Head Start Children’s Developmental Progress and Kindergarten Experiences

Publication Date: November 13, 2017
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Introduction

Research Questions

  1. What are Head Start children’s cognitive, social-emotional, and health and physical outcomes from Head Start entry to the spring of kindergarten?
  2. What are the characteristics of the schools and classrooms Head Start children attend during kindergarten?

This research brief focuses on children’s developmental progress from Head Start entry to the spring of kindergarten and follows up about their experiences during their kindergarten year. Data are from the 2009 cohort of the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2009).

Purpose

Measuring children’s outcomes and experiences from Head Start entry to the spring of kindergarten yields a deeper understanding of the program’s efforts to prepare children for the school experience, and provides information about where children go after they leave Head Start.

Key Findings and Highlights

In vocabulary and math skills, children make progress toward national norms during Head Start and their kindergarten year. Additionally, compared to when they began Head Start, at the end of the program children are better able to inhibit their initial impulses and respond correctly in more trials on the pencil tapping task, suggesting their executive functioning skills improved. Head Start teachers report also that children demonstrate more social skills, fewer behavioral problems, and more positive approaches to learning by the end of the program.

Kindergarten teachers, however, report higher rates of problem behaviors overall, and observe fewer positive approaches to learning in the spring of kindergarten than Head Start teachers report at program exit.

Methods

The FACES 2009 sample provides nationally representative information about Head Start programs, centers, and classrooms and the children and families they serve. In all, 60 programs, 129 centers, 486 classrooms, 439 teachers, and 3,349 children participated in the study in fall 2009.

FACES 2009 drew samples of 3- and 4-year-old children who were entering Head Start for the first time in fall 2009 and were expected to attend the program for one or two years before kindergarten. Hence, in this brief, “Head Start exit” refers to data collected in either spring 2010 (for most children sampled as 4-year-olds) or spring 2011 (for most children sampled as 3-year-olds), and “the spring of kindergarten” refers to data col­lected in either spring 2011 (for most children sampled as 4-year-olds) or spring 2012 (for most children sampled as 3-year-olds).

In each wave of data collection, children in the study were administered a battery of direct assessments, their parents and teachers were interviewed or surveyed, and their teachers were asked to complete a set of ratings about the children in their classrooms. In this brief, we draw on data from the direct child assessments, parent interviews, interviews and surveys of Head Start and kindergarten teachers, and teachers’ ratings of children. We supplement the data from these sources with data from two national school universe surveys.

Related Documents

In a related report, we explore in depth the home and classroom supports available to children across Head Start and kindergarten:

Head Start Family and Classroom Supports for Kindergarten Achievement: FACES 2009

Citation

Aikens, N., L. Malone, A. Kopack Klein, J. West and L. Tarullo. “Head Start Children’s Developmental Progress and Kindergarten Experiences: FACES 2009.” OPRE Report 2017-71. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2017.

Glossary

FACES:
Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey