The modest outcomes associated with Head Start participation suggest that the program is not reaching its full potential. One possible explanation is that the educational services offered are too weak. In fact, less than one-third of Head Start teachers have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
One author recommends that every lead classroom teacher in Head Start should possess a B.A. in early childhood education, and that every assistant teacher should have either an AA degree or CDA (Child Development Associate) certification. The great difficulty in improving the growth trajectories of children mired in poverty needs to be recognized, and the program extended to two years (68% attend for only one year). However, as Head Start currently serves only 60% of eligible children and almost none of the near poor, it cannot be justified to systematically make the program longer.
As individual states are getting organized to develop and implement universal preschool education, the Head Start programs’ wealth of experience should be used to inform and guide these new initiatives. Its emphasis should shift to providing comprehensive services to children and their families and delivering mental health services to young children of all income levels with emotional or behavioural difficulties. As well, Early Head Start should be expanded, as it constitutes a preventive approach to insufficient school readiness.
In setting priorities and improving Head Start programs, a number of key questions remain: Does Head Start have a lasting positive impact on children, and in what areas? Are the benefits of sufficient value to offset program costs? Should Head Start programs be expanded to serve all children in poverty? Are benefits different for different sub-groups of the population? Do program effects fade out over time, and if so, why? Given the local variation of Head Start programs, what are the attributes of the more successful ones? What mix of service components is optimal, and what type of curriculum should be offered? As Head Start continues to evolve, research on the program will further contribute to our knowledge of how to make interventions for children in poverty more effective.
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