Early Head Start services are typically offered through home- or center-based delivery models. A formative evaluation of an example of each service delivery model was conducted. The purpose was to examine the issues involved in the implementation of these two service delivery models relative to the content of services, intensity of services,…

This study examined a new screening tool (Get Ready to Read) for assessing early reading skills in 73 three-year-old and 79 four-year-old children from low-income families and relating performance to more extensive assessments of phonological sensitivity and language skills (vocabulary and print knowledge) that have been found to be related to the…

Compelling evidence from neuroscience about how early relationships and experience influence the architecture of the brain, and in turn early school success, has led to increasing policy and practice attention to implementing child development and family support programs like Early Head Start for infants and toddlers. But, there is also a group of…

This study measured the English and Spanish language proficiency and phonological sensitivity skills of Hispanic children who attended Head Start. Its primary objective was to determine the relationship between language proficiency and phonological sensitivity in English and Spanish independently, and whether this relationship differed in English…

This article is an analysis of the current state of early childhood care in the Maghreb, in particular in Morocco and Algeria, where the pre-schooling rate for 5-year-olds is on the increase. Extending pre-school infrastructures and the need to create unified curricula have been among the most urgent questions to be tackled over the last decade in…

Parental reports of 585 children's childcare experiences during the year preceding kindergarten were used to index the extent of children's involvement in three types of childcare: center-based (e.g., daycare center, Head Start, preschool), informal (e.g., relative-based or sitter-based) and parental. Childcare choices covaried with household SES,…

Steven Barnett and Clive Belfield examine the effects of preschool education on social mobility in the United States. They note that under current policy three- and four-year-old children from economically and educationally disadvantaged families have higher preschool attendance rates than other children. But current programs fail to enroll even…

The popular parenting literature places great importance on the role of routines in children's lives. Empirical research on family routines, however, is limited. This study examined correlates of family routines in a Head Start population in order to better understand their significance in the lives of families. Weak correlations were found…

The "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 crystallized the concern for accountability in education. National testing was mandated as a way to improve the "broken" educational system. Publicly funded early education programs were not spared from such testing. While the positive effects of high-quality early education on children's…

The unique characteristics of migrant and seasonal families are important concerns for the Office of Head Start, yet the research and evaluation efforts that address this segment of the Head Start program have been limited. This study was designed to ascertain the state of research knowledge about Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) programs;…

The development, care, and education of children from birth to age 5 has been the focus of rapidly increasing public interest, and numerous early childhood public policy initiatives have focused attention on a major problem of coordination and collaboration of services for young children. Four segments of services for young children--(1) child…

This report summarizes evaluation results from AISD's prekindergarten program during 1999-2000.

The Congressionally-mandated Head Start Impact Study is being conducted across 84 nationally representative grantee/delegate agencies. Approximately 5,000 newly entering 3- and 4-year-old children applying for Head Start were randomly assigned to either a Head Start group that had access to Head Start program services or to a non-Head Start group…

The Congressionally-mandated Head Start Impact Study is being conducted across 84 nationally representative grantee/delegate agencies. Approximately 5,000 newly entering 3- and 4-year-old children applying for Head Start were randomly assigned to either a Head Start group that had access to Head Start program services or to a non-Head Start group…