Celebrating cultural and linguistic diversity in Head Start
A descriptive study of cultural and linguistic groups and their distribution within the Head Start population, Head Start services developed to address the needs of children and families from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and challenges faced by Head Start programs as they address the needs of an increasingly diverse population
Reports & Papers
Child care quality matters: How conclusions may vary with context
An analysis of three national studies on child care quality and the impact of quality on child development
Other
Cognitive skill performance among young children living in poverty: Risk, change, and the promotive effects of Early Head Start
An examination of the association between risk factors and the cognitive performance in children 1 to 3 years of age living in poverty and an investigation of the effects of Early Head Start on children’s cognitive skill performance, based on data from the Early Head Start (EHS) Research and Evaluation Project, a prospective study of 3,001 children and families living in poverty
Reports & Papers
Conclusions and implications
A summary and discussion of implications from a special issue of the Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development focusing on the impacts of Early Head Start on child and family outcomes, including children's socioemotional and cognitive development and families' well-being and home environments, based on data for 3,001 randomly-assigned low income families
Other
Design and methods in the Early Head Start study
An overview of the design, measures, and response rates of the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, a study of the impact of Early Head Start on 3,001 randomly-assigned low income families
Other
Early Head Start and African American families: Impacts and mechanisms of child outcomes
A study of the effects of participation in Early Head Start (EHS) for both African American children at age 3 and their parents across developmental and parenting domains, and an examination of the mediating roles of parental cognitive stimulation, warmth, supportiveness, parental distress, and harshness on those effects, based on data from 778 African American families participating in the Early Head Start evaluation
Reports & Papers
Early Head Start and infant mental health
An introduction to a special issue of the journal Infant Mental Health Journal, focusing on aspects of Early Head Start designed to promote infant and maternal mental health
Other
Early Head Start and infant mental health [Special issue]
A special issue of the journal Infant Mental Health Journal, focusing on aspects of Early Head Start designed to promote infant and maternal mental health
Other
Early Head Start home visitation: The role of implementation in bolstering program benefits
A study of the impact of an Early Head Start home-based program on participant children's social-emotional, language, academic, and health outcomes and families' parenting, home environment, well being, and self-sufficiency, with a comparison of those impacts by fully implemented versus incompletely implemented programs, based on data from 930 families in 7 home-based Early Head Start programs at 17 sites
Reports & Papers
Early Head Start: New looks at program impacts [Special issue]
A special issue of the journal Early Education and Development, focusing on new analyses of data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation (EHSRE) study that explore the relationship between Early Head Start and children's development and readiness for school
Other
Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project
This project involves both a cross-site national study and local longitudinal studies of low-income families with young children in Early Head Start sites in 17 communities in the United States. The project was funded in two waves: Birth to Three (1996-2001) and Pre-Kindergarten Follow-Up (2001-2004). The five major components of the project are: an implementation study, an impact evaluation, local research studies, policy studies, and efforts toward continuous program improvement. The implementation study assessed the level and quality of implementation of EHS at each site, as well as variations across sites, with regard to five program areas: child development and health care; family partnerships; community involvement and partnerships; staff development; and program management. Results include a profile of each of the 17 research programs, their services and expected outcomes. The information gathered was critical for the development of the impact evaluation analyses and the identification of pathways to full implementation. The impact evaluation followed a random assignment, longitudinal design to examine how child, parent and family outcomes were influenced by EHS programs, as well as by variations in program approaches and community contexts, program implementation and services, and the characteristics of children and their families. The third component involves 16 local research projects conducted by 15 university-based researchers who partnered with Early Head Start research programs. Designed to investigate the unique outcomes and program functions of each Early Head Start program, these longitudinal studies continue through the second phase of the project, Pre-Kindergarten Follow-up (2001-2004). The policy studies component focuses on issues related to welfare reform, health and disabilities, child-care and fatherhood. The component of continuous program improvement consists of reports and presentations disseminating new information that can help all Early Head Start programs to increase their ability to meet the needs of families.
Major Research Projects
The Early Promotion and Intervention Research Consortium (E-PIRC): Five approaches to improving infant/toddler mental health in Early Head Start
Overviews of the research projects of the Early Promotion and Intervention Research Consortium (E-PIRC) on the topic of infant and toddler mental health within the framework of Early Head Start, including descriptions of two training programs for Early Head Start staff, an intervention for teen mothers, an intervention for Latina mothers with depression, a program to enhance mother-child interaction, and the development of a database of literature
Other
The effectiveness of Early Head Start for 3-year-old children and their parents: Lessons for policy and programs
A summary of the evaluated impacts of Early Head Start on child and parent outcomes near the end of program participation
Reports & Papers
Findings from the Survey of Early Head Start Programs: Communities, programs, and families: Final report
A study providing a descriptive snapshot of characteristics of Early Head Start programs, including 1) community and family characteristics, 2) programs' approaches to service delivery, 3) program management and staff, 4) program partnerships, and 5) differences among different subgroups of programs, based on a survey of programs to collective quantitative data and site visits to a subsample of programs for in-depth qualitative data collection
Reports & Papers
Findings from the Survey of Early Head Start Programs: Communities, programs, and families: Final report [Executive summary]
A summary of a study providing a descriptive snapshot of characteristics of Early Head Start programs, including 1) community and family characteristics, 2) programs' approaches to service delivery, 3) program management and staff, 4) program partnerships, and 5) differences among different subgroups of programs, based on a survey of programs to collective quantitative data and site visits to a subsample of programs for in-depth qualitative data collection
Executive Summary
Head Start: What do we know about its effectiveness?: What do we need to know?
An overview of Head Start research from the program’s inception to the present, with a focus on improving program quality and knowledge about child development
Other
The impact of Early Head Start on school readiness: New looks
An introduction to a special issue of the journal Early Education and Development, focusing on new analyses of data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation (EHSRE) study that explore the relationship between Early Head Start and children's development and readiness for school
Other
Involvement in Early Head Start home visiting services: Demographic predictors and relations to child and parent outcomes
A study of the extent to which the quantity, quality and content of parent involvement during home visits influence the impact of this service strategy on family and child outcomes, based on data from 11 sites participating in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation project
Reports & Papers
It takes time: Impacts of Early Head Start that lead to reductions in maternal depression two years later
A study of the effect of Early Head Start participation on levels of maternal depression at the time of school entry, based on data collected at 17 Early Head Start programs nationwide
Reports & Papers
Links between early care and education experiences birth to age 5 and prekindergarten outcomes
A study of the relationship of Early Head Start and early care and education program participation to child and family outcomes, including children's socioemotional and cognitive development, parenting practices, and home environments, based on data for low income families randomly assigned to Early Head Start
Reports & Papers
Low-income children's school readiness: Parent contributions over the first five years
A study of the association of both home environment and parental support of play measured at 14 months and school readiness skills measured at kindergarten and a study of the association between parenting changes during the first 5 years of life and school readiness based on data collected as part of the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project with a sample of 1,273 child and parent assessments
Reports & Papers
Program subgroups: Patterns of impacts for home-based, center-based, and mixed-approach programs
A study of variations in the impact of Early Head Start by program service delivery model on child and family outcomes, including children's socioemotional and cognitive development and families' well-being and home environments, based on data for randomly-assigned low income families collected when children were 2, 3, and 5 years old
Reports & Papers
Risk for maternal depression and child aggression in Early Head Start families: A test of ecological models
A study of the relationship between maternal depression and toddler aggressive behavior in a nationwide sample of 270 mother/child dyads participating in Early Head Start
Reports & Papers
Supporting optimal child development through Early Head Start and Head Start programs: Reflections on secondary data analyses of FACES and EHSREP
We are delighted to reflect on the 10 papers highlighted in this important special issue of Early Childhood Research Quarterly devoted to recent secondary data analyses of the FACES and EHSREP datasets. First, we provide some background on Head Start research and give an overview of the large-scale Head Start and Early Head Start datasets that are available for researchers to analyze. Then, we comment on the papers in this special issue from a methodological and statistical standpoint. Finally, we reflect on themes that stood out across the various papers. Throughout, we make recommendations for future large-scale data collection efforts and future research on Head Start and Early Head Start programs. (author abstract)
Other
What makes a difference?: Early Head Start evaluation findings in a developmental context [Special issue]
A special issue of the Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development focusing on the impacts of Early Head Start on child and family outcomes, including children's socioemotional and cognitive development and families' well-being and home environments, based on data for 3,001 randomly-assigned low income families
Other
