Early Education Policy Alternatives: Comparing Quality and Outcomes of Head Start and State Prekindergarten

Autor/inn/en	Henry, Gary T.; Gordon, Craig S.; Rickman, Dana K.
Titel	Early Education Policy Alternatives: Comparing Quality and Outcomes of Head Start and State Prekindergarten
Quelle	In: Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 28 (2006) 1, S.77-99 (23 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0162-3737
Schlagwörter	Preschool Education; Early Intervention; Educational Quality; Program Effectiveness; Preschool Children; Kindergarten; Economically Disadvantaged; Comparative Analysis; Educational Policy; Early Childhood Education; Georgia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Pre-school education; Vorschulerziehung; Quality of education; Bildungsqualität; Pre-school age; Preschool age; Child; Children; Preschool education; Vorschulalter; Kind; Kinder; Vorschulkind; Vorschulkinder; Vorschule; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik
Abstract	The debates over the 2003 reauthorization of Head Start highlighted a controversy about the devolution of federal early education policy. At the center of the debate is the concern that state control of early education programs will reduce the quality and effectiveness of federal support for children living in poverty, and their families. The current fragmentation of early education policy, with both federal Head Start programs and state-subsidized prekindergarten programs operating in close proximity, presents an opportunity to compare the programs' quality and effectiveness within a region of common support. In this study, propensity score techniques were used to match a probability sample of Head Start participants in Georgia with a group of children who were eligible for Head Start but who attended the state prekindergarten program in Georgia. The two groups were statistically similar at the beginning of their preschool year on three of four direct assessments (p less than 0.05), but by the beginning of kindergarten the children attending the state prekindergarten program posted higher developmental outcomes on five of six direct assessments (p less than 0.05) and 14 of 17 ratings by kindergarten teachers (p less than 0.05). This study indicates that economically disadvantaged children who attended Georgia's universal prekindergarten entered kindergarten at least as well prepared as similar children who attended the Head Start program. (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10