Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

PURPOSE: Many children are attending early educational programs at an earlier age than ever before. This trend is reflected in the age composition of enrollees in the Head Start program. Despite these changes, evaluations of Head Start have not investigated the implications of children's entry ages until recently. The present study was designed on the basis of a theoretical foundation that presumes positive effects of an earlier intervention to understand better the ecological aspect of human development. The aim of the proposed study was to examine how entering the Head Start Program at an early age impacts children's short- and long-term developmental outcomes.

METHOD: Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) data, a sample of 603 children was selected from those who participated in Head Start in 1988, 1990, 1992, and 1994. The specific study questions addressed were: (1) Is there a relationship between the age of entering Head Start and children's academic and behavioral outcomes at ages 5-6?; (2) Is there a relationship between the age of entering Head Start and children's academic and behavioral outcomes at ages 11-12?; and (3) Is there an association between the short-term and long-term outcomes? Additionally, this study considered how each of these associations differed depending on maternal education, controlling for individual, family, and contextual characteristics. Regression and Path Analyses were used to answer these questions.

RESULTS: Findings indicated that entering Head Start at age 3 was positively associated with both short-and long-term outcomes; additionally, the short-term outcomes were significantly associated with the long-term. These positive effects were more pronounced for children whose mothers had higher levels of education. More specifically, when children entered into Head Start at an earlier age, they showed enhanced reading skills at ages 5-6. This association was not found for math and behavioral outcomes at ages 5-6. An early entry into Head Start significantly reduced children's behavioral problems at ages 11-12. Children who had better outcomes at ages 5-6 had significantly better outcomes at ages 11-12. The impacts of an early entry age on long-term outcomes and the association between short- and long-term outcomes were more prevalent for children whose mothers had longer years of education.

IMPLICATIONS: First, earlier entry into Head Start is more beneficial for children than enrolling later. Second, Head Start should provide concurrent services for Head Start families in order to amplify the positive impacts of an early entry into Head Start. Third, Head Start curriculums should be examined to include other components (math and behavioral interventions) to the same extent as the literacy-related component. Fourth, Head Start impacts should be evaluated in terms of long-term benefits because some benefits, particularly socio-emotional, do not exhibit linear outcomes and may take longer to have a measurable effect. Lastly, the evaluation study should consider various individual, family, and societal characteristics to determine the true effects of Head Start. Even among Head Start children, wide variances exist in a variety of pre-existing factors that affect Head Start entry age.