Parent engagement has been a cornerstone of Head Start since its inception in 1965. Prior studies have found evidence for small to moderate impacts of Head Start on parenting behaviors but have not considered the possibility that individual Head Start programs might vary meaningfully in their effectiveness at improving parenting outcomes. The…

As a result of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; 1990), public school districts are required to provide appropriate services to preschool students who are at risk or who are experiencing developmental delays. These services are frequently offered in preschool programs for children with disabilities (PPCDs). PPCDs are generally…

Head Start was designed as a holistic intervention to improve economically disadvantaged, preschool-aged children's cognitive and social development by providing a comprehensive set of educational, health, nutritional, and social services, as well as opportunities for parent involvement (Zigler & Valentine, 1979). Given the current interest in ECE…

This paper presents an overview of the Early Head Start program. The objective of the Early Head Start program is to enhance the cognitive, social and emotional development of low-income children, including children on federally-recognized reservations and children of migratory farm workers, through the provision of comprehensive health,…

Describes and evaluates a Head Start project, Bringing Out Head Start Talents, designed to train staff, parents, and volunteers to identify and develop appropriate programming for funtionally or potentially gifted children, and to develop procedures to ensure smooth transitions and appropriate programming in public schools. (BB)

In order to investigate diffusion effects within families involved in an intervention program, 80 disadvantaged children were divided into four groups, three of which were made up of younger siblings of preschool children in the intervention program. In two of these three groups, the mother was also involved in the program. The fourth group was…

Reviews twelve experimentally-designed longitudinal studies of infant education programs. Suggests that the more intense programs, those that had more hours of contact with children and included parents and children, had more positive intellectual effects on the children, parent behaviors, and family life circumstances. (KH)

CHILDREN FROM LOW SOCIOECONOMIC GROUPS ARE HANDICAPPED BY THE LACK OF MANY EXPERIENCES FOUND TO BE CONDUCIVE TO SUCCESS IN DEVELOPING SCHOOL SKILLS. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COGNITIVE SKILLS AND SCHOOL BEHAVIOR PATTERNS DEEMED TO BE NORMAL FOR CHILDREN OF THEIR AGE. THE FOLLOWING SKILLS ARE TO BE…

Oriented toward a direct instructional routine in preparation for regular school, the Philadelphia Prekindergarten Head Start Program (PKHS) provides experiences to counter-balance effects of social and economic disadvantagement; parent involvement; staff development; and special supportive services. It employs five instructional models: Bank…

A national observer team surveyed 335 Head Start Centers during an 8-week summer period to locate useful innovations and developments in preschool education methods which might have future implications for the whole educational system. Team reports agreed that the programs had been more successful in bolstering the social and emotional needs of…

The Parent Involvement Program was designed to help low-income disadvantaged mothers teach their young children during the infant and toddler stages at home to help prepare them for later school entrance. The first of two sessions began in the spring, 1972, with 19 mothers participating. A tutor visited each mother for one hour each week to…

An evaluation of the New Parents as Teachers (NPAT) program concluded that a high quality parent education and support program conducted during a child's first three years measurably increases the child's intellectual, achievement, and language abilities. Parental involvement with parent educators during home visits is the single most important…

This report evaluates a nursery program for pre K pupils in New York City. The program emphasized oral language, sensory motor coordination, conceptual training and the development of a strong self concept. Fifteen pre K pupils participated in the program. An intake diagnosis was used to help specify areas of deficit which needed attention.…

The present study compared the developmental effects of two curricula (University of Hawaii Preschool Language Curriculum (UHPLC) and a general enrichment curriculum); two parent programs (one emphasizing the mother's role in fostering her child's cognitive development, P1, and one focusing on more general concepts of child development, p2); and…