NHSA: TWO UNPUBLICIZED HEAD START TEST SCORE REPORTS SHOW THAT
THE PROGRAM FOR AMERICA'S POOREST CHILDREN IS MAKING THE GRADE
Association Leaks Data HHS Has Not Provided to Media Showing That Head Start Works; NRS and FACES Findings Both Show Major Improvement in Learning Readiness.
WASHINGTON, D.C.///February 3, 2005///The first full-year of test scores from the National Reporting System (NRS) assessment of the progress of America’s poorest children served by the Head Start program provide convincing proof that the program works as intended to get America’s most at-risk four- and five-year olds ready to learn in school. The National Head Start Association (NHSA) today took the unusual step of releasing the NRS test scores to the public, since the Health and Human Services (HHS) administrators in charge of advancing the Bush Administration proposal to dismantle the Head Start program have disseminated the information to date only in behind-the-scenes briefings for lawmakers, academics and grantees.
NHSA also pointed out that HHS has declined to release to the general public a separate report that provides additional confirmation that Head Start is succeeding. That study -- Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey, which is known as “FACES” for short – looked at 2,500 Head Start children in its 2000 cohort and concluded that “graduates” of the program, despite their severe socioeconomic handicaps that put them well behind the starting line from which more affluent U.S. children start, were by the spring of their kindergarten year essentially at national norms in early reading and early writing and close to catching up to the national norms in early math and vocabulary knowledge.
NHSA President and CEO Sarah Greene said: “The fact that there are two new studies showing that Head Start delivers the goods for America’s poorest children and their families is news we are going to shout from the rooftops, even if the Bush Administration finds these facts inconvenient. Given this new evidence, it is now both irresponsible and incorrect to suggest that Head Start does not do what Congress has charged it with doing: getting America’s poorest children ready to succeed in kindergarten and beyond in life.”
NHSA Board Chairman Ron Herndon, who also is director of the Albina Head Start program (Portland, OR), said: “It is one thing for those of us who support Head Start to say that we see it work every day in the examples of individual children. And it is another thing for us to have solid, quantitative data that shows the tangible improvements achieved by Head Start children from when they enter in the fall and leave in the spring. Even though many of us in the community have concerns about NRS, the picture painted by the first-year data is clear. The FACES data is in some ways even more powerful, since it shows that our kids who start out so far behind children from more affluent circumstances are, in fact, catching up in their kindergarten year. That is a phenomenal achievement that really shows that every dollar taxpayers put into Head Start is a real bargain.”
SUMMARY OF KEY NRS/FACES DATA
The Head Start National Reporting System is a system designed to measure the progress of 4- and 5-year-old Head Start children over the course of their school year by testing them at the beginning and end of their school year. These children were assessed in the fall of 2003 and the spring of 2004 in four skill areas: understanding spoken English, vocabulary, letter recognition, and early math. Children were assessed in English and, when appropriate, in Spanish. In October 2004, the Head Start Bureau finished compiling the data showing the progress of these Head Start children during the fall 2003 to spring 2004 year. Children who were assessed in English demonstrated growth in understanding spoken English, vocabulary, letter recognition, and early math skills. Key findings for English-language students were as follows:
- In the fall of 2003, these children knew 80 percent of the items on the understanding spoken English task. By spring of 2004, these children knew 90 percent of these items.
- In the fall of 2003, these children knew 56 percent of the items on the vocabulary task, and in the spring of 2004, these children knew 67 percent of these items.
- In the fall of 2003, these children knew 25 percent of the items on the letter recognition task, and in the spring of 2004, these children knew 56 percent of these items.
- In the fall of 2003, these children knew 46 percent of the items on the early math skill task, and in the spring of 2004, these children knew 69 percent of these items.
Children assessed in Spanish demonstrated growth in understanding spoken Spanish, Spanish vocabulary, Spanish letter naming, and Spanish early math skills. Key findings were as follows:
- In the fall of 2003, these children knew 68 percent of the items on the understanding spoken Spanish task, and in the spring of 2004, these children knew 78 percent of these items.
- In the fall of 2003, these children knew 56 percent of the items on the Spanish vocabulary task, and in the spring of 2004, these children knew 65 percent of these items.
- In the fall of 2003, these children knew 10 percent of the items on the Spanish letter-naming task, and in the spring of 2004, these children knew 33 percent of these items.
- In the fall of 2003, these children knew 39 percent of the items on the Spanish early math skills task, and in the spring of 2004, these children knew 61 percent of these items.
NRS findings also are available on Native-English speakers and “English Language Learners” (ELLs). For example, the proportion of ELLs with limited or no understanding of spoken English dropped from 35 percent to 13 percent. The proportion of ELLs who comprehended directions well increased from 28 percent to 53 percent. The proportion of ELL children who identified 9 or fewer letters of the English alphabet decreased from 74 percent to 39 percent. The proportion of children who identified 17 or more letters of the English alphabet increased from 16 percent to 46 percent.
In the other report being released today, FACES 2000 data that first surfaced behind the scenes last summer shows that Head Start “graduates,” by the spring of their kindergarten year, are:
- Essentially at national norms in early reading and early writing.
- Close to meeting national norms in early math and vocabulary knowledge.
- By the spring of their kindergarten year, Head Start “graduates” achieved reading assessment scores that reached national norms, and their general knowledge assessment scores were close to national norms.
For further information about the NRS and FACES findings, contact Ben Allen, Ph.D., research and evaluation director, National Head Start Association, (703) 739-7558 or ballen@nhsa.org.
ABOUT NHSA
The National Head Start Association 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 900,000 children, 200,000 staff and 2,700 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, (703) 276-3265 or aaaron@hastingsgroup.com. |
