Attending Head Start Research Articles

Emotion Knowledge Relates to Cortisol for Children Attending Head Start Preschool

ABSTRACT Research Findings: The ability to manage emotions is thought to be important for regulating stress at a physiological level, yet no prior published studies have examined young children’s emotion understanding or knowledge in relation to the stress hormone cortisol. The present study investigated the statistical relation between emotion knowledge (EK) and cortisol levels for 307 young children ages 3–5 years who attended Head Start preschool, and their primary caregivers. All of the child participants faced economic hardship and 80% were Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and thereby positioned to experience systemic racism. At the start of the preschool year, EK, or understanding of emotions, was assessed using a well-validated emotion matching task and basal cortisol levels were measured via salivary assay. Results of a multiple linear regression analysis revealed that, after accounting for demographic covariates, greater EK was associated with lower cortisol. Practice or Policy: The finding that EK relates to cortisol levels in early childhood highlights the importance of addressing emotional competence in early intervention programs. Notably, the relationship may be bidirectional and reducing stress levels also may facilitate advancing young children’s emotion understanding. Interventions that promote EK and reduce stress levels may advance overall school readiness.

Much hypothesized, rarely tested: Public preschool attendance predicts executive functioning skills in 3rd grade

Public preschool enhances consequential long-term education, economic, and health outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. One much-hypothesized—but rarely tested—explanation is that preschool predicts improved executive functioning (EF) in middle childhood. Our study provides empirical support linking preschool to middle childhood EF. We draw on a large, racially-diverse sample of children from low-income families in Tulsa, OK (N = 685, Mage at 3rd = 8.5 years), home to a nationally-recognized universal public preschool program administered in school-based pre-k and Head Start classrooms. Using propensity score weighting, we compare the 3rd grade EF skills of children who attended school-based pre-k or Head Start to those who did not. School-based pre-k attendance predicts better impulse control and working memory skills in 3rd grade (d = .35–.37); Head Start attendance predicts better working memory (d = .47). This evidence highlights public preschool’s potential to promote the EF skills of diverse children from low-income families into middle childhood.

Estimating a Theoretically Consistent Human Capital Production Function With an Application to Head Start.

This article describes a conceptual and empirical approach for estimating a human capital production function of child development that incorporates mother- or child-fixed effects. The use of mother- or child-fixed effects is common in this applied economics literature, but its application is often inconsistent with human capital theory. We outline the problem and demonstrate its empirical importance with an analysis of the effect of Head Start and preschool on child and adult outcomes. The empirical specification we develop has broad implications for a variety of applied microeconomic analyses beyond our specific application. Results of our analysis indicate that attending Head Start or preschool had no economically or statistically significant effect on child or adult outcomes.

Assessing the effects of different factors on students math grade: evidence from ECLS-K dataset

This study examined the causal effect of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 19981999 (ECLS-K) program on students academic achievements in math. Moreover, factors heavily impacting students fifth grade math score are also explored. The result indicates that the ECLSK program has insignificant negative impact on students math score. Kindergarten math score, fine motor skill and gender are top three positive factors and childs age at k entry, ECLS training program, attended head start are top three negative factors. These results provide a framework for educators to help children improve their math score.

Are family-teacher communication quality and child and family characteristics associated with head start children's classroom engagement? It's complicated

Children's classroom engagement during the first years of formal schooling is foundational to their academic success. Previous research has found that the quality of communication between parents and teachers as well as child and family characteristics are associated with children's engagement scores in the classroom. However, research remains limited, and most has been conducted among middle and high school students. Even less is known about the role of communication quality between parents and teachers on children's classroom engagement during preschool, when children are encountering the formal education system for the first time and the foundation for their school trajectories are being laid. This study explores the association between parent-teacher communication quality and child and family characteristics on the classroom engagement scores of 326 low-income, ethnoracially and linguistically diverse children attending Head Start, using a teacher and observer-rated measure of child engagement. Results showed that when teachers perceived having a high-quality communication with the child's parent, the child was rated to be more engaged in the classroom by both their teachers and independent observers. However, parent and child characteristics (i.e., parent race/ethnicity, children's English language skills, child gender, and child age) were only significantly associated with children's classroom engagement when rated by their teachers but not by independent observers. These findings suggest that building relationships with families early on might be a promising way that schools can support the wellbeing of minoritized children.

The physical and mental health returns of Head Start 25 years after participation: Evidence from income eligibility cutoffs

AbstractMost studies that look at long‐term effects of Head Start, the largest early childhood intervention in the US, exploit its rollout in the 1960s, missing the effects of many changes to the program in the 1980s and 1990s. I study the effects of Head Start on long‐term physical and mental health for children who attend Head Start in the 1980s–1990s and are new labor market entrants. I find large improvements in health, resulting in a 0.15 standard deviation decrease in the incidence of poor health. Ultimately, Head Start improves health outcomes up to 25 years after participation in the program.

Examination of Factors That Predict Receptive Vocabulary Knowledge of Children Who Attend Head Start Programs

Income-based childcare programs provide children access to developmentally appropriate and vocabulary-rich literacy experiences. For this study, participating Head Start Centers requested families complete a weekly home literacy log to encourage vocabulary-rich shared book reading activities in the home. Using participant characteristics, including literacy log competition, this study examined which factors adequately predicted vocabulary growth as measured by Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Fourth Edition standard scores. Results indicated that vocabulary increased significantly for children who were enrolled in participating Head Start Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) programs. Important predictors of the magnitude of vocabulary growth during an academic year included sex, language(s) spoken in the home, and completion of home literacy logs. Clinical implications of this study would warrant recommending home literacy logs as a component of holistic Head Start programming, as completion of literacy logs emerged as an important variable in predicting the magnitude of vocabulary growth second only to race and sex.

Exploring the predictors of enrollment and kindergarten entry skills of Spanish-speaking dual language learners in a mixed-delivery system of public preschool

Dual language learners (DLLs) – young children learning and developing in multiple languages – make up nearly-one-third of the population of public preschool attendees in the U.S. Yet despite the large number of DLLs attending the nation’s largest public preschool programs – Head Start and state-funded public pre-k – little is known about DLL families’ patterns of selection into each program, nor about the relative benefits of each program for DLLs’ early learning. The present study uses contemporary data from a mixed-delivery system of public preschool in Tulsa, Oklahoma to examine predictors of attending Head Start or Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) pre-k, as well as whether program type is associated with differences in DLLs’ kindergarten entry skills. Among DLLs from economically-disadvantaged families, we find some limited differences between DLLs who selected into TPS public pre-k versus Head Start: TPS public pre-k attenders were more likely to have married mothers, parents who chose a preschool program based on logistical opportunities/constraints rather than programmatic preferences, and greater attention/impulse control skills at the start of preschool than were Head Start attenders. We then examined the association between program type and children’s academic and self-regulation skills at kindergarten entry. Controlling for predictors of differential enrollment and children’s earlier skills, we find no differences in kindergarten skills across students who attended Head Start and TPS public pre-k, suggesting both programs prepare DLLs equally well for school success.

Report of Indoor Mold Exposure and Rhinitis in Preschool Children Attending Head Start Centers in New York City

Although fungal exposure is known to cause rhinitis symptoms, few studies have focused on rhinitis among preschool children living in lower-income, urban neighborhoods. We hypothesized that mold exposure would be associated with rhinitis symptoms independent of pest exposure and that this risk would be modified by asthma symptoms.

Universal Pre-K and College Enrollment: Is There a Link?

In this study, we used data from a cohort of 4,033 Tulsa kindergarten students to investigate the relationship between pre-K enrollment and later college enrollment. Specifically, we tested whether participation in the Tulsa Public Schools universal pre-K program and the Tulsa Community Action Project (CAP) Head Start program predicted enrollment in 2- or 4-year colleges. We used propensity score weighting with multiply imputed data sets to estimate these associations. We found that college enrollment was 12 percentage points higher for Tulsa pre-K alumni compared with former students who did not attend Tulsa pre-K or Head Start. College enrollment was 7.5 percentage points higher for Head Start alumni compared to former students who did not attend Head Start or Tulsa pre-K, but this difference was only marginally significant. Tulsa pre-K attendance was associated with 2-year college enrollment among students from all racial and ethnic backgrounds, but only among Black and Hispanic students did it strongly predict 4-year college enrollment.

Reliability and validity evidence for the English and Spanish preschool narrative language measures-listening

For young Spanish-speaking children entering U. S. schools, it is imperative that educators foster growth in the home language and in the language of instruction to the fullest extent possible. Monitoring language development over time is crucial for promoting language development because it allows educators to individualize student instruction. The Narrative Language Measures-Listening (NLM-Listening) subtest of the CUBED assessment was designed as a curriculum-based benchmark and progress monitoring tool for eliciting narrative language samples from preschool children in an authentic manner. In both English and Spanish, NLM-Listening includes 25 preschool alternate forms equated on story structure and language complexity. Standardized administration and real time scoring procedures enhance the NLM-Listening's reliability and feasibility. This study offers a rigorous examination of the reliability and validity evidence for using the Spanish and English NLM-Listening with preschool children. Using a Latin-square design to randomize order of administration, 126 three- to four-year-old children attending Head Start preschool received up to 25 forms of the Spanish (N = 61) or English (N = 65) versions, and two criterion measures of language in Spanish or English, respectively, within a few weeks of each other. Results indicated that the NLM-Listening has strong alternate-form reliability and strong evidence of validity based on unidimensional factor analyses and moderately high correlations with criterion measures of language. The NLM-Listening is a promising tool for monitoring preschoolers’ language development in English and Spanish.

Relation between Demographics and Physical Activity among Preschoolers Attending Head Start.

Limited empirical evidence is available about preschoolers' sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity (PA) patterns in Head Start programs, we explored (a) preschoolers' SB and PA patterns (ranging from SB to light-moderate-vigorous physical activity [LMVPA]) and (b) their relationships with sociodemographic factors, weight status, and motor development. Participants included 216 preschoolers (M age = 4.32 ± 0.63; girls 56.5%) from six Head Start centers in an urban area in the southwestern region of the United States, assessing Actical® activity monitor-based PA, weight status, and motor development. The findings revealed preschoolers who were female, Hispanic/Latinx, with an at risk weight level, and/or in the below average motor development group tended to engage in less MVPA/LMVPA and also had higher SB patterns while participating in the Head Start program (p < 0.05-0.001, d ranged from 0.23 to 0.62). Head Start stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, leaders, curriculum coordinators, health professionals, and teachers) need to acknowledge the PA and health disparities, and intervene in underserved preschoolers' health-promoting behaviors.

Revisiting age- and schooling-related growth in school readiness skills: A multimethod validation study.

In the present study, we investigated the relative impact of age- versus schooling-related growth in school readiness skills using four modeling approaches that leverage natural variation in longitudinal data collected within the preschool year. Our goal was to demonstrate the applicability of different analytic techniques that do not rely on assumptions inherent in commonly applied methods (e.g., the school entrance cutoff method, regression discontinuity design) that selection into subsequent grades is based on birthdate alone and that the quality of experiences between grades are not responsible for differences in outcomes. Notably, these alternative methods also do not require data collected across multiple grades. Participants included 316 children (Mage = 54.77 months; 47.15% male) who mostly identified as White (64%) or Latinx (20%). A little over half of the sample attended Head Start preschools (54.75%). Four modeling techniques that leverage data collected at two timepoints in preschool were used to examine schooling effects on children's preliteracy, emergent math, and executive function (EF) skills. Results replicate evidence from previous research using traditional methods. Specifically, findings across all models demonstrate a schooling effect on preliteracy skills during the preschool year, above and beyond maturation, but not on emergent math or EF. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each analytical tool for researchers who are interested in answering questions about the effects of schooling with diverse data collection strategies, as well as broader implications for the integrity of educational and developmental science. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Cortisol across preschool day relates to teacher ratings of executive functioning for children facing economic hardship

Experiences of poverty and racism in early childhood can overburden physiological systems that respond to stress with implications for the development of the prefrontal cortex and related executive functioning. The present study is unique in its examination of basal cortisol output across the preschool day in relation to teacher ratings of executive functioning. Participants were 310 children attending Head Start preschool in the United States, a majority of whom were Black, Hispanic, or Asian Heritage. Salivary cortisol was sampled in duplicate at 4 times across 2 days near the beginning of the school year, resulting in a total of 16 samples per child. Several weeks later, the BRIEF-P teacher rating scale assessed various components of executive functioning. Zero-order correlations suggested that basal cortisol output across the preschool day related to each assessed component of executive functioning, as well as to composite scores. Results of hierarchical linear modeling indicated that higher cortisol across the preschool day related to greater difficulties in overall teacher-reported executive functioning, controlling for child age, birth-assigned sex, race/ethnicity, and family income. Implications concern understanding the impact of stress on executive functioning in the preschool classroom and promoting positive outcomes for children facing adversity.

Executive Function and Theory of Mind in Children Living in Poverty: A Short-term Longitudinal Study

ABSTRACT The early childhood years are critical for developing executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM). Prior literature suggests a robust relationship between EF and ToM; however, this relationship has seldom been investigated in children living in poverty. In addition, few studies have employed comprehensive ToM measures to explore how EF relates to different components of ToM. This study examined longitudinal relations between EF and ToM among 86 preschool children (3- to 5-year-old) attending Head Start programs in the United States. Children completed two EF tasks and a 5-task ToM battery twice, four months apart. Results showed that, for children living in poverty, early EF did not significantly predict later ToM as a composite after controlling for significant covariates. However, the emotionally salient component of ToM predicted children’s later Stroop performance, above and beyond several controls. Findings suggest that for impoverished children living in the U.S., the development of emotional perspective-taking may be particularly important for EF development compared to other components of ToM.

A new look at teacher interactional quality: Profiles of individual teacher–child relationship and classroom teaching quality among Head Start students

ABSTRACT Research Findings: and Practice Preschool teachers’ relationships with children are a critical component of classroom quality. We draw from a sample of N = 2,114 children attending Head Start to examine child-centered profiles of experiences across two dimensions of classroom interaction quality that are often considered separately: individual teacher–child closeness and conflict, and classroom-level instructional and emotional support. Findings reveal considerable heterogeneity in Head Start children’s experiences, as the profiles differed on individual conflict, and classroom emotional and instructional support. The largest profile was characterized by a positive emotional climate and low instructional support. Higher teacher distress was associated with the highest-quality and the highest conflict profiles. The results also revealed early evidence for gender and race and ethnicity-based disadvantages in Head Start classroom experiences. Practice or Policy: Measures of ECE quality must consider teacher-child relationships. Teacher well-being is tied to classroom and individual interactions; findings suggest teachers and child may benefit from strategies that support teachers’ well-being.

Measuring English Narrative Microstructure in Preschool Dual Language Learners.

The purpose of the study was to examine the change in specific English microstructure features according to language ability in preschool Spanish-English dual language learners. We collected English narratives from 22 Spanish-English dual language learners with typical language development (TD) and 22 Spanish-English dual language learners with developmental language disorder (DLD) at the beginning and end of their first year in Head Start. Children came from Spanish-speaking homes and were exposed to English and Spanish in their preschool classrooms. We analyzed children's use of English microstructure across time using the Narrative Assessment Protocol. Both groups showed improvement in overall English microstructure use, although children with TD made greater gains than children with DLD. Phrase structure (noun phrases, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositional phrases) increased in both groups, but more so in children with TD than with DLD. Sentence structure (compound, complex, negative, and interrogative sentences) increased in both groups. Verb use, noun use (Tier 2 nouns and nouns marked with plural and possessive endings), and modifiers (adverbs and adjectives) neither changed across time nor differed between groups. Spanish-English dual language learners who attend Head Start and come from Spanish-speaking homes, regardless of language ability, may not readily acquire verbs, nouns, and modifiers during their first year of formal English exposure, suggesting that they would benefit from explicit instruction in these areas. Preschool Spanish-English dual language learners with DLD may make less progress than their peers with TD in phrase structure use, indicating that explicit instruction in this microstructure feature may be beneficial for children with DLD.

One-Year Prospective Association of BMI with Later Cognitive Development in Preschoolers.

This study examined the prospective relationships between preschoolers’ body mass index (BMI) and cognitive development. BMI, cognitive (i.e., Brigance), sex, and age data were collected from seven cohorts of children attending Head Start from 2012 to 2018. Children (N = 324) with two years of complete data were included. After controlling for the first year cognitive development scores, age, gender, and the cohort, the BMI was predictive of lower cognitive development scores in year two (B = −0.06, β = −0.14, t = −3.19, p = 0.002). Female sex (B = 2.69, β = 0.10, t = 2.30, p = 0.022) and older age (B = 0.02, β = 0.15, t = 3.20, p ≤ 0.001) were also shown to be statistically significant predictors of improved year two cognitive scores. The initial BMI scores were associated with poorer one year cognitive development scores in this sample of preschool children. Excessive body mass may contribute to numerous biological, psychological, and social factors that inhibit children with obesity from reaching their full cognitive potential, during a time in which brain development and cognitive skills development are at critical points of growth. Early childhood obesity interventions may have positive consequences for cognitive development, but additional prospective studies are needed to confirm these results.

Exploring a theory of change: Are increases in parental empowerment associated with healthier weight-related parenting practices?

IntroductionParent health-related empowerment is defined as the process by which parents realize control over their life situation and take action to promote a healthier lifestyle. For decades, researchers have described the theoretical potential of empowerment in health promotion efforts, though few have empirically examined this hypothesized relationship. This study is one of the first to examine the relationship between parental empowerment and healthy weight parenting practices (i.e., food, physical activity, sleep, and media parenting), as a mechanism for early childhood health promotion in community settings. MethodsLow-income parents of preschool-aged children attending Head Start in Greater Boston between fall 2017 and spring 2019 were invited to complete a survey in the fall and spring of each academic school year (n = 578 with two surveys and n = 45 with four). Parental empowerment and healthy weight parenting practices were assessed using validated surveys. We used a multilevel difference-in-difference approach to estimate changes in healthy weight parenting practices score by changes in parental empowerment score. ResultsOut of a possible score of four, the unadjusted mean (SD) score in fall was 3.20 (0.40) for empowerment and 3.01 (0.40) for parenting. An increase in parental empowerment was associated with an increase in healthier parenting practices (b = 0.14; 95% CI = 0.08, 0.20; p < 0.0001). ConclusionsParent empowerment may be an important target in interventions to prevent obesity in low-income children.

Breastfeeding, Early Self-Regulation, and Academic Achievement in Kindergarten Among Disadvantaged Children.

The importance of breastfeeding exposure and children's development of self-regulation, independently, are well established. Each of these domains also has been linked to better cognitive development and academic achievement in children. However, little is known about how breastfeeding affects development of early self-regulation skills or whether self-regulation mediates the relationship between breastfeeding and academic achievement, particularly for disadvantaged children. This study examined breastfeeding exposure, self-regulation, and academic achievement in kindergarten among a population of children who previously attended Head Start. Children were recruited from Head Start classrooms in the Pacific Northwest. Breastfeeding exposure was assessed via parent report. Children's self-regulation (Day Night Stroop, Dimensional Change Card Sort, Head-Knees-Toes-Shoulders-Revised) and academic achievement [Letter-Word Identification and Applied Problems subtests of Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement (English) or the Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz (Spanish)] were directly assessed in fall and spring of kindergarten. Regressions were performed using Stata v14.1 and included breastfeeding exposure as the primary independent variable, controlling for child age, sex, and language spoken. Of the 246 children, 56% were reported as White, 34% Latino/a, 4% African American, and 6% other; 83% were ever exposed to breastfeeding. Breastfeeding exposure was predictive of both fall kindergarten academic achievement (emergent math/literacy scores) and self-regulation (p < 0.05) and related to higher math performance in the spring of kindergarten, which was associated with stronger self-regulation in the fall (p = 0.04). These findings extend our understanding of the positive effects of breastfeeding exposure on children's development and support breastfeeding promotion, particularly for children at risk of academic difficulty.