England's early education and childcare system is at a turning point. Both major political parties have shown a significant interest in the early years, with the government recently announcing an expansion of funded provision for some one- and two-year-olds in the 2023 Spring Budget. But what can be done to ensure any changes to England's early…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care, requires states to use information about the provider cost of child care to inform the setting of payment rates under the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) program. This requirement is consistent with the growing recognition that…

The early experiences of babies and young children have a profound, lasting impact on the rest of their lives. Too many low-income children today are entering kindergarten so far behind that they can never catch up. High-quality childcare, which helps the country's youngest, most disadvantaged children get a good start while enabling their parents…

During early childhood, economically disadvantaged children can experience challenges that affect their social-emotional, language, and physical health development across the lifespan. Psychologists have tested several interventions to address developmental problems during early childhood, but information about the degree to which economically…

Educare is a birth to age 5 early education program designed to reduce the achievement gap between children from low-income families and their more economically advantaged peers through high-quality center-based programming and strong school-family partnerships. This study randomly assigned 239 children (< 19 months) from low-income families to…

The affordability of licensed early childhood education and care (ECCE) remains a perennial policy issue in Oklahoma as well as in other states. Stakeholders in the public and private sectors aim for an adequate supply of quality ECCE providers that is accessible to the families who need care. At the same time, these stakeholders recognize that…

There are unique challenges to estimating causal effects of preschool for students with special needs that have not received attention in the literature. We revisit the Head Start Impact Study (HSIS) to illustrate that when and how special needs is defined has implications for the internal validity of and interpretation of special needs subgroup…

Background: Growing up in poverty undermines healthy development, producing disparities in the cognitive and social-emotional skills that support early learning and mental health. Preschool and home-visiting interventions for low-income children have the potential to build early cognitive and social-emotional skills, reducing the disparities in…

Researchers have examined the impact of family on child literacy among low-income African American families and preschoolers considered to be at risk for not being ready for kindergarten. Quantitative studies identify family-parental variables associated with poorer literacy outcomes, whereas qualitative studies detail family practices that…

Head Start is the oldest and largest federally funded preschool program in the United States. From its inception in 1965, Head Start not only provided early childhood education, care, and services for children, but also sought to promote parents' success. However, almost all evaluation studies of Head Start have focused solely on…

Attending high-quality early childhood care and education (ECCE) is associated with higher cognitive and social-emotional skills, especially for children growing up in poverty, but access to high-quality ECCE is limited. This study capitalizes on the random assignment design of the Head Start Impact Study to better understand whether the…

Early childhood poverty is a prevalent social issue, both in the United States and in the wider international community. It has been well established that factors associated with poverty, including familial income and parental education level, can negatively affect children's language and cognitive development, which can result in academic…

Objective: To identify barriers and motivators for reducing secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) for families of African-American, low-income, urban children. Method: Audiotaped intervention sessions of 52 African-American caregivers of Head Start children who reported being a smoker and/or had at least one smoker in the home were randomly sampled…

In 1994, the federal Early Head Start (EHS) program was created to address the comprehensive needs of low-income pregnant women and children under age 3. EHS was launched almost 30 years after Head Start was established in 1965 to serve low-income 3- and 4-year-old children and their families with comprehensive early education and support…

Head Start programs currently provide early childhood education and family support services to more than 900,000 low-income children and their families across the United States with an annual budget of around $8 billion in state and federal funds. Researchers and policy makers have debated the program's effectiveness since its inception in 1964.…