500 low-income English- and Spanish-speaking families across the country who were participating in the Early Head Start evaluation. About half of the mothers reported reading daily to their children, and frequency was higher among white mothers than other ethnic groups, as well as among mothers of girls, firstborn children, and children in the Early Head Start program. English-speaking mothers who read to their children at a very early age had 2-year-olds with greater language comprehension; larger, more expressive vocabularies; and higher cognitive scores. Spanish-speaking mothers who read to very young children every day had 3-year-olds with greater language and cognitive development. The researchers note that language-oriented interventions for vulnerable children should begin earlier than has been generally proposed.
More Journal Articles
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Issue Briefs: |
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"Reaching Out to Kith and Kin Caregivers in Early Head Start." Trends in Family Programs and Policy, Issue Brief #2. Diane Paulsell, Debra Mekos, Patricia Del Grosso, Patti Banghart, and Renée Nogales, April 2006. Although children's care before they enter school influences readiness in important ways, quality of care can vary widely. Low-income families tend to rely on family, friends, and neighbors—“kith and kin caregivers”—especially for infants and toddlers. The Enhanced Home Visiting Pilot Project, funded by the Head Start Bureau in 2004, supports the quality of care that kith and kin caregivers provide to infants and toddlers enrolled in home-based Early Head Start programs. This four-page issue brief describes characteristics of enrolled children, families, and caregivers. It also details early implementation experiences of pilot programs based on site visits after one year of operation. Full Report Appendix
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Quality prekindergarten can help provide children with the skills they need to succeed in school and later in life. As a result, states have begun to invest millions of dollars for state-funded early education programs. And they need to know if those investments are achieving the desired outcomes. The Pew Charitable Trusts launched the National Early Childhood Accountability Task Force in 2005. In fall 2007, the task force released its final report and recommendations for developing a comprehensive assessment system to improve the performance of early education programs. The following background papers were commissioned by the task force:
"Uses of Data on Child Outcomes and Program Processes in Early Childhood Accountability Systems: Assumptions, Challenges, and Consequences." John Love, September 2006. This paper examines a number of issues crucial in establishing state early childhood accountability systems. The author notes that these systems require careful consideration of who will be using the results and how the results are likely to be used. Challenges exist in attributing outcomes to program characteristics, implementing a large system with limited resources, and anticipating negative unintended consequences. The paper concludes with five actions that can lead to effective accountability.
"Measuring Children's Progress from Preschool Through Third Grade." Sally Atkins-Burnett, July 2007. Research in the past few decades illustrating the potential benefits of quality early childhood education has led to an increase in state-funded programming. This paper discusses measurement of child outcomes in the context of evaluating effectiveness of preschool programs and highlights ways in which this challenge is being addressed. Problems related to relying solely on traditional, on-demand standardized tests to assess achievement of young children are explained. The author notes that observational measures that span the preschool to elementary age range offer an alternative to direct testing. The use of these measures in formative evaluation efforts is discussed with the caution that high stakes should never be attached to these measures. Using a multimethod approach would provide a richer portrayal of children's performance. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of measuring classroom quality and recommendations for next steps.
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"Observations of Mother-Twin Interactions at 9 Months: User's Manual for the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) 9-Month Twin Triad Restricted-Use Data File." Nikki Aikens, Nana Kwakye, Amy Rathbun, Jennifer Park, and Jodi Jacobson Chernoff, 2007. This user's manual describes the design, instrumentation, coding methodology, and special issues pertaining to the twin triad data file from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort base year (9-month) data collection. Also included is information to help users access and use the twin triad data file in conjunction with the main ECLS-B restricted-use data files.
"Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) 9-Month Twin Triad Restricted-Use Data File." Nikki Aikens, Nana Kwakye, Amy Rathbun, Jennifer Park, and Jodi Jacobson Chernoff, 2007. This CD-ROM contains restricted-use base year (9-month data collection) twin triad data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). The twin triad data file contains data from a subsample of twins videotaped with their mothers during a teaching interaction. Triadic interactions are coded using the Parent Infant Coding Scheme coding system. The data file is accompanied by a record layout, SAS, SPSS, and Stata syntax files. The twin triad data file, when merged with the larger ECLS-B data set, can be used to investigate numerous research topics regarding twinship, child development, and maternal behaviors.
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