Facts In Action

The Head Start program began in 1965 as part of a comprehensive effort to combat poverty in America. Since its inception, Head Start has provided low-income children three to five years of age with a range of educational, health, and social services. In 1994, Head Start expanded its services when Congress created Early Head Start to serve low-income families with infants and toddlers. Head Start is now a $6.7 billion federal program that serves over 900,000 children and families each year.

The Bush Administration's 2004 budget includes a proposal that would radically change the focus and administration of the program. Currently Head Start is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. The Bush Administration is proposing to shift the oversight of the program to the federal Department of Education to emphasize its educational mission. This shift is also intended to help implement a national skills assessment of the program's four-year-olds in order to identify ineffective programs. In addition, the Bush Administration's plan would give states the option to manage their Head Start dollars and integrate the program with other state and federal preschool programs.

The plan has generated debate around three main areas. The first is over the focus of the program. Supporters of the Administration's plan feel that Head Start has failed to achieve its mission of school readiness, pointing to research that shows that Head Start children, while showing some improvement, still begin kindergarten far behind children from middle-class homes. They feel the shift to the Department of Education will serve to refocus Head Start on literacy and education.

Critics of the shift argue that studies have shown that Head Start narrows the gap between low-income children and their peers in vocabulary and writing skills, and has persistent impacts on children's learning. They say the key to the program is in its comprehensive approach to preparing children for kindergarten-addressing health, social and emotional development as well as cognitive development. Many fear that the Department of Education will not be able to support the range of services Head Start now encompasses.

Another area of contention is assessment. The Bush Administration feels that a uniform assessment of all 4-year-olds in the program will bring more accountability to Head Start. Many feel that Head Start programs vary in quality because there is no standard curriculum for school readiness and centers receive no guidance about which skills and knowledge to teach. A standardized assessment would hold centers to the same type of accountability that public schools now face. Critics worry that linking assessment of individual children to program accountability could lead to high stakes testing of preschoolers and result in inappropriate and ineffective teaching. They are also concerned with how such a standardized assessment would address children with special needs or who speak English as a second language.

Finally there is debate around states' control over Head Start. States who choose to integrate Head Start dollars with their other preschool dollars would have to develop their standards for what children must learn and ways to measure their success. Thirty-six states now spend state dollars on preschool programs. Supporters of the Administration's proposal say it will impove coordination between Head Start and other state programs.

Critics charge that allowing states to have control over funding and guidelines will eliminate national Head Start performance standards that are considered a key to the program's quality and success. They also fear that giving states control of the dollars, instead of direct providers, may endanger the future of the program as states face their most serious fiscal crisis in decades.

The Bush Administration's plan would bring major changes to the Head Start program. It raises questions about the program's focus, how it should be held accountable and who should have control over funding and program standards. These issues raise important questions that early educators and advocates need to consider as the debate heats up.

Sources:
Refocus Head Start on its Mission: Education, D. Ravitch, The Brookings Institution, 2003.

The President's Head Start Proposal: Bold step on the road to success or will we lose our footing? S. Barnett, The National Institute for Early Education Research, 2003.

For more information:
contact: look online at: www.brookings.edu, www.nieer.org, www.naeyc.org, or www.childrensdefense.org.

Facts in Action, May/June 2003