A Comparison of School Readiness Outcomes for Children Randomly Assigned to a Head Start Program and the Program's Wait List

TLDR

The study assessed 4‑year‑old Head Start participants and wait‑list controls on health, social, cognitive, and language outcomes using a battery of tests and analyzed changes with growth‑curve modeling and ANOVA. Head Start children showed faster growth in receptive vocabulary and phonemic awareness, improved problem‑behavior scores over time, and parents reported better health outcomes compared to the wait‑list group.

Abstract

A research study with a wide range of outcomes related to school readiness, including health, social skills, cognitive skills, and language skills was conducted with eligible 4-year-old applicants and their parents within a southeastern Head Start program of high quality. Children and their families in the Head Start treatment and wait list comparison groups were given a battery of assessments. The study used growth curve modeling and traditional analysis of variance when only 2 measurements of outcomes were available. Initial status was equivalent and the growth rates for the Head Start children were statistically significantly faster than the comparison children on the receptive vocabulary and phonemic awareness measures. There was a statistically significant time by group interaction and main effect of time for the problem behavior index of the social functioning measure. The parent report of health outcomes also showed statistically significant differences between the 2 groups with the treatment group reporting more healthy responses.