Projects

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

2006 – 2022
Prepared For

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

Mathematica conducted the 2006 and 2009 FACES studies. For more recent studies (2014-2018 and 2019), Mathematica redesigned FACES to provide key data more rapidly and with greater frequency and to help researchers examine more complex issues and topics in greater detail with more efficiency.

Head Start is a national program that helps young children from families with low incomes prepare to succeed in school. It does this by working to promote children’s early learning and health and their families’ well-being. Head Start connects families with medical, dental, and mental health services to ensure that children are receiving the services they need to support their development. Head Start also involves parents in their children’s learning and development and helps parents make progress on their own goals, such as housing stability, continuing education, and financial security (Administration for Children and Families 2020).  Head Start provides grants to local public and private nonprofit and for-profit agencies. The agencies in turn deliver comprehensive services to children and families with low incomes.

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) was launched in 1997 as a periodic, longitudinal, descriptive study of Head Start’s performance. There are 12 regions for federal management of Head Start. FACES gathers data on Head Start programs, staff, children, and families from Regions 1 through 10, which are the 10 geographically based Head Start regions nationwide. As of 2014, a study of Region XI (American Indian and Alaska Native; AIAN) was added, or the AIAN Family and Child Experiences Survey (AIAN FACES) (see below). FACES was 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. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, funded the FACES studies. Mathematica also conducted the 2021—2022 Study of Family and Staff Well-Being in Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) Programs, which built on the FACES 2019 program sample. More information can be found here.

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Project Impact

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has cited Head Start research, including FACES, as a model for integrating evidence to strengthen policy and practice (Newel & Koizumi 2024; OPRE 2024a and 2024b). Both the program and the early childhood field have benefited from the important lessons from the study.

Related Staff

Lizabeth Malone

Lizabeth Malone

Principal Researcher

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Louisa Tarullo

Louisa Tarullo

Senior Fellow

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Nikki Aikens

Nikki Aikens

Principal Researcher

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Emily Moiduddin

Emily Moiduddin

Senior Director, Business Development

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Barbara  Carlson

Barbara Carlson

Senior Director, Statistics and Insights

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Andy Weiss

Andy Weiss

Senior Fellow

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Elizabeth Doran

Elizabeth Doran

Researcher

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Jessica Harding

Jessica Harding

Senior Researcher

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Philip Gleason

Philip Gleason

Senior Fellow

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Addison  Larson

Addison Larson

Senior Data Scientist

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Ashley Kopack Klein

Ashley Kopack Klein

Senior Researcher

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