The Head Start Redi Program: Sustained Impact Through Third Grade

Introduction

Developed in partnership with Head Start programs, the REDI (Research-based, Developmentally-informed) enrichment program was designed to complement and strengthen the impact of existing Head Start experiences on children’s school readiness. REDI included research-based curriculum components and teaching practices designed to promote child competencies in the dual domains of language/emergent literacy skills and social-emotional functioning. Initial analyses revealed positive effects of the REDI intervention on emergent literacy and social-emotional functioning at the end of the pre-kindergarten year (Bierman et al., 2007).  The first aim of this study was to evaluate the sustained impact of REDI on children’s kindergarten outcomes and to determine how growth in those skills during the Head Start year affected child school adjustment at the end of kindergarten. The second aim was to examine the impact of REDI on trajectories of elementary school outcomes from the end of the pre-kindergarten year through third grade.    

Methods

Of the 356 pre-kindergarten children recruited into the REDI study in Head Start, 93% were followed into 204 kindergarten classrooms. Rates of participation in subsequent early elementary follow-up assessments were 90% in first grade, 85% in second grade, and 81% in third grade. Latent growth analyses included those with at least three (of five) years of data (N =  325;  91% of the original sample).

Results

Of the 13 child outcomes examined at the end of kindergarten, five showed statistically significant main effects favoring children who received the REDI intervention during Head Start (d= .22 -.40); three other child outcomes were significant for the sub-group of children attending schools with low-achieving students.  In general, the sustained effects were concentrated in the social-emotional domain.  Path analyses examining the REDI model of change revealed cross-domain effects over time, with academic outcomes supported, in part, by preschool social-emotional gains, and social-emotional outcomes supported, in part by preschool academic gains.   Latent growth trajectory analyses revealed intervention effects on developmental trajectories of social-emotional functioning from the end of the pre-kindergarten year through the end of third grade, in areas of social competence, aggression, learning engagement, peer relations, and student-teacher relationship quality.

 Conclusions

The REDI intervention had sustained benefits for children attending Head Start, predominantly in areas of their social-emotional development and social-behavioral adjustment in elementary school.  Some sustained effects were moderated by the school context, and strongest for subgroups of children.