Who attends programs serving poor children?: The case of Head Start attendees and nonattendees

Abstract

Although it is widely known that government-sponsored programs serve less than half the eligible poor children for whom they are targeted, little is known about the characteristics of children who actually receive services relative to those who are eligible, but do not receive services. A case study is presented to examine this issue, using data from the Educational Testing Service Head Start Longitudinal Study (HSLS). In the HSLS, data were collected from over 1,300 children during the spring preceding possible Head Start enrollment in three regions in the U.S. via neighborhood and community canvassing. Most children were between 3.5 and 4.5 ( M=4.2) years of age, and 65% were black. Based on subsequent family decisions about preschool enrollment, 45% of the children attended Head Start, 22% attended another preschool, and 33% attended no preschool. Data included information about familial characteristics, characteristics of the child, and the child's performance on a range of cognitive and motor tests. Children who ultimately attended Head Start were at a disadvantage compared with children who attended other preschools on virtually every background and cognitive measure, and were more likely to be black. Head Start children were likewise at a disadvantage compared with children who ultimately did not attend preschool on most background familial characteristics and were more likely to be black, though they did not differ on the cognitive tests when analyses controlled for the effects of background characteristics. The implications of the data in this case study for future program evaluation, policy, and design are discussed.