Head Start Effectiveness - When Does It Work?

Head Start Effectiveness-When Does It Work?

B. Olson

Madison College

Head Start Effectiveness-When Does It Work?

B. Olson

Madison College

It’s been an intense morning for everyone in the Head Start classroom.  Three year old “Max” and a few others are running around the room, climbing up bookshelves, jumping off, and then running around again.  There’s a definite sense of chaos in the air, despite the teacher’s attempts to engage Max and his friends in play activities.   Max has spent most of the morning running (“walking feet, Max”), climbing bookshelves (“feet on the floor, Max”), and taking toys from other children (“we need to take turns, Max”).  Any attempts at transition result in running away or other testing behavior, and he’s quick to use “adult” language and attempts to bite, hit, or kick adults.  

When the most of the other 17 children are cleaning up to go outside, Max is running and climbing.  Eventually, the teacher catches up to Max and takes his hand. He attempts to kick her, then yells “F*** you!” as he tries to pull away.  The teacher ignores him, keeps up a cheerful expression, and leads him to his cubby.  Eventually, she helps him with his coat on, and with great effort and four adults, they get the group out to the play yard. Outside, his behavior is similar, but bearable, since he is allowed to climb.  Still, he makes repeated attempts to climb the fence and escape the yard, and physically pulls other children off whatever toy he wants.  Even outside, he needs almost one-on-one attention much of the time.  

At lunch, Max is the first child to be done with his meal, and he immediately gets up, and begins pushing his chair around the room in large circles, checking occasionally to see if anyone’s going to stop him.  The teachers ignore his behavior, grateful that most of the other students haven’t joined him yet.  

After lunch, it’s quiet/nap time, but there isn’t much resting going on.  Max, along with several other children, refuse to lay down, and most of nap time is spent trying without success to get them to comply.  A few children do fall asleep, but by the time nap is over, most are awake, and several are now struggling because they are tired.  Max and a few others whine or outright cry any attempts to engage them.  Eventually, coats and backpacks are on and they go to the yard to play until the bus comes.   The teachers report that the bus ride home is often very quiet, since a number of the children, including Max, fall asleep on the bus.  I’d spent the day observing the classroom, and quite frankly, I was a little exhausted myself.  

In the class of seventeen, there are six children who struggle with behaviors such as eloping, climbing table, chairs, and bookshelves, an inability to share toys or take turns, and general non-compliance, although Max has some of the most significant negative behaviors.  

Max’s story illustrates the plight of many children in Head Start.  Max comes from a socioeconomically disadvantaged family.  His mother is a drug user, and Max was born addicted. Max has not seen much of her in his life, and he lives with his father.   His father is reported to spend most of his time playing video games while he “watches” Max.  They live in a rundown, poorly kept trailer with debris everywhere, and until five weeks ago, Max has had no real structure or routine.

Being a federally funded program, Head Start must prove outcomes for children and families.  So, in each program, data is documented and numbers are crunched, and reports are written. According to The National Head Start Association, “Children that participate in Head Start programs receive innumerable benefits. These advantages appear immediately, last a lifetime, and even have an effect on other generations” (N.H.S.A., 2016).  Yet, lawmakers argue about whether or not Head Start is worth the money.  Even early childhood experts squabble among themselves about whether it’s a waste of taxpayer dollars, or whether it’s effective. Based on my research, I believe the question is this: Under what circumstances is Head Start effective?

First, we need to consider what other options exist, and what Head Start aims to do:  Families can choose to have their children at home with a parent, and many parents of various socio-economic groups do this.  Another option is childcare.  For middle and upper class families, high-quality childcare is an option, although sometimes an expensive one.  For low-SES families, access to high-quality childcare can be difficult.  Although there are assistance programs, in many states there are long waiting lists, or families with two incomes “make too much” to qualify for the benefit, but too little to pay for childcare.  Many Head Start families are in that place, and thus one parent works, and the other stays home with the children.  In single-parent households, Head Start might fill the gap for childcare as well as provide school-readiness for children.    Another option is public pre-k, available in most states as “K4”, for four-year-olds.

One major difference between public pre-k and Head Start, is the socio-economic status of the children and families that they serve.  Colker, (2009), describes pre-kindergarten programs now available in most states as being similar to any other public school program, serving children regardless of income.  Head Start, according to What Works Clearinghouse (2015) is a “national, federally funded program that provides services to promote school readiness for children from birth to age five from predominantly low-income families”.  

In a time when most children were at home with their mothers until kindergarten, Head Start began in 1964 as a summer enrichment program for preschoolers entering kindergarten, as part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty”.  It later changed to a school year program, first part-day, and more recently in most areas as a full-day, five-day-per-week program.  As preschool and quality childcare options grow in our country and expectations for children in kindergarten have grown due to the “No Child Left Behind” act and pushing down of curriculum, Head Start has had to adapt to give low-SES children a better chance at being successful in school.  

When Mathematica Policy Research studied two year olds in their 2015 report (Vogel,

Caronongan, Thomas, Bandel, Xue, Henke), they looked at the progress of children and their families through Early Head Start (prenatal moms and children up to age three, living below poverty guidelines). The study included eighty-nine programs over six years, and followed two groups of children through their time in Early Head Start beginning in 2009.  

They concluded that at two years of age, although most of the children in the study scored typical in their cognitive growth, the overall language skills of these children was quite a bit lower than average (half a standard deviation lower than average).  The data in this study shows mixed results in social emotional growth.  While the children fared typically in parent engagement and interactions, they did not fare as well in self-regulation.