Head Start: Research That Builds On Its Strong Foundation

Program Performance | Improvement Strategies | Quality Enhancements | Training and Technical Assistance | Early Head Start

Head Start has long served as a national laboratory for studying children living in low-income families and the home and care environments that nurture them. At Mathematica, we have collected and analyzed information related to Head Start and Early Head Start to help improve services for children and families.

Focusing on Program Performance

The Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), first launched in 1997 as a periodic, longitudinal study of program performance, remains Head Start's ongoing flagship research initiative. Mathematica's five-year study chronicles the 2006 cohort of approximately 3,500 3- and 4-year old children enrolled in 60 Head Start programs around the country. Each cohort is followed from entrance in the Head Start program through one or two years of program participation, with followup in the spring of kindergarten. The study describes the experiences of Head Start children and their families; the quality of Head Start classrooms; and the qualifications, credentials, and opinions of Head Start staff.

Recommending Improvement Strategies

The Head Start National Reporting System assesses the development of all Head Start children during the year before they enter kindergarten. During the initiative's first three years, Mathematica examined implementation quality and suggested strategies for system development. The work continues as we develop recommendations for improvements, extensions, and enhancements. We have visited over 140 Head Start programs to observe child assessments and interview program staff. We have also convened meetings of experts to review findings from the observation visits to recommend improvements. An initiative launched in 2006 is producing materials to assist programs in using child assessment data to improve program practice.

Identifying Quality Enhancements

The Head Start community has focused on program improvement and the development of innovative strategies for meeting the needs of children and families, on both a large and a small scale. Yet little is known about the effectiveness of these national, state, regional, and local strategies. Mathematica developed a set of research designs to help identify the most promising quality enhancement strategies.

Ensuring Quality Through Training and Technical Assistance

In 2003, Head Start implemented a new training and technical assistance (T/TA) system to help Head Start and Early Head Start grantees identify needs and access the appropriate resources. The system assists grantees in achieving compliance with performance standards, developing and implementing quality improvement plans, and creating annual T/TA plans. We are conducting a quality assurance study of the T/TA system to document and assess national, regional, and local program activities.

Examining Early Head Start at Its Inception

In our largest and most complex study to date, we evaluated the Early Head Start program, which extends the Head Start concept to pregnant women and low-income families with infants and toddlers. Our staff worked with a consortium of local researchers and program directors to implement a random assignment impact study in 17 sites; conduct a comprehensive implementation study; and evaluate the program, family, and community factors that influence the development of children from birth. Our assessments focused on family functioning and children's development at 14, 24, and 36 months. With our consortium partners, we also conducted follow-up interviews with parents at 6, 15, and 26 months after they joined the program, to assess families' service needs and use, as well as their health and employment outcomes. We have also assisted in analysis of data collected as these children prepared to make the transition from preschool to kindergarten.

Following the Path of Early Head Start Children

Over the next three years, we are supporting the fifth-grade round of data collection for the ongoing evaluation of Early Head Start. Approximately 1,900 children, their parents, and teachers in 17 sites across the country are participating over the next three years. Along with our research partners, we are selecting the measures to be used, designing and selecting the follow-up sample, developing data collection protocols, training field staff, and creating data files for use by the project team and by the larger research community.

Capturing the Current Early Head Start Program

Our current survey of Early Head Start programs continues this work, building on findings about the importance of program implementation and service approaches. Because low-income families tend to rely heavily on care provided by family, friends, and neighbors—"kith and kin caregivers"—we are evaluating the Early Head Start Enhanced Home Visiting pilot project, an initiative to improve the quality of care provided by kith and kin caregivers of Early Head Start children.

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