News Release

HHS Releases Head Start Impact Study

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced the initial findings of a study on the impacts of the Head Start program.

The report, entitled Head Start Impact Study: First Year Findings, indicates that while children in Head Start reap positive benefits, on most measures Head Start graduates and enrollees continue to lag significantly behind children from more economically advantaged families.

"President Bush wants to make sure all children are ready to learn when they enter kindergarten," Secretary Leavitt said. "This report underscores the need to continue to enhance the effectiveness of the Head Start program to ensure that no child is disadvantaged in their formal educational experience because of the circumstances of their birth."

The study found that Head Start produced small to moderate impacts in areas such as pre-reading, pre-writing, vocabulary and in health and parent practice domains. However these impacts did not close the gap between low-income children in the Head Start program and the general population of three- and four-year olds. There were no significant impacts for three- and four-year olds in areas of early mathematics, oral comprehension and social competencies.

The Bush Administration began its reform of early childhood education in 2002 with the "Good Start, Grow Smart" initiative to ensure that young children entering kindergarten have the skills they need to succeed in school. The initiative has provided aid to teachers to boost early numeric and literacy skills. President Bush also has implemented the Head Start National Reporting System to measure the progress of children and identify programs in need of additional technical assistance to enhance their effectiveness.

"By strengthening and improving the Head Start program, President Bush and Secretary Leavitt are focusing on specific learning readiness areas to help disadvantaged children prepare for success," said Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., HHS assistant secretary for children and families. "We know children who develop good early literacy skills do well in school. Therefore we need to ensure that every teacher in Head Start has the latest science-based information on how children develop those skills so the Head Start program can achieve better educational outcomes for children."

Over 900,000 disadvantaged children nationwide are enrolled in the Head Start program. The President�s plan to strengthen Head Start includes encouraging state and local coordination, emphasizing the skills children need to succeed in school, and enhancing quality through accountability.

The study was conducted by Westat and the Urban Institute under contract for ACF. It is scheduled to continue through 2006, following children through the spring of their 1st-grade year.

To view this report, go to: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/impact_study/reports/first_yr_finds/firstyr_finds_title.html