Table Of ContentEarly Head Start Evaluation Reports
Leading the Way: Describes the characteristics and implementation levels of 17 Early Head Start programs in fall
1997, soon after they began serving families.
Executive Summary (December 2000): Summarizes Volumes I, II, and III.
Volume I (December 1999): Cross-Site Perspectives—Describes the characteristics of Early Head Start research
programs in fall 1997, across 17 sites.
Volume II (December 1999): Program Profiles—Presents the stories of each of the Early Head Start research
programs.
Volume III (December 2000): Program Implementation—Describes and analyzes the extent to which the programs
fully implemented, as specified in the Revised Head Start Program Performance Standards, as of fall 1997.
Pathways to Quality and Full Implementation (spring 2002): Describes and analyzes the characteristics, levels of
implementation, and levels of quality of the 17 Early Head Start programs in fall 1999, three years into serving
families. Presents an analysis of the pathways programs followed to achieve full implementation and high quality.
Building Their Futures: How Early Head Start Programs Are Enhancing the Lives of Infants and Toddlers in Low-
Income Families: Presents analysis of the impacts that the research programs have had on children’s
development, parenting, and family development through 2 years of age.
Summary Report (January 2001): Synopsis of the major findings.
Technical Report (June 2001): Detailed findings and report on methodology and analytic approaches.
Special Policy Report on Child Care in Early Head Start (summer 2002): Describes the nature, types, and quality of
child care arrangements in which Early Head Start and control group children enrolled, and presents implications
for public policy.
Special Policy Report on Children’s Health in Early Head Start (summer 2002): Describes health services received by
Early Head Start and control group families.
Making a Difference in the Lives of Infants and Toddlers and Their Families: The Impacts of Early Head Start
(June 2002): Presents analysis of the impacts that the research programs have had on children’s development,
parenting, and family development through the children’s third birthday (including two to three years of program
participation).
Reports Are Available at:
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/core/ongoing_research/ehs/ehs_intro.html
http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/3rdLevel/ehstoc.htm
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Prepared for:
Rachel Chazan Cohen, Helen Raikes, Louisa Banks Tarullo,
And Esther Kresh
Child Outcomes Research and Evaluation
Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Washington, DC
Prepared by:
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Princeton, NJ
Under Contract DHHS-105-95-1936
Authors:
John M. Love
Ellen Eliason Kisker
Christine M. Ross
Peter Z. Schochet
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Jeanne Brooks-Gunn
Columbia University
Center for Children and Families
Diane Paulsell
Kimberly Boller
Jill Constantine
Cheri Vogel
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Allison Sidle Fuligni
Christy Brady-Smith
Columbia University
Center for Children and Families
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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.
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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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CONTENTS
Chapter Page
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................xxiii
I INTRODUCTION: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT FOR THE
EVALUATION................................................................................................................ 1
A. OVERVIEW OF THE FINDINGS ......................................................................... 2
B. EARLY HEAD START, ITS HISTORY, AND ITS DEVELOPMENT AS A
NATIONAL PROGRAM........................................................................................ 4
1. The Role of Legislation and Advisory Committees........................................ 5
2. The National Early Head Start Program.......................................................... 8
3. The Program’s Policy Context ........................................................................ 9
4. The Research Context for the Early Head Start Program and Its
Evaluation...................................................................................................... 10
C. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ADDRESSED IN THE EARLY HEAD START
IMPACT STUDY.................................................................................................. 16
1. Central Questions of the Study...................................................................... 16
2. C on ceptual Framewor.k. . 17
3. O ve rarching Hypothese.s. . 18
D. THE EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS, FAMILIES, AND
COMMUNITIES................................................................................................... 20
1. The 17 Early Head Start Research Programs ................................................ 21
2. The Families That Early Head Start Research Programs Served.................. 25
3. The Communities Served by Early Head Start Research Programs ............. 28
4. How Early Head Start Research Programs Compare with All Funded
Programs from Which They Were Selected.................................................. 29
E. OVERVIEW OF THE EVALUATION................................................................ 31
1. Description of the Evaluation........................................................................ 31
2. The Early Head Start Research Consortium ................................................. 32
3. Overview of the Implementation Study and Its Findings ............................. 32
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CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter Page
II EVALUATION DESIGN, DATA, AND ANALYTIC APPROACHES...................... 37
A. S T UDY DESIGN. . 37
1. S ite Selectio.n. 37
2. S am ple Enrolme.n.t. 38
3. R an dom Assignme.n.t. . 39
B. DATA SOURCES AND OUTCOME MEASURES ............................................ 42
1. D at a Sourc.e.s. 42
2. R es ponse Rat.e.s. 45
3. T im ing of Interview.s. 54
4. O ut come Variabl.e.s. 55
5. A na lysis Sample.s. . 58
C. A N ALYTIC APPROACHE.S. 59
1. G lo bal Analys.i.s. . 59
2. T ar geted Analys.i.s. 71
3. Criteria for Identifying Program Effects ....................................................... 94
III PARTICIPATION IN EARLY HEAD START SERVICES ........................................ 97
A. D A TA SOURCE.S. 97
B. LEVELS OF OVERALL PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAM SERVICES ......... 99
C. DURATION OF PROGRAM PARTICIPATION .............................................. 100
D. LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION IN CORE CHILD DEVELOPMENT
SERVICES .......................................................................................................... 102
1. Early Head Start Home Visits ..................................................................... 104
2. Early Head Start Center-Based Child Care ................................................. 108
E. USE OF CHILD CARE SERVICES................................................................... 114
F. RECEIPT OF OTHER CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES......................... 122
1. Parenting Education and Parent-Child Group Socializations...................... 122
2. Child Health Services.................................................................................. 125
3. Services for Children with Disabilities ....................................................... 127
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CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter Page
III G. FAMILY DEVELOPMENT SERVI.C.E.S. . 132
(continued)
1. C as e Manageme.n.t. . 132
2. F am ily Health C.a.r.e. . 133
3. Family Mental Health Care ......................................................................... 133
4. Other Family Development Services .......................................................... 136
H. ENGAGEMENT IN PROGRAM SERVICES ................................................... 136
I. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.................................................................. 140
IV EARLY HEAD START IMPACTS ON SERVICE RECEIPT................................... 145
A. GLOBAL IMPACTS ON SERVICE RECEIPT AND
SERVICE INTENSITY....................................................................................... 146
1. Impacts on the Receipt of Core Child Development Services .................... 147
2. Impacts on Receipt of Other Child Development Services......................... 156
3. Impacts on Receipt of Family Development Services ................................ 166
B. DIFFERENCES IN PROGRAM IMPACTS ON RECEIPT OF SERVICES
ACROSS SUBGROUPS OF PROGRAMS........................................................ 171
1. Difference in Impacts on Service Receipt by Program Approach .............. 173
2. Differences in Program Impacts on Service Receipt
by Implementation Status............................................................................ 177
C. IMPLICATIONS FOR CHILD AND FAMILY OUTCOMES.......................... 188
V EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS’ OVERALL IMPACTS ON CHILDREN’S
DEVELOPMENT, PARENTING, AND FAMILY WELL-BEING ........................... 191
A. HYPOTHESES AND BRIEF SUMMARY OF FINDINGS .............................. 193
B. OUTCOME MEASURES USED AT AGE 3 ..................................................... 194
1. Child Development Measures ..................................................................... 195
2. Parenting and Home Environment Measures.............................................. 196
3. Measures of Parent Health and Mental Health, Family Functioning, and
Self-Sufficiency........................................................................................... 196
4. Data Sources for Child, Parent, and Family Measures ............................... 197
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