Head Start has been the setting and source of a great deal of research over the four decades since its inception. The authors summarize previous reviews of Head Start research and examine more recent outcome and impact studies that have not been systematically summarized. The authors conclude that Head Start research has come far since the last major synthesis in the mid-1980s. There continues to be clear evidence that the program provides immediate benefits for the children it enrolls and long-term gains persist into elementary school, although evidence for the latter is weaker. The authors also talk about the next steps for Head Start research.

This paper examines a number of issues crucial in establishing state early childhood accountability systems. The author notes that these systems require careful consideration of who will be using the results and how the results are likely to be used. Challenges exist in attributing outcomes to program characteristics, implementing a large system with limited resources, and anticipating negative unintended consequences. The paper concludes with five actions that can lead to effective accountability.

Early Head Start, a federal program begun in 1995 for low-income pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers, was evaluated through a randomized trial of 3,001 families in 17 programs. Interviews with primary caregivers, child assessments, and observations of parent-child interactions were completed when children were three years old. Caregivers were diverse in race-ethnicity, language, and other characteristics. The program children performed better than control children in cognitive and language development, displayed higher emotional engagement of the parent and sustained attention with play objects, and were lower in aggressive behavior. Compared with controls, EHS parents were more emotionally supportive, provided more language and learning stimulation, read to their children more, and spanked less. The strongest and most numerous impacts were for programs that offered a mix of home-visiting and center-based services and fully implemented the performance standards early.

Mathematica collected data on child care settings used by program and control group families when children were 14, 24, and 36 months of age. Findings demonstrate the important role programs played: Early Head Start families were receiving not only more child care but substantially more good-quality center child care than they would have without the intervention. Nearly two-thirds of Early Head Start 3-year-olds spent at least 30 hours a week in child care. Early Head Start children were three times more likely to be in good-quality center care than were control group children at 14 and 24 months of age, and about 1½ times more likely to be in good-quality centers at 36 months. Furthermore, they were in classrooms with ITERS scores about one point higher than classrooms attended by control group children at 14 and 24 months of age.

The theory-of-change approach is a promising tool for evaluating programs geared toward improving the long-term well-being of children because it depicts how a well-implemented program should work while embracing the complexity of comprehensive and community-based initiatives. However, little is known about the application of theory-of-change ideas in real-world settings. This article describes how these ideas were used in the evaluation of the Free To Grow pilot program, a substance abuse prevention initiative focused on families and communities with young children, and describes how theory-of-change methods can be used in other program development and evaluation efforts.

Tells the story of program development in the early years, examining the nature and extent of implementation in key program areas and the quality of child development services for the 17 programs participating in the national evaluation. Reviews evolving program approaches, family engagement, service needs and use, and other areas as well as overall themes found across programs in their early stages of development. Notes that programs have achieved many important successes and have opportunities for further growth and improvement in confronting remaining challenges. Appendixes include checklists and rating scales used for rating implementation of the Head Start Program Performance Standards.

The final report to Congress presents complete findings from our seven-year national evaluation of Early Head Start. The findings show that the program promotes learning and the parenting that supports it within the first three years of life. Participating children perform significantly better in cognitive, language, and social-emotional development than their peers who do not participate. The program also has important impacts on many aspects of parenting and the home environment, and it supports parents’ progress toward economic self-sufficiency.

Presents an in-depth look at the challenges presented by the evaluation of Early Head Start, which required the cooperation of multiple levels of research and program partnerships. Examines some of the benefits of this new paradigm in evaluative research and describes creative responses to its challenges in the context of a large-scale evaluation.

Summarizes lessons learned for stations, partnerships, and outreach from an ongoing five-year evaluation of Ready To Learn, a Public Broadcasting Service and U.S. Department of Education initiative to help enhance children’s readiness for school. Stations need to be committed to the program and work to reduce turnover. Outreach coordinators should make developing partnerships a priority, and provide a variety of roles that will accommodate partners with different capacities to participate. Workshops should be focused on outcomes and long enough to effect meaningful change.