Policy Research

Head Start Impact Study Final Report

United States Department of Health and Human Services

Summary

The Head Start Impact Study was a government run randomized experiment to measure the effect of the Head Start program. A nation-wide sample was randomly assigned to a group that had access to the Head Start program, and a control group that did not. Providing access to Head Start led to significant differences in every measure of preschool experience. The four-year old group scored higher in school readiness in language and literacy; the three-year old group scored higher in every area tested. By the end of the first grade, however, much of the benefits had disappeared.

Read Now

Policy Implications

While at first promising, the report concludes that after first grade, most of the original benefits of completed the Head Start program fade away. The case may be that policy is needed for supplemental educational programs following the completion of Head Start in order to retain the gained benefits.