Posted on 06/09/2005 10:35:10 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Head Start helps poor, disadvantaged children narrow a gap in reading skills compared with other preschoolers, but the program doesn't help them catch up in math or their ability to comprehend what people say to them.
The findings, according to a government report released Thursday, were based on research in which the skills of 3- and 4-year-olds who had been in Head Start for a year were compared with those of children the same age outside the program.
"What these results suggest is that while this program has some benefits for kids, it can still be improved," said Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Researchers noted that, despite the improvements in some areas, they were not enough to close an achievement gap with children from households with higher incomes. One Head Start advocate said that nobody should have expected the gap to be closed.
"These are our nation's most disadvantaged children, and they face multiple and often severe barriers to learning," said Sarah Greene, president and CEO of the National Head Start Association, which represents about 2,700 local Head Start programs. "One year in Head Start cannot erase all of these barriers to learning."
More than 900,000 children from low-income families are enrolled in Head Start, a program that spends about $6.7 billion annually preparing them for kindergarten.
Greene described the study as proof the program works, but she noted that others "who have resolved to trash Head Start at every turn will twist this data to their ends." An association spokeswoman said Greene was referring to the Bush administration.
Horn said the administration hopes to use the study to make Head Start more efficient.
"What the study shows is that there certainly is a benefit to being in Head Start on some measures but not all measures, and where there are positive effects, the effects tend to be of small and moderate size," he said.
"Beyond that, you have to go to specific measures. When it come to naming letters of the alphabet, both 3- and 4-year-olds showed improvement, but if you looked at early math skills, neither 3- nor 4-year olds showed gains compared to the general population."
The study also found that parents of Head Start children were more likely than parents of disadvantaged children not in the program to report their child got dental care. They also were more likely to be reading to their kids.
"We see real evidence here that our focus on building stronger families is bearing fruit in more ways than getting these children ready to learn in school," Greene said.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., called the findings encouraging, saying they "show that even a year of Head Start is enough to cut some of the most serious achievement gaps in half between low-income children and other students."
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On the Net:
The report can be found at:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/impact_study/reports/first_yr_finds/ firstyr_finds_title.html
Too bad a Head Start-like program couldn't be used on House and Senate democrats to close the Great Divide between their ears.
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Maybe if ya throw more money at it.
Head Start has been around for 40 years or so. The head starters of that era produced the same dumb sperms that are now producing the same dumb sperms that will continue to produce the same dumb sperms! etc, etal etc. gawd!!
Head Start is another farce courtesy of LBJ. We need to nix it. Here's from another report on Head Start:
"A culturally and linguistically responsive approach to serving children and families honors family and individual uniqueness. While there are many values of the predominant culture, our challenge is to be sensitive to and respectful of all values."
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/celeb_culture/reports/diversity/diversity_ex_sum.html
Boondoggle.
Waste.
Money down rat hole.
LBJ did more damage to this country than even BJ Clinton, and they named a freakin' freeway after this guy here in Dallas.
What a crock of barbra streisand.........
My husband makes a decent living for where we live, but I haven't collected what would amount to anyone's idea of a reasonable paycheck in more than 6 years, so we are very far from the idea of "affluent"....yet our daughter, who will be 7 next month, excels at all the necessary things in school and NEVER attended Head Start.
Tomorrow is the last day of school - I'm actually going to give her an entie week break - but the first project we have planned for the summer is a multiplication table for the wall that can be moved around and used outside.
Parents who pay attention is all the "Head Start" any child needs.
I'm from Texas and I just want to say, I'm ashamed that LBJ came from Texas.
Does anyone ever wonder how they can prove such statistics? The same goes for stating that certain drugs decrease the risk of certain diseases. How do they know? Maybe the subjects would have or would not have contracted the disease anyway. So how can any of these studies be declared valid? In my book, they can't.
I have seen studies which show that involvement with Head Start DOES produce some academic gain. But the other students catch up by 3rd grade or so.
I've seen those studies, too. Another way of describing it is that Head Start kids do better at first, but it doesn't last.
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