ACF OPRE: Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (EHSRE)

TABLES

TABLE 1
KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILIES ENTERING THE EARLY HEAD START RESEARCH PROGRAMS
	All Research Programs Combined (Percent)	Range Across Research Programs (Percent)
Primary Caregiver (Applicant) Is Female	94	88 to 99
Primary Caregiver Is a Teenager (under 20)	35	12 to 84
Primary Caregiver Is Married	28	2 to 70
Family Is a Two-Parent Family	40	9 to 74
Primary Caregiver's Race/Ethnicity
African American	33	0 to 89
Hispanic	24	0 to 89
White	37	2 to 91
Other	6	0 to 16
Primary Caregiver's Main Language Is Not English	21	0 to 81
Primary Caregiver Lacks a High School Diploma	48	24 to 88
Primary Caregiver's Main Activity
Employed	23	11 to 44
In school or training	22	4 to 64
Unemployed	29	13 to 43
Other	26	2 to 55
Family Receives Welfare Cash Assistance	34	11 to 64
Child's Age
Unborn	25	7 to 67
0 to 6 months	42	12 to 57
6 to 12 months	33	1 to 75
Number of Applicants/Programs	1,514	17
SOURCE: Preliminary Head Start Family Information System application and enrollment data. Data are for the program group only.

TABLE 2
CHILD AND FAMILY OUTCOME MEASURES USED IN IMPACT ANALYSES CITED IN THIS REPORT
Outcome Measure	Aspects of Development Measured
Bayley Scales of Infant Development II; Mental Scalea	Direct child assessment of cognitive functioning
Bayley Mental Development Index (MDI) Mean Score	Standardized, age-adjusted score based on a representative U.S. population sample
Percentage with MDI below 85	85 is one standard deviation below the population mean; children scoring below 85 are considered to have delayed performance
MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (CDI); Toddler Formb	Parent report of early language development; subscales reflect the aspects of communication and language development that are emerging
CDI Vocabulary Production Score	Number of words out of 100 the parent has heard the child say
CDI Sentence Complexity Score	Extent to which child is using more grammatically complex sentences
CDI Percentage Combining Words	Percentage of children who are using two-word (or more) phrases
Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach)b	For each possible behavior problem, parent reports whether the child exhibits this behavior often (2); sometimes (1); or never (0).
Aggressive Behavior Problems mean subscale score	Aggressive behavior problems subscale includes such items as "Child is easily frustrated;" or "Child is disobedient."
Bayley Behavioral Rating Scalec	Child assessor ratings of the child's behavior during the Bayley assessment; each item on a 5-point scale
Emotional Regulation in a Cognitive Task	Average score on items including negative affect, attention to tasks, adaptation to change in test materials
Orientation/Engagement in a Cognitive Task	Average score on items including positive affect, interest in test materials, exploration of objects and surroundings
Child Behavior During Three-Bag Structured Play Taskd	Child's behavior in relation to the parent and objects, coded by trained researchers from videotapes
Child Engagement of Parent	Extent to which child interacts with parent and communicates positive feeling
Child Negativity Toward Parent	Anger, rejection, or negative reactions to parent's behavior
Child Sustained Attention with Objects	Duration of the child's focus on an object or set of objects
Parent Behavior During Three-BagStructured Play Taskd	Parent's behavior in relation to the child, coded by trained researchers from videotapes
Parent Supportiveness	Contingent responsivity, positive regard, cognitive stimulation
Parent Detachment	Under-involvement; lack of awareness, attention, or engagement
Parent Intrusiveness	Over-involvement; over-control
Parent Negative Regard	Discontent; anger; rejection
Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME)
Emotional Responsivityc	Parent's verbal responsivity to child, praise of child, and expressions of warmth and affection to child (sum of 7 observation items)
Support of Cognitive, Language, and Literacy Environmente	Presence of variety of stimulating toys, books, developmentally appropriate furnishings and equipment, and parental cognitive stimulation via reading to child and talking to child (sum of 12 items)
Parent-Child Activities-Average Scoreb	Summary score of how frequently parents played with their toddlers by singing songs and nursery rhymes, dancing, telling and reading stories, playing outside, and playing chasing games
Percentage of Parents Who Read to Child Every Dayb	Parent reads to the child every day or more than once per day
Percentage of Parents Who Read to Child at Bedtimeb	Parent reads to child as part of the regular bedtime routine and followed this routine 4 out of 5 weekdays in previous week
Knowledge of Infant Development Inventoryb	Summary score of knowledge of child development and milestones
Percentage of Parents Who Set a Regular Bedtime for Childb	Parent has regular bedtime for the child and child was put to bed at that time 4 out of 5 weekdays in previous week
Whether the Parent Spanked the Child in Previous Weekb	Parent is asked whether she/he spanked the child in the previous week
Percentage of Parents Whose Response to Hypothetical Parent-Child Conflict Situations Would Be:b	Parent asked how she would respond to three situations: (1) child keeps playing with breakables; (2) child refuses to eat; (3) child has a temper tantrum in a store. Responses listed below are coded 1 if technique is ever mentioned.
Prevent or Distract
Talk and Explain
Physical Punishment
Percentage of Parents Who Suggested Only Mild Responses to Hypothetical Parent-Child Conflict Situationsb	Summary score of only mild responses (prevent or distract; talk or explain; ignore the behavior; remove the child or the object) across the thee hypothetical situations described above.
Family Environment Scale-Family Conflict Average Scoreb	Summary score of parent agreement with statements about how family gets along and settles arguments, such as fighting a lot, criticizing, and throwing things
Parenting Stress Index (PSI)b	Parent agreement with statements about how the parent feels about the parenting role and about interacting with the child
PSI Parental Distress	Summary score of 12 items such as, "You feel trapped by your responsibilities as a parent," and "You are less interested in people than you used to be."
PSI Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction	Summary score of 12 items such as, "Child smiles at you much less than you expected," and "Your child rarely does things for you that make you feel good."
Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Depression Scale-Average Probability (CIDI)b	Probability of depression based on parent's report of depressive symptomatology and treatment in the past 12 months
Child's Health Status - Average Scoreb	Five-point parent rating of child's health from poor to excellent
Parent's Health Status - Average Scoreb	Five-point parent rating of parent's health from poor to excellent
Percentage of Parents Who Use Guards or Gates for Windowsb	Whether family uses guards or gates for their windows
Percentage of Parents Who Ever Participated in an Education or Job Training Program in First 15 Monthsb	Whether parent participated in an education or job training program
Total Hours per Week in Education or Training in First 15 Monthsb	Created from education and training timelines based on parent report of activities and the dates they occurred
Percentage of Parents Ever Employed in First 15 Monthsb	Whether parent was employed
Average Hours per Week Employed at All Jobs in First 15 Monthsb	Created from employment timelines based on parent report of employment activities and the dates they occurred
Percentage of Parents Who Received Any Welfare Benefits During First 15 Monthsb	Whether parent received any of a list of welfare benefits
Percentage of Families with Income Above the Poverty Line at Second Followupb	Based on reported annual income, percentage of families above 100 percent of poverty
Dunst Family Resource Scale at Second Followupb	Summary scale score based on resources in such areas as housing, food, and transportation
NOTE:Additional measures will be summarized in the forthcoming technical report. aDirect child assessment.(back) bParent report.(back) cInterviewer observation.(back) dCoded from videotapes of parent-child interactions.(back) eCombination of interviewer observation and parent report items.(back)

TABLE 3
SELECTED KEY GLOBAL IMPACTS ON CHILDREN AND PARENTS AT 24 MONTHS
Outcome	EHS Group Mean	Control Group Mean	Estimated Impact per Participant	Effect Size(Percent)f
Bayley Mental Development Index (MDI)	90.1	88.1	2.0***	14.9
Percentage with MDI Below 85	33.6	40.2	-6.6**	13.5
CDI Vocabulary Production Score	56.3	53.9	2.4**	10.8
CDI Sentence Complexity Score	8.6	7.7	0.9**	11.4
CDI Percentage Combining Words	81.0	77.9	3.1	7.4
Aggressive Behavior Problems (average subscale score)	9.9	10.5	-0.6**	10.2
Emotional Regulation in a Cognitive Task (average score)	3.6	3.6	-0.0	1.4
Orientation/Engagement in a Cognitive Task (average score)	3.7	3.6	0.0	0.5
Child Engagement of Parent (Structured Play)	4.3	4.2	0.1	7.6
Child Negativity Toward Parent (Structured Play)	1.7	1.8	-0.1	8.0
Child Sustained Attention with Objects (Structured Play)	5.0	5.0	0.1	6.8
Parent Supportiveness (Structured Play)	4.1	3.9	0.1**	13.5
Parent Detachment (Structured Play)	1.4	1.5	-0.1*	10.4
Parent Intrusiveness (Structured Play)	1.9	1.9	0.0	3.0
Parent Negative Regard (Structured Play)	1.5	1.5	0.0	3.9
Emotional Responsivity (HOME)	6.2	6.1	0.1*	8.1
Support of Cognitive, Language, and Literacy Environment (HOME)	10.3	10.1	0.2***	11.5
Parent-Child Activities	4.6	4.5	0.1**	11.7
Percentage of Parents Who Read to Child Every Day	57.9	52.3	5.6**	11.3
Percentage of Parents Who Read to Child at Bedtime	29.4	22.6	6.8***	16.0
Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory	3.4	3.3	0.1***	12.3
Percentage of Parents Who Set a Regular Bedtime for Child	61.6	55.8	5.9**	11.8
Percentage of Parents Who Spanked Child in Previous Week	47.4	52.1	-4.7*	9.4
Percentage of Parents Who Suggested Responses to Hypothetical Situations with Child: Prevent or Distract	72.9	66.8	6.1***	12.9
Percentage of Parents Who Suggested Responses to Hypothetical Situations with Child: Talk and Explain	37.2	31.1	6.1**	12.9
Percentage of Parents Who Suggested Responses to Hypothetical Situations with Child: Physical Punishment	27.7	29.7	-2.0	4.3
Percentage of Parents Who Suggested Only Mild Responses to Hypothetical Situations with Child	43.1	39.1	4.0*	8.2
Family Environment Scale - Family Conflict Average Score	1.7	1.7	-0.1**	11.0
PSI Parental Distress	25.0	25.9	-1.0**	10.2
PSI Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction	16.9	17.4	-0.6*	9.4
CIDI-Depression - Average Probability	15.3	15.6	-0.3	0.8
Child's Health Status - Average Score	3.8	3.9	-0.1	5.5
Parent's Health Status - Average Score	3.5	3.5	0.0	2.3
Percentage of Parents Who Use Guards or Gates for Windows	62.7	65.0	-2.3	4.7
Percentage of Parents Who Ever Participated in an Education or Job Training Program in First 15 Months	48.4	43.7	4.7**	10.7
Total Hours/Week in Education/Training in First 15 Months	5.3	4.1	1.1***	14.6
Percentage of Parents Ever Employed in First 15 Months	72.2	71.9	0.2	0.5
Average Hours per Week Employed at All Jobs in First 15 Months	14.6	15.4	-0.8	5.5
Percentage of Parents Who Received Any Welfare Benefits During First 15 Months	65.3	64.6	0.7	1.5
Percentage of Families with Income Above the Poverty Line at Second Followup	33.8	36.4	-2.5	7.0
Dunst Family Resource Scale at Second Followup	153.1	152.2	0.8	0.6
SOURCE: Birthday-related child assessments and parent interviews. NOTE: The impact estimates do not always exactly equal the program group minus the control group means due to rounding. fThe effect size is calculated by dividing the estimated impact per participant on the outcome measure by the standard deviation of the outcome measure among the control group. Thus, it provides a way of comparing impacts across measures in terms of the size of the program-control difference relative to the standard deviation, expressed as a percentage.(back) Significantly different from zero at the .10 level, two-tailed test. Significantly different from zero at the .05 level, two-tailed test. **Significantly different from zero at the .01 level, two-tailed test.

TABLE 4
GLOBAL IMPACTS ON SELECTED KEY MEASURES OF SERVICE USE
Outcome	Early Head Start Group Mean	Control Group Mean	Estimated Impact per Participant
Percentage Who Received Any Key Service (home visit, case management meeting, center-based child development/ child care services, and/or group activities) through date of the 15-month PSI	95.2	75.0	20.2***
Percentage Who Received Any Core Services (more than 1 home visit and/or center-based child development/child care services)	94.3	69.2	25.1***
Percentage Who Participated in Any Group Parenting Activities (parenting classes, parent-child group activities, and/or parent support groups)	67.3	30.8	36.5***
Percentage Who Received Home Visits:
At least once	86.7	32.8	53.9***
At least weekly (as of date of 6-month PSI)	44.4	3.5	40.9***
At least monthly (as of date of 6-month PSI)	65.6	11.1	54.4***
Percentage Who Received Center-Based Child Care	42.6	27.1	15.4***
Average Weekly Hours of Center-Based Care	7.1	3.6	3.5***
Percentage Who Met with a Case Manager:
At least once	85.3	49.8	35.5***
At least weekly (as of date of 6-month PSI)	47.4	8.2	39.2***
At least monthly (as of date of 6-month PSI)	68.4	17.5	50.9***
Percentage of Children Who Received Any Health Services	99.5	99.4	0.1
SOURCE: Six- and 15-month parent services follow-up interviews (PSI) completed an average of 7 and 16 months after enrollment. NOTE: The impact estimates do not always exactly equal the program group minus the control group means due to rounding. Significantly different from zero at the .10 level, two-tailed test. Significantly different from zero at the .05 level, two-tailed test. **Significantly different from zero at the .01 level, two-tailed test.

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