National Head Start Impact Study

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Growth and innovation depend on new crops of ambitious and goal-driven youth. However, we can encourage their growth by looking to one of the earliest potential forms of education: preschool. This can be a time of flourishing, or simply an afterthought, before they are exposed to more formal education in kindergarten. Many parents see the latter as more likely, especially poorer parents who assume preschool will be a waste of money that can be spent on more urgent essentials. They argue that the benefits of preschool, such as serving as a catalyst for academic and social growth, can be achieved at home instead. This question is on the minds of many low-income families considering their children’s future, as they believe they would rather be …show more content…
The National Head Start Impact Study looked at this skill specifically. This study focused on Head Start, a standardized government program that offers early childhood education to low-income children. As a government program, Head Start follows federal guidelines for educating children at preschool level. Thus, the results can be comparable to quality preschools which are held to a similar standard. Three year olds at Head Start, as tested by the National Head Start Impact Study, were found to have greatly reduced hyperactivity and aggressive behaviors after one year at Head Start (Garces 1006). One final short term result that indicates that preschool is more beneficial than home learning is test results. These are the easiest to standardize and thus provide the most objective proof of improved ability. Two well-known studies tracking preschool development are broadly known as the Boston and Tulsa Studies. These studies compared students of similar economic status and living conditions with one group participating in a controlled preschool curriculum and the other group being taught at home by …show more content…
The. Additionally, it is common for immigrant families to fall into a low income bracket (Capps et al. 5. The adage of the adage. Immigrant children who may not know English or are in the process of learning show much higher levels of language development and socialization, according to the Boston Study (Yoshikawa 33). Another important group to consider regarding low-income children are those with learning disabilities. For example, children with ADHD benefit far more from preschool than their counterparts without a learning condition. Margaret Burchinal, a leading researcher in child care research at the University of Virginia, expands on this point and conveys that it is very common for ADHD and similar learning impediments to go undiagnosed and untreated in poorer neighborhoods with less funding (Burchinal 132). She continues by explaining that quality preschools, those with teachers having sufficient education and a good student-teacher ratio (typically 8:1 or less), have intervention classes and a specialized curriculum for children with learning conditions such as ADHD. Therefore, targeting such conditions at a young age helps children develop good habits and provides parents with the knowledge they need to properly raise their child despite the challenges that come with having a learning condition (Burchinal