Marin County Life :: Promising Practices :: Head Start & Early Head Start

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An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.

2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.

3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.

Head Start & Early Head Start

Ranking	Evidence-Based Practice
Description	Head Start and Early Head Start are comprehensive child development programs that serve children from birth to age 5, pregnant women, and their families. They are child-directed programs whose overall goal is to increase school readiness of young children in low-income families. This aim encompasses five developmental domains key to school readiness: physical well-being and motor development; social and emotional development; approaches to learning; language development and emerging literacy; and cognition and general knowledge. It takes into account the interrelatedness of cognitive, emotional, and social development; physical and mental health; and nutritional needs. The basic philosophy that undergirds the Head Start program is that children benefit from quality early childhood experiences and that effective intervention can best be accomplished through high-quality comprehensive services to children, along with family and community involvement that addresses the unique needs of children and their families. All Head Start programs, either directly or through referral, provide comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and social services to enrolled children and their families. In addition, all programs actively engage parents in the governance and management of the Head Start program and build relationships with community partners. All are provided training and technical assistance to continually enhance their effectiveness. The opportunity to vary practices and approaches is simply an attempt to ensure that the program meets the needs of the children and families in the particular community.
Goal / Mission	The goal of Early Head Start (EHS) is to promote healthy prenatal outcomes for pregnant women, enhance the development of very young children, and promote healthy family functioning. The goal of Head Start is to increase school readiness of young children in low-income families.
Results / Accomplishments	Since its inception in 1994, EHS has become a nationwide effort of 708 community-based programs serving 61,500 children in 2003. The key findings of evaluation studies are summarized below. - There are small to moderate statistically significant positive effects for both 3- and 4-year-old children on several measures across four of the six cognitive constructs, including pre-reading, pre-writing, vocabulary, and parent reports of children’s literacy skills. - For children who entered the study as 3-year-olds, there are small statistically significant effects in one of the three social-emotional constructs—problem behaviors. - For 3-year-olds, there are small to moderate statistically significant effects in both health constructs—higher parent reports of children’s access to health care and better reported health status for children enrolled in Head Start. - For children who entered the program as 4-year-olds, there are moderate statistically significant effects on access to health care but no significant results for health status. - For children who entered the program as 3-year-olds, there are small statistically significant results in two of the three parenting constructs, including a higher use of educational activities and a lower use of physical discipline, by parents of Head Start children. There were no significant effects for safety practices. - For children who entered the program as 4-year-olds, there are small statistically significant effects on parents’ use of educational activities. No significant results were found for discipline or safety practices.
Categories	Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health Health / Women's Health Social Environment
Organization(s)	The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Source	The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Model Programs Guide (MPG)
Date of Publication	2005
Date of Implementation	1994
Location
Primary Contact	Ken Burns, Project Director Head Start Information and Publication Center 1133 15th Street NW, Suite 450 Trans-Management Systems Corporation Washington, DC 20005 (202) 737-1030 http://www.ehsnrc.org/index.htm
For more details	http://www.dsgonline.com/mpg2.5//TitleV_MPG_Tab...
Target Audience	Children, Families
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