Report Says Head Start Children are Inadequately Prepared for School

GOPUSA ^ | June 10, 2003 | Jeremy Reynalds - Talon News

[yoe]

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- According to a report released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) titled "Strengthening Head Start: What the Evidence Shows," Head Start children are not adequately prepared for school, and those who have been in the program still enter kindergarten lagging far behind the typical American child in skills needed for school readiness.

Admittedly, the gap between Head Start children and the general population of pre-school age children does narrow during the Head Start year on key components of school readiness. And in addition, Head Start children do benefit from increased social skills as well as the health and other benefits delivered through the program.

But according to the report, Head Start students still enter kindergarten with very low average abilities in areas known to predict future school success. The report deals with specific areas known to improve school readiness and says skills could be better taught, especially if already-existing resources were used more effectively.

"Head Start needs to do better in helping children be ready to succeed in school," HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said. "Merely narrowing the readiness gap by a few points is not a real head start. These children are still too far from equal opportunity. All of us in the Head Start community need to set our sights higher."

Thompson said President Bush's plans for strengthening Head Start would bring about improvements preparing Head Start children for school. The proposals would enable states to integrate Head Start programs into their preschool preparedness efforts in order to make better use of resources.

These changes would build on efforts already underway to increase educational levels of Head Start teachers and hold each individual Head Start program more accountable for results, with technical assistance provided to programs that need improvement.

The report concludes that the 38-year-old program "is not eliminating the gap in educational skills and knowledge needed for school." According to the report, "Head Start is not fully achieving its stated purpose of promoting school readiness ... Indeed, these low-income children continue to perform significantly below their more advantaged peers in reading and mathematics once they enter school."

The report cites recent findings for children who entered the program in the fall of 2000, comparing them with the average (or 50th percentile) preschool child.

In key areas that predict school success, the report says that in vocabulary, children overall entered Head Start with scores in the 16th percentile of all preschoolers of their age, and the score increased to the 23rd percentile when measured in the spring.

In letter recognition, children entered Head Start in the 31st percentile, and their scores remained unchanged or even declined slightly in relation to all preschool students after the year in the program.

In early writing, children entered Head Start in the 16th percentile and increased only to the 19th.

In early mathematics, children entered Head Start in the 21st percentile and increased only to the 23rd percentile, which is "not a substantial gain toward national averages," according to the report.

The report synthesizes relevant research and cites specific areas that have been identified by the U.S. Department of Education as key components of school preparedness (basic literacy skills, being read to at least three times a week, numbers and shapes recognition, productive approaches to learning including task persistence and ability to pay attention, and good health).

[timm22]

No where. States could do it, alone or in some association.

Assuming, of course, that such programs were authorized by the state constitutions.

I would still say such programs are immoral and inappropriate for governments to undertake.

[bvw]

It is appropriate to insure that the next generation is educated. (State and Local level!) It is clear that post WWII public education is like a huge single-crop ag district -- okay for many years, but once a blight hits (and it has) no field is left unruined.