With Congress poised to reauthorize the Head Start program this year, the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Education Reform held a March 6 hearing to discuss ways in which to improve results from this early childhood education program.
Last spring, the President announced his “Good Start, Grow Smart” early childhood initiative, which utilizes a three-pronged approach to improving early childhood education. His initiative calls for more emphasis on the early literacy development of children in Head Start and training for Head Start teachers in pre-reading instruction. The plan also calls for Head Start to partner with states for better coordination of pre-school activities and greater dissemination of current research and best practices to parents, teachers, and caregivers. The subcommittee heard testimony from expert witnesses regarding the President’s initiative and recommendations on how to improve the Head Start program.
“Research shows that children who participate in Head Start are better prepared to enter school than similar children who do not participate in this program,” stated Subcommittee Chair Michael Castle (R-DE), opening the hearing. However, “the typical Head Start student still enters kindergarten far below the national norm,” he continued. “This achievement gap between typical Head Start students and other students is a challenge we should address, not ignore,” he added.
“Head Start is working,” responded Ranking Member Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). According to a survey by the Department of Health and Human Services, “Head Start lowers the gap between low-income children and other children,” she said. “There is no need to be reinventing a good childhood program,” she emphasized, and added, “One already exists: Head Start.”
Dr. Wade Horn of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) outlined some of the proposals in the President’s early childhood education initiative. He told the subcommittee that “Head Start does an okay job, but does not do a terrific job.” He explained that while Head Start children begin school ahead of other economically disadvantaged children, they “do not enter school at the same level as more economically advantaged children.” He added, “This Administration does not support the status quo.”
In order to strengthen Head Start, “the President is asking Congress to include in the reauthorization of the Head Start Act a provision that will allow interested states to include Head Start in their preschool plans,” he explained. “The President’s proposal is to give states an option. Their participation will not be required. This is not a block grant; rather, it is a proposal designed to offer states the flexibility to better serve low-income children and families,” he clarified.
Dr. Horn also explained that, in addition to improving and strengthening Head Start through intense efforts in early language and literacy, the President’s initiative calls for a “method to track the results of these efforts.” Consequently, in the fall, his agency will begin “implementing congressionally mandated assessments of all the four-year-old children in Head Start,” he said.
Connecticut Governor John Rowland testified that he strongly supports the President’s initiatives. Connecticut is the wealthiest state in the country, yet “we have some very poor children,” he said. Connecticut also is number one in math, science, and reading, and the high school dropout rate is less than 10 percent, he told the subcommittee.
“Connecticut would like to be the first state to accept the President’s challenge,” said Gov. Rowland. “It’s optional; it’s flexible so that we can target funds where they are needed, and it encourages partnerships.”
During the question and answer period, Rep. Castle asked about the plans to assess Head Start children. “Some may think that ‘assess’ means ‘testing,’” he said.
“The President feels strongly about outcomes,” responded Dr. Horn. “There are lots of ways of assessing children,” he said. “We’re not talking about sitting four-year-olds behind desks with bubble sheets,” he stated. “We assess children all the time, and most of the tools are game-like,” he explained. “We must engage a process by which we can determine whether or not children are benefiting from Head Start,” he added.
“The President says he is interested in school readiness,” stated Rep. Woolsey. “Yet, his budget doesn’t reflect that,” she said. “Head Start barely receives a cost-of-living increase, and Leave No Child Behind is underfunded,” she asserted. “How can we trust that his new proposal is supported by anything but words?” she asked.
“What we’re asking is for a plan on how states are going to coordinate their pre-school plans,” responded Dr. Horn.
“That’s already happening,” replied Rep. Woolsey. “Why duplicate?” she asked.
“We’re trying to get an idea to determine whether every Head Start grantee is achieving results with children,” responded Dr. Horn. “The idea is to identify which grantees need help, need technical assistance,” he added.
“Why does Connecticut have such good scores and such a low dropout rate?” asked Rep. Woolsey. “What percentage of eligible children in Connecticut are in Head Start?”
“75 percent,” answered Gov. Rowland.
“Well, there’s your answer,” replied Rep. Woolsey.
On the second panel, Ron Herndon of the National Head Start Association talked about the success of Head Start, calling it “one of the most studied and evaluated early childhood programs in America.” He argued that “the collective wisdom of these studies is inescapable: Head Start delivers what it promises to this nation’s neediest children, a head start in preparing them for life.”
Outlining his recommendations, Mr. Herndon urged the subcommittee to enhance teacher qualifications and provide student loan forgiveness to Head Start teachers, “who earn, on average, only $21,000.” He also asked the subcommittee “to allow Head Start programs the flexibility to enroll more families above the income guidelines and to serve the working poor,” and to fully-fund the program. “Head Start has enough funding to serve just six out of every ten eligible children, leaving 400,000 eligible children unable to enroll because of lack of funding,” he explained. Head Start needs $1 billion in funding to be able to serve an additional 100,000 children and families, he said. “Unfortunately, the administration’s proposed increase of $148 million is not enough even to keep pace with inflation,” he added.
Additionally, Mr. Herndon urged the subcommittee to leave the Head Start program in HHS rather than moving it to the Department of Education, as recommended by the President.
