Session: Enhancing the Impact of Head Start On School Outcomes: The Redi Project Findings (Society for Prevention Research 21st Annual Meeting)

Delays in school readiness are part of a large set of health and mental health disparities associated with low SES, which confers elevated health risks in diverse areas, including cardiovascular disease, arthritis, diabetes, cancer, as well as overall higher mortality (Adler & Newman, 2002).  Children growing up in poverty start school at a marked disadvantage; over 40% demonstrate delayed language skills and social skill deficits at school entry, and over 20% exhibit high rates of disruptive behavior problems that undermine school adjustment (Macmillan, McMorris, & Kruttschnitt, 2004). Remediating delays in school readiness may be highly strategic, given that improved educational outcomes may leverage upward socio-economic mobility and promote corresponding improvements in adult health and well-being (Adler & Newman, 2002).

Head Start was established in 1965 (ACF, 2010) to promote the school readiness of children growing up in poverty.  Although studies have documented benefits of attending Head Start (Ludwig & Miller, 2007; Zhai et al., 2011), effects are small, and often dissipate in the early elementary years (ACF, 2010; Barnett, 1995; McKey et al., 1985).  A number of recent studies have incorporated evidence-based curricula and enhanced professional development support for Head Start teachers with the goal of improving Head Start’s impact on school readiness, (Griffin, 2010). 

The Head Start REDI (Research-based, Developmentally Informed) project included four curriculum components and teacher coaching, focused on improving children’s language/emergent literacy and social-emotional skills. In the first trial, 44 Head Start classrooms were randomly assigned to receive the REDI curriculum enrichments or serve as a “usual practice” control group. These children were followed longitudinally.  In a second randomized trial, 196 children in REDI-enhanced Head Start classrooms were randomly assigned to receive a parallel parenting program including home visits and support materials to complement the classroom program.  This symposium includes three papers describing findings from these REDI studies: 1) an overview of the Head Start classroom program and its initial effects on teachers and students at the end of the prekindergarten year, 2) an extended examination of the sustained effects of the classroom program after children transitioned into elementary school, through third grade, and 3) the results of the second study, evaluating the impact of the additional REDI parent-focused components on children’s kindergarten outcomes.