Head Start Impact Study
Mandated by Congress in 1998 amendments to The Head Start Act, the Head Start Impacts Study evaluated he effects of Head Start on children and families through the childrens' first year of school. The study followed a nationally representative sample of nearly 5,000 children in 84 Head Start programs. Findings of the study, which began in 2002 and ended in 2006, were released January 13, 2010.
- Read more about the study's design and its finding here.
- Read NHSA's press release about the study's findings here.
Let's Hear All the Facts
NHSA is working hard to ensure that the whole story about Head Start and the Impact Study is told. Here are some valuable resources here that help do that:
- The Head Start Impact Study: What does it say? What does it mean?
- The Head Start Impact Study in Context
Here is some information about the Head Start Impact Study produced by other organizations.
- Center for the Developing Child, Harvard University: Understanding the Head Start Impact Study (2010)
- New America Foundation
- Society for Research in Child Development Brief: The National Head Start Impact Study in Context (2005)
Long-time opponents of public funding of early childhood education and care programs have taken some of the findings of the Head Start Impact Study out of their intended context and are using them as "evidence" that investing in publicly funded early childhood and care programs, such as Head Start is a waste of money. Major conservative news publications have printed negative articles and here are two of our responses to them:
Both the New York Post and the Washington Examiner declined to publish NHSA's responses.