Why Head Start Works...

The following article was posted in a Mississippi newspaper this week.  The question that many pundits of the written media like to quote is "Does Head Start make a difference in preschool children?"  My answer is yes it does!  Head Start programs are more than child development programs.  One of the program's mission is to promote family development.  For some school age children, this means the difference between a parent that shows up for a school meeting or a parent engaged in PTA.  Preschool children, especially low income, under privileged children, need more than child development to succeed in school.  They need an engaged parent, one that not only can help with homework, but one that can advocate for school systems that ensure quality in education.  In the case of a Head Start child whose scores are the same as a non-Head Start child,  that even playing field is a positive.  You have to understand the background of some Head Start children.  When you are born into a family dealing with drugs, abuse and homelessness, competing on the same level is a major accomplishment.  Also remember Head Start is the largest health referral program in the US.  It is also the only place some children have access to a healthy nutritious meal.  When you compare apples to oranges, of course statistics are going to be greater for a child not living in poverty.

As this article and the many others written by child development specialists have explained,  preschool children such as the ones enrolled in Head Start benefit most when the program also addresses family development not just the cognitive development of children. In the Mississippi article written by Ellen Ciurczak of  Hattiesburg American stated, "...children who were in the pre-kindergarten program were 44 percent more likely to graduate from high school..." 

With Mississippi's Head Starts only serving 26% of children ages 3 and 34% of 4 year olds, you should instead ask... "Why does Head Start not serve more children in need?"  So it brings me back to the question, ..."Does Head Start work?"!  I say "YES"!  Check out your state's statistics for preschool programs and let me know.

See Article:  "Teens are not prepared for the military"

Thomas Micheals, M. Ed.
HS University