The Effectiveness of Early Head Start for 3-Year-Old Children and Their Parents: Lessons for Policy and Programs.

Abstract

Early Head Start, a federal program begun in 1995 for low-income pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers, was evaluated through a randomized trial of 3,001 families in 17 programs. Interviews with primary caregivers, child assessments, and observations of parent-child interactions were completed when children were 3 years old. Caregivers were diverse in race-ethnicity, language, and other characteristics. Regression-adjusted impact analyses showed that 3-year-old program children performed better than did control children in cognitive and language development, displayed higher emotional engagement of the parent and sustained attention with play objects, and were lower in aggressive behavior. Compared with controls, Early Head Start parents were more emotionally supportive, provided more language and learning stimulation, read to their children more, and spanked less. The strongest and most numerous impacts were for programs that offered a mix of home-visiting and center-based services and that fully implemented the performance standards early.

The moderating effect of parental warmth on the association between spanking and child aggression: a longitudinal approach

“…As a result, the internal consistency for each measure used in this study cannot be reported. The study authors report that internal consistency for all the measures is 0.70 or greater, with the exception of the Home Observation for the Measure of Environment (HOME), which they report as being 0.69 (Love et al, 2005).…”

Parenting Education in Indonesia: Review and Recommendations to Strengthen Programs and Systems

“…Researchers suggest that parenting interventions are instrumental in preventing child maltreatment in low-and middle-income countries (Knerr, Gardner, and Cluver 2013 Black et al 1994;Duggan et al 1999;Gelfand et al 1996;Love et al 2005). …”

Is it Too Late Baby? Pinpointing the Emergence of a Black-White Test Score Gap in Infancy

“…As Magnuson and Waldfogel (2005) note "only one-third of Head Start teachers hold fouryear college degrees, and experts worry that low pay and low levels of provider education constrain program quality" (172). Some disagree that all Head Start programs are ineffective (Love, et al 2005, Wilen 2003, Zero to Three 2005. In their policy brief, the Zero to Three Policy Center (2005) argues that Early Head Start is highly effective.…”

“…This program reaches out to families either in childcare centers that provide additional parenting education and home based visits, or through home visits and parent-child socialization activities (Love et al 2005). In a large, randomized trial of 3,001 families in 17 programs, Love et al (2005) found that Early Head Start had modest, but statistically significant positive impacts on infants' and toddlers' cognitive skills and on positive parenting behaviors, compared to the control group. They further found that the program sites that were most fully implemented earlier on had children who did better than in program sites that took longer be fully established.…”