U.S. EDUCATION MILESTONE:  25 MILLION SUCCESS STORIES FOR HEAD START PROGRAM

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D.C. Four-Year-Old Featured as 25-Millionth Child in "Most Important" U.S. Investment in Children, Families and Communities; "Father of Head Start" Joins Leaders From Across Nation for Event.

WASHINGTON, D.C.///September 24, 2008///America's Head Start leaders today recognized the 25 millionth child to be enrolled in Head Start, the federal government's 43-year-old early education program serving America's most at-risk children. 

Founded in 1965, Head Start has been described as "the most important social and educational investment in children, families, and communities that the United States has ever undertaken."  Head Start -- the nation's premier early childhood and health program now serving about 1 million children and their low-income families each year -- is a comprehensive school readiness program that helps to reduce the achievement gap in the classroom.  Head Start's parent Policy Councils and family support services empower low-income white, African American, Hispanic and other children and families to gain skills needed to move out of poverty and pursue the American dream.    
 
National Head Start Association Board Chairperson Ron Herndon, who also is the director of the Albina Head Start program (Portland, OR), said:  "Head Start has helped to launch 25 million American children and their families onto a life of achievement in the classroom and in the community.  This is a true success story for the federal government and for our nation in terms of creating opportunity and hope where none existed before.  Not only has Head Start served as the laboratory for pre-kindergarten and early education in the United States, but it will continue to be the cornerstone for pre-K/early ed for the United States as we look ahead to changes under a new Congress and president in 2009."

The man who is widely recognized as "The Father of Head Start," Dr. Edward Zigler, Sterling professor of psychology emeritus, and director emeritus of The Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale University, noted:  "The Head Start features that lead to its success was first a comprehensive approach to providing services rather than preschool education alone and working with parents as well as with children."

Herndon, Zigler and other Head Start leaders were joined today at a national news conference by four-year-old Cynthia Martinez-Cardoso, of Washington, D.C. who attends Head Start at the Edward C. Mazique Parent Child Center, Inc.  She was born with a rare genetic disorder causing developmental delays and hearing loss.  She enrolled in Early Head Start and received services to address her developmental delays and to enrich her classroom experience.  While in Early Head Start, Cynthia attended the ceremony for the reauthorization for Head Start and was chosen by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to help in signing the Head Start reauthorization bill in 2007.  Since then, Cynthia has transitioned to Head Start and is duly enrolled with the DC Public Schools to receive auditory oral services. 

Accompanying young Cynthia was Almeta R. Keys, a former Head Start parent and now executive director of the Edward C. Mazique Parent Child Center, Inc.  Keys said:  "It is with much pride and joy that I present Cynthia Martinez-Cardoso, a 4-year old Head Start student, to represent the 25 millionth Head Start child in America.  Cynthia and her family are shining examples of how Head Start remains a viable program, yielding positive results for everyone involved and the communities in which they live."  

Janis Santos, executive director of the Holyoke, Chicopee, Springfield Head Start (Springfield, MA) and NHSA board vice chairperson, said:  "This milestone of 25 million children enrolled in Head Start, the nation's premiere early childhood program, is truly a remarkable achievement celebrated by the entire Head Start community.   The overall success of Head Start is a true testament to the talented staff, dedicated parents and supportive communities that ensure low-income children acquire the necessary tools for becoming lifelong learners."

Lucia Palacios, executive director of the Orange County Head Start, Inc. (Santa Ana, CA), and past president, California Head Start Association, said:   "Both of the candidates for the President of the United States have talked about the importance of early childhood education.  I would say to them that not only does our country need to invest in early childhood education but also in social service programs.    Head Start provides both education and social services to its children and families.  We assist parents with job training.  We help children get medical care.  We provide the all-important academic and cognitive development that children need while also providing comprehensive services to the entire family.  With communities and families hurting economically in these tough times, these services are even more important to them. I look forward to the new Congress and new President making these children and families a priority as we look to the future."

Gayle Cunningham, executive director of the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity Head Start (Birmingham, Alabama), and treasurer of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), said:   "Parents tell us all the time that Head Start was a life saver for them.  Some parents who leave their children with us tell us they were afraid to so because of how difficult the kids could be.  But the structure of the class helps these children achieve and become functional, often times achieving well beyond the standard for their age level.   Parents involved in Head Start are also able to achieve important and lasting change in their lives and become self sufficient where they may not have been before.  They then are better able to support -- and be good parents -- to their children."

 
HEAD START WORKS!

Head Start provides significant educational, health, economic and quality-of-life benefits to Head Start students, their families and the communities in which they live.   Recent studies show that the benefits of Head Start include the following:

• Our society receives nearly $9 in benefits for every $1 dollar invested in Head Start children, according to the preliminary results of a longitudinal study of more than 600 Head Start graduates in San Bernardino County, California (Meier, 2004). These projected benefits include increased earnings, employment, and family stability, and decreased welfare dependency, crime costs, grade repetition, and special education. In addition, Head Start has been shown to benefit participating children and society at large by reducing crime and its costs to crime victims (Fight Crime Invest In Kids, 2004; Garces, Thomas, and Currie, 2002).

• Substantial research demonstrates that Head Start children experience increased achievement test scores and favorable long-term effects in terms of less grade repetition and special education, and higher school graduation rates (Barnett, 2002; Ludwig and Miller, 2007).

• Recent research suggests that Head Start reduced the mortality rates for 5- to 9-year-old children from causes that could have been affected by their participation in Head Start when they were 3- and 4-year-olds (Ludwig and Miller, 2007).

• Children attending Head Start have increased access to dental care and have higher immunizations rates than non-Head Start children do (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2005; Currie and Thomas, 1995).

• Early Head Start children at age 3 had larger vocabularies and a higher level of social-emotional development than their peers did (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2002).

 

OTHER HONORARY 25-MILLIONTH HEAD START CHILDREN

• Jacob Downey, 4, attends HCS Head Start, Inc., in Springfield, MA.  Jacob is a bright, curious preschooler who loves animals, his teachers and his Grandma Gail.   Gail took guardianship of Jacob when he was four months old. She received a call one night from Jacob's mother asking Gail to meet her at a rest stop on the Massachusetts Turnpike.  It was there that she told Gail she was no longer able to care for Jake and handed him over to her.  Gail was not prepared.  She said: "I didn't have any baby clothes, formula, diapers, nothing. He slept in a drawer the first night he came home with me."  Gail was concerned about Jacob's growth and development and decided to have him screened at a local Early Intervention program. She was referred to Early Head Start. When Jacob was 17 months old, Gail enrolled Jacob in Early Head Start in Springfield, Massachusetts. Now, at the age of four, in a full day Head Start classroom, Jacob is thriving.  The leader of the pack, Jacob walks around the classroom with his head held high eager to help out his friends and excited about telling his grandmother all of the great things he learned in school. Gail said:   "Head Start has done a great service to my grandson who needed a lot of help.  The results have been outstanding; he has learned so much."

• Ryan Washington, 4, of Dumas, AR., attends the CDI Head Start program.  He has been a student in the center for three years and has one brother, Michael. Ryan lives with his mother, and his father is a farm worker in an impoverished area of the Mississippi Delta. Ryan is an exceptional young man who has a bright future ahead of him. Ryan gets multiple services for cognitive delays. When he entered the program, he barely spoke and was far behind his peers. Within the last few months, he has begun to catch up and is now showing real promise.

• Alejandra Cortez-Andrade, 4, attends the Washington Center, in Washington, CA.  Alejandra Cortez-Andrade was very shy and wouldn't talk when she entered Head Start. Her mother worked hard in the fields and had little time for her family or to go to school, so she started working part-time in a Mexican restaurant instead. A friend told her about Head Start.  The mother was worried that Alejandra would not learn to talk or would have speech problems. But her teachers realized she was just shy. The teachers had to talk to her in a very soft voice so they wouldn't startle her. The teachers got Alejandra to repeat things after them and to do things in front of the class. Today, her speech is perfect. She is learning words in English and is very motivated to read. The mother is taking GED and ESL classes when they don't interfere with her work schedule. She wants to work at the center but realizes she needs to speak better English before she can begin substituting.  The mother has taken child development classes taught in English and Spanish at a community college. Teachers at the center help the mother with her community college homework when she doesn't understand the English instructions. Now that her daughter is doing so well, Alejandra's mother hopes to also improve her own skills and achieve some of her dreams.

• Jared Hernandez, 3, attends the Rock Island School District Head Start program in Rock Island, IL.  Jared has an older brother, Flavio, who is six years old and in first grade and a baby sister, Gaselle, who is nine months old.   Jared was recently identified as having a hearing loss.  The Head Start program provided much needed support to the Hernandez family including screening and assessment, classroom instruction, family services and transportation to and from evaluation services.  Once a hearing loss was identified, the Head Start program continued their support by providing transportation to and from the audiologist in Peoria, Illinois, so that Jared could be fitted with hearing aids.  In addition, Head Start helped with translation so that Jared and his family were aware of "what was going on" and the usage and care of the hearing aids.

ABOUT NHSA

The National Head Start Association (http://www.nhsa.org) is a private not-for-profit membership organization dedicated exclusively to meeting the needs of Head Start children and their families. It represents more than 1 million children, 200,000 staff and 2,600 Head Start programs in the United States. The Association provides support for the entire Head Start community by advocating for policies that strengthen services to Head Start children and their families; by providing extensive training and professional development to Head Start staff; and by developing and disseminating research, information, and resources that enrich Head Start program delivery.
   
CONTACT:  Ailis Aaron Wolf, (703) 276-3265 or aawolf@hastingsgroup.com.
 
EDITOR'S NOTE:  A streaming audio replay of the news event will be available on the Web at http://www.nhsa.org as of 6 p.m. EDT on September 24, 2008.