Long Term Head Start Impact on Developmental Outcomes for Children’s Academic Achievement: Latent Growth Curve Analysis

Purpose: Head Start, established in 1965 during War on Poverty, aims to promote school rediness through the provision of health, educational, nutritional, and social services. Although Head Start, means-tested early intervention funded by federal government more than $10 billion serving almost 1 million children annually, the debates on Head Start impact on long term impact has been controversial. The nationally conducted quasi-experimental evaluation study of Head Start (Head Start Impact Study) has shown the positive impacts of one year (at age 3 or 4) of Head Start’s enrollment for shorter tem (at age 4 or kindergarten) but no impacts on the third grade follow-up outcomes. Although other studies have shown longer term impact of Head Start as well as other early intervention programs, data were collected only from African American children (Abecedarian study [n=111], Campbell et al., 2012; HighScope/Perry Preschool [n=123], Heckman & Karapakula, 2019; Schweinhart, 2013) or only children in poverty who were eligible for Head Start (Head Start Impact Study, Kline & Walters, 2016; Feller et al., 2016). Based on nationally representative early childhood longitudinal data, the current study examines whether children who enrolled in Head Start at age 4 had short and longer term impacts on developmental academic achievement from kindergarten to 5^th grade, compared to children who enrolled various types of early childhood education and care.

Method: The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study K:2011 (n=6457), children enrolled Head Start(n=540), private center-based care (n=1690), school-based care (n=967), home-based informal care (n=490), and exclusive parental care (n=2770) used to determine its long term impact on children’s reading and math scores from kindergarten to 5^th grade. Time invariant variables (gender, ethnicity/race) and time variant variable (family income, marital status, primary language used at home, mother’s highest education, and parenting involvement) were used to predict the baseline intercept scores (at kindergarten) and changes (slope from kindergarten to 5^th grade). All model analysis were conducted by Mplus 8.0.

RESULT: After controlling for concurrent family income and parenting supports and other baseline variables, compared to children who enrolled Head Start at age 4, children enrolled private-funded care, school based care, home-based informal care or cared exclusively by parents had higher reading and math scores at age 5 (kindergarten). However, as children grew older (from K-5th grade), Head Start children’s reading and math scores significantly increased compared to other children. Compared to Asian-American children, African American and Hispanic children have shown decreased reading and math scores. White children had increased reading scores than Asian-American children. Family income for each time point was significantly associated with children’s reading and math scores from kindergarten to 5^th grade. Children who had high reading and math scores at kindergarten had positive developmental growth to 5^th grade. Gender, maternal educations, parenting was associated with baseline and changes of reading and math scores.

IMPLICATIONS: Head Start programs should be continued/expanded for its longer term impacts on children’s academic outcomes. Significant concurrent income effects on children’s academic outcomes suggest for the important roles of income maintenance programs.