At a Glance

Funder:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families

Project Time Frame:

2005-2010

Head Start: The Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2006 and 2009

Since its founding four decades ago, Head Start has served as the nation's premier federally funded early childhood intervention. Focusing on children in the years before formal schooling, often from families with multiple risks, it has provided a natural and national laboratory for a wide range of basic, prevention, early intervention, and program evaluation research. The Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) was first launched in 1997 as a periodic, longitudinal study of program performance. The study is designed to be a reliable source of data for describing the skills of Head Start children; the experiences of the children and families served by Head Start; the quality of Head Start classrooms; and the qualifications, credentials, and opinions of Head Start staff.

Mathematica is conducting five-year studies of the 2006 and 2009 FACES cohorts, each one containing approximately 3,400 3- and 4-year-old children enrolled in 60 Head Start programs from around the country. Each cohort is followed from entrance into the Head Start program, through one or two years of program participation, with followup in the spring of kindergarten. Through direct child assessments in multiple domains, observations of Head Start classrooms, and interviews with Head Start parents, teachers, and administrators, FACES gathers comprehensive data on the cognitive and social-emotional development of Head Start children; the characteristics of their families; the quality of Head Start classrooms; and the qualifications, credentials, and views of Head Start teachers and other program staff. The study is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

Subcontractors for the 2006 and 2009 cohorts are Educational Testing Service and Juárez and Associates. In addition, Research Support Services is a subcontractor for the 2006 cohort.

Survey Methodology Highlights

Technological innovations in data collection increase the accuracy and timeliness of data management and analysis. These include computer-assisted interviews with children's parents and assessments of the study children, as well as a web instrument for teachers to use when reporting on children's social and academic skills and accomplishments.

Publications

2006 Cohort:

"Beginning Head Start: Children, Families and Programs in Fall 2006" FACES 2006 Baseline Report (December 2008)
"Study Design and Data Tables for FACES 2006 Baseline Report" (December 2008)
"Sampling with Uncertain Frame Counts: Challenges in Sampling Head Start Children for the FACES Study" Presentation at the Joint Statistical Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT (August 2007)
"FACES 2006: Study Design" (March 2007)

Early Childhood Topics