Beyond the Blueprint Directions for Research on Head Start's Families (1996) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Appendix A: Excerpts from Two Advisory Committee Reports
Appendix A: Excerpts from Two Advisory Committee Reports
Pages 57-72
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From page 57... ...
1994 Who enrolls in Head Start? A demographic analysis of Head Start-eligible children.
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From page 58... ...
U.S. General Accounting Office 1994 Early Childhood Programs: Local Perspectives on Barriers to Providing Head Start Services.
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From page 59... ...
58-66) is "Overall Strategy and General Principles" from Head Start Research Arid Evaluation: A Blueprint for the Future.
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From page 61... ...
Head Start is not, in any simple sense, a uniform '4treatment." The common denominator of Head Start programs nationwide is conformity to a set of regulatory pelfo~lance standards that reflect comprehensive senace requirements in education, parent involvement, social services, and health services. But programs are allowed and encouraged broad flexibility in how they deliver the required component services.
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From page 62... ...
" and of factors conducive to the maintenance of gains. Such studies could also identify variables that suggest causal influences or"active ingredients." Experiments could be designed to test these hypotheses through treatment manipulations or modifications, or additions to existing Head Start programs in randomized trials.
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From page 63... ...
However, if high quality research is to be conducted to respond to the critical issues in Head Start, then future Head Start studies must use both qualitative and quantitative methods in a complementary fashion. Identification of Marker Variables Another necessary condition for an integrated and coordinated set of studies is the Identification of a set of marker variables for child functioning, family functioning program characteristics, and community characteristics.
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From page 64... ...
It is essential that future research and evaluation on the efficacy of Head Start address the program effects for these diverse populations. Specific populations can be defined by such factors as presence and type of child disabilities, children's health status (including lingering effects of parental substance abuse)
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From page 65... ...
· improved expectations for children's future success in school; increased parent involvement in schools and other community institutions; reduced risk factors associated with family stress, including family violence, child abuse and neglect and substance abuse; · reduced dependence on welfare and heightened parental skills related to economic self-sufficiency (for example, improved literacy, adult education, and employability) ; and improved access to and utilization of community family support services.
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From page 66... ...
With respect to school readiness and achievement, for example, the focus should be on the extent to which the influences of Head Start, school and the family combine to provide the child with opportunities to learn and function in an educational setting at an optimal level consistent with his or her ability. The overall Head Start evaluation agenda should strive to balance the following elements: validity of outcome measures, ease of data collection for both researchers and prograrr~ staff, multimethod assessment strategies, and an understanding of the underlying dynamics that the indicators purport to represent.
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From page 67... ...
65 There is no single active ingredient in Head Start that is the key to program outcomes. Local Head Start programs are complex organizational entities that interact with equally complex family and community ecologies.
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From page 68... ...
Areas of inquiry include leadership, how decisions are made, the role of parent participation on policy councils, grantee-delegate agency linkages, the relationships of local programs and ACYF Regional Offices, and approaches to program implementation. Related administrative and personnel issues are worthy of priority attention, as suggested by recent findings in child care research showing the strong relationship between staff salaries and turnover and child outcomes.
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From page 69... ...
In addition to the recommended principles that undergird the research strategy discussed above, the following corollary principles involve budgetary considerations. High quality research is expensive.
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From page 70... ...
Launched in 1965 as a comprehensive child development program, Head Start has provided a beacon of hope and support to more than 13 million low-income children and their families across the United States through the provision of education, health, social services, parent involvement, and disability services. Yet the world of Head Start today is dramatically different than in 1965 .
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From page 71... ...
The Advisory Committee believes that the quality of services must be a first priority. We should strive for excellence in all Head Start programs by focusing on staffing and career development, improving the management of local programs, reengineering federal oversight to assure accountability, providing better facilities, and strengthening the role of research.
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From page 72... ...
Head Start should focus on the needs of children in the context of their families and communities by enhancing family services and increasing parent involvement, assessing needs and planning strategically, reaching out to children and families currently unserved, promoting full day and full year programs where needed, and improving services to families with younger children. The overwhelming majority of Advisory Committee members recommend a new initiative to expand Head Start services to families with younger children.
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