Head Start Program Still Under Fire Because of the Impact Study
Posted by Barb Haxton on March 31, 2010 under Legislative Updates | 
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The results of the Head Start Impact Study were released late in 2009 and while the results showed clearly that Head Start children benefit from their year or years in Head Start, the gains that some children make in Head Start are not sustained in the public school setting by the end of first grade. The cause of this un-sustainability is reflected in a wide range of variables that impact the child once he/she makes it to public school, including class size, a single teacher in the classroom, diminished parent involvement, diminished teacher/child interaction and a host of other possibilities. Nonetheless, Head Start is continually identified, in the conservative press, as failing its mission.
The National Head Start Association is working diligently to assure both the press and the policy makers that Head Start is, in fact, doing it’s job and doing it well – and the Impact Study results that show clear gains prove that. The Office of Head Start has also replied to some of these press releases by providing details about planned changes in the program which will reflect major improvements in service delivery. Despite these responses, some areas of the press continue to snipe at the validity of the program. We continue to be challenged as to our value, and this is a challenge Head Start must continually meet.
One way we can do this is by remaining constant in engaging in positive and factual communication with our members of Congress. And, as a part of this effort, it is important that we collect engaging success stories of Head Start children and Head Start parents.
OHSAI invites our member programs to send us stories about children with unique success experiences; parents who have beaten the odds or who have intriguing success stories; and children with special needs who have shown great promise in their Head Start setting. Stories about successful staff are also welcome.
We are all responsible for ensuring that EVERYONE knows the real value of Head Start.
TIMOTHY CROSSER said,
Hello my daughter went through head start last year. She came out very strong in a lot of her education levels. She did really good on her krawl test before she started but here she is now struggling because her class has too many kids and the teacher doesn’t have enough time to sit down with them to teach each one. Not only that but my son is now in head start he goes from 12:00 to 3:30 my daughter goes from 12:45 till 3:25 I think that everything my daughter has learned went out the window when she stepped into kindergarten. It is my beleif that her going less time and too many kids in the class and the teachers having to cram so much in with that size of class takes away from my daughter. I don’t think that head start is to blame. I think it is the public schools fault for having too many kids in the class, not enough teachers, and not enough support for the kids coming in. from head start. and not having enough 1 on 1 time with the kids. I feel kids so desperately need thank you for letting me post this I just hope it lets other parents know what is going on in head start and what goes wrong when the kids go kindergarten.
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