Head Start Has High Costs and Very Few Benefits

Four years after data was collected and two years after the report was finished, the Department of Health and Human Services has released its Impact Evaluation Report for Head Start, which reveals dismal results for the early education program, say Lindsey Burke and David Muhlhausen of the Heritage Foundation.

Head Start was established in 1965 and taxpayers have spent more than $180 billion on the program aimed at improving the academic outcomes of disadvantaged children.
The study finds that by the third grade, effects of the $8 billion-a-year Head Start program all but completely disappear.

For the 4 year old group, Head Start participation failed to raise the cognitive abilities on 41 measures, including language and math skills, when compared with students who did not have access to the program.
Head Start participation for 3 year olds actually lowered math abilities when compared with non-participating children who were more prepared for math in the classroom.

Teachers reported the Head Start children are shyer or more socially reticent. The only measurable progress was slight improvement in a couple of measures of socio-emotional, health and parenting outcomes.
For policymakers, the results of this study should guide future actions. Burke and Muhlhausen believe that the program should be discontinued based on the dismal results.

Matthew 26:11

Head start is nothing more than a baby sitting service for welfare moms.

That it is. We were better educated as a nation when kids started school later and was home with mom until then.

We've known for a long time that it does not improve performance or outcome. But, for some reason, we keep funding it and perpetuating the myth that it is a good thing to expend resources on.