Oregon Head Start Association

Head Start has the ambitious mandate of improving educational and developmental outcomes for children from economically disadvantaged families. Head Start’s mandate requires that it meet the needs of the whole child, including the cognitive, social-emotional, and health needs of children, and positively influence the parenting practices of their parents. The Head Start Impact Study examined the impacts of Head Start on these four domains. 

The  survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 84 grantee/delegate agencies and included nearly 5,000 newly entering, eligible 3- and 4-year-old children who were randomly assigned to either: (1) a Head Start group that had access to Head Start program services or (2) a control group that did not have access to Head Start, but could enroll in other early childhood programs or non-Head Start services selected by their parents. Data collection began in fall 2002 and continued through 2006, following children from program application through the spring of their 1st grade year.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) recently released a few reports, such as Innovative Strategies for Increasing Self-Sufficiency (ISIS) Project: Stakeholder Views from Early Outreach, and, Early Impacts for Two Programs that Sought to Encourage Advancement Among Low-Income Workers. You can find the complete list of currently released reports under the "Shared Resource" section on the left side bar.