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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This report comes at the conclusion of almost seven years of work, which had its roots even earlier in the vision of the Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers. During this time, some 3,000 Early Head Start and control group families put up with our phone calls, visits in their homes, lengthy interviews, video cameras, and child assessment materials. Moreover, this research would not have been possible without the dedication, cooperation, patience—and even enthusiasm—of 17 Early Head Start program directors and their staffs who participated in this research in many ways. The local and national research teams are most grateful to the Early Head Start programs for their role in making the study possible. The tangible incentives we were able to offer were small, but we hope both the programs and the families felt like important contributors to the growing knowledge base of Early Head Start research.
Of particular importance to everyone who stands to benefit from the information presented here are the sponsoring agencies—the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the Child Outcomes Research and Evaluation team (CORE) within ACF’s Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), and the Head Start Bureau in the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF). As Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, Wade F. Horn provided guidance soon after assuming his position. The CORE staff members, particularly Helen Raikes, Rachel Chazan Cohen, Louisa Banks Tarullo and Michael Lopez, have shown unusual devotion to the study. Howard Rolston and Naomi Goldstein of OPRE have been particularly devoted to ensuring the success of this research. Within the Head Start Bureau, Esther Kresh served as project officer for all 15 local research grants and contributed her advice and counsel to the national evaluation as well. Many dedicated staff of ACYF and the Head Start Bureau contributed through the years; we especially thank National Early Head Start Coordinator Judith Jerald and her colleagues Frank Fuentes, Frankie Gibson, Jim Harrell, Windy Hill, Mimi Kanda, Doug Klafehn, Ann Linehan, Joan Ohl, Edgard Perez, Tom Schultz, Mary Shiffer, Willa Siegel, Craig Turner, Carol Whitten, and Sarah Younglove, as well as ACYF fellows, Gina Barclay-McLaughlin, Senobia Crawford, Brenda Jones Harden, and Carole Kuhns. In earlier years, Olivia Golden, Joan Lombardi, and the late Helen Taylor provided inspiration for both the Early Head Start programs and research. In the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), Linda Mellgren and Martha Moorehouse contributed in important ways, as did Natasha Cabrera and Jeffrey Evans at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). We are also grateful to Christopher Gersten of ACF, Reid Lyon and Melissa Welch-Ross of NICHD, and Denise Bradley and Martha Moorehouse of ASPE for comments on an earlier draft of this report. As leaders of the National Resource Center and providers of technical assistance to all Early Head Start programs, Linda Eggbeer, Helen Keith, Tammy Mann, Adrienne Sparger, and Lillian Sugarman frequently helped us understand program operations. We also gratefully acknowledge the central role of the 15 local research teams. In addition to conducting their own investigations, they have been valuable partners in the research process. In addition to assisting in the national evaluation process, they conducted research in connection with their local programs that is reflected throughout this report, with special emphasis in Volume III.
In the initial years of the project and in subsequent individual consultations, valuable consultation was provided by members of the Early Head Start Research Technical Working Group whose guidance on site selection, sample size, baseline data, cultural sensitivity, measures preparation, quantification of levels of implementation, theories of change, and analyses plans helped steer us on the right course. For these contributions, we thank J. Lawrence Aber, Mark Appelbaum, Gina Barclay-McLaughlin, Hedy Chang, Tom Cook, Eugene Garcia, Kathleen Hebbeler, Judith Jerald, Judith Jones, Sharon Lynn Kagan, Marie McCormick, and Suzanne Randolph.
The authors of this report are grateful to our many colleagues at MPR and Columbia, whose work has been essential in enabling us to achieve this milestone. We list all contributing colleagues in Appendix A, but here we note the special contributions of Jeanne Bellotti, Anne Bloomenthal, John Burghardt, Julius Clark, Walter Corson, Cheryl DeSaw, Mark Dynarski, Jennifer Faerber, Stuart Kerachsky, Don Lara, Miriam Loewenberg, Linda Mendenko, Chuck Metcalf, Lorenzo Moreno, Linda Rosenberg, Margo Salem, Barbara Schiff, Andrea Sleeper, Susan Sprachman, Xiaofan Sun, and Welmoet van Kammen. We thank Jane Nelson for serving as the project secretary, who was able to call upon skilled support staff—Lynne Beres, Connie Blango, Monica Capizzi, Kathy Castro, Jennifer Chiaramonti, Bill Garrett, Gloria Gustus, Cathy Harper, Cindy McClure, Jill Miller, and Marjorie Mitchell. Walt Brower, Roy Grisham, and Patricia Ciaccio provided editorial support. While acknowledging our indebtedness to these many individuals, the authors take responsibility for any errors or inadequacies that remain. In Appendix A, we more completely acknowledge the participation of hundreds of staff within the government, the consortium, and Columbia University and Mathematica, as well as a number of expert advisors. However, two individuals deserve special thanks for their unparalleled devotion to conducting quality research and developing meaningful policy messages. Helen Raikes and Rachel Chazan Cohen shared the responsibilities of federal project officer and have been special partners in this venture.
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