The debate over Head Start has died down with Democrats in charge of the White House and Congress, but a new report offers a long list of reasons why the 44-year-old program helps, including how it helps parents get involved in their child’s education.

The arguments about parental involvement are important because too often Head Start debates focus on fade out concerns and measuring achievement.  This time the National Head Start Association stresses critical and sometimes overlooked successes getting parents engaged. If parents aren’t involved even the highest quality child care educators will struggle to help a child.

For example, “a higher proportion of Head Start parents read to their children more frequently than those parents of children who were not enrolled in Head Start,” – Latest Research on Head Start and Other Early Learning Programs. “A higher proportion of parents with 3-year-old children in Head Start reported that their child was either in excellent or very good health as compared with those parents who did not have children enrolled in Head Start.”

Early Head Start parents also are more likely to hold down jobs, go to school or receive job training, the report claimed.

The PowerPoint is full of research citations about the benefits of Head Start. (Of course, the report’s author has an interest in promoting Head Start, but it’s still an interesting side of the story.)

The report also saved space for a hot congressional topic, home visitation, by citing research that found each dollar invested in the Nurse-Family Partnership Nurse Home Visiting Program saves between $1.26 and $5.70 for every dollar invested.

(Thanks to the Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP for highlighting this PowerPoint.)
 
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