This report addresses the following four questions by reporting on the impacts of Head Start on children and families during the children's preschool, kindergarten, and 1st grade years: (1) What difference does Head Start make to key outcomes of development and learning (and in particular, the multiple domains of school readiness) for low-income…

Along with the rapid expansion over the past decade of Head Start, a program providing comprehensive early childhood development services to low-income children, their families, and their communities, has come the demand for rigorous research to demonstrate program effectiveness. This report describes the proposed design of a national study of the…