Since its beginning in 1965 as a part of the War on Poverty, Head Start's goal has been to boost the school readiness of low-income children. Based on a 'whole child' model, the program provides comprehensive services that include pre-school education; medical, dental, and mental health care; nutrition services; and efforts to help parents foster their child's development. Head Start services are designed to be responsive to each child's and family's ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage. The Congressionally-mandated Head Start Impact Study was conducted across 84 nationally representative grantee/delegate agencies. Approximately 5,000 newly entering 3- and 4-year-old children applying for Head Start were randomly assigned to either a Head Start group that had access to Head Start program services or to a non- Head Start group that could enrol in available community non-Head Start services, selected by their parents. Data collection began in fall 2002 and is scheduled to continue through 2006, following children through the spring of their 1st-grade year. The study quantifies the impact of Head Start separately for 3- and 4-year-old children across child cognitive, social-emotional, and health domains as well as ii on parenting practices. This book is essential reading for those in the education field.

This report, one in a series on the uses of and accountability for Recovery Act (RA) funds in selected states and localities, comments on recipients' reports of the jobs created and retained. The RA provided $2.1 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start, primarily to expand services. This report addressed four questions: (1) How have Head Start and Early Head Start grantees used RA funds, including for expanding enrollment? (2) What challenges have grantees encountered in spending RA funds? (3) How has the Office of Head Start monitored the use of RA funds? (4) How has the quality of jobs data reported by RA recipients, particularly Head Start grantees, changed over time? Charts and tables. This is a print on demand publication.