• Head start: Still in limbo Head start: Still in limbo St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 1, 2005 Legislation reauthorizing Head Start won bipartisan support from the House Education Committee last month, but many hurdles remain in the way of Congress
• Head start: Still in limbo
Head start: Still in limbo
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 1, 2005
Legislation reauthorizing Head Start won bipartisan support from the House Education Committee last month, but many hurdles remain in the way of Congress passing a sensible bill.
First, there’s no guarantee the GOP won’t try to revive the misguided idea of turning Head Start into a block grant program. Sensibly, the Education Committee excluded that measure, but it could be offered again during floor debate.
Though federal block grants offer states more spending flexibility, this advantage usually comes at a price of fewer dollars from Washington down the road. In place of the block grant provision, the Head Start legislation calls for better coordination between preschool programs offered by the feds and the state. This coordination is a good move, especially if it helps states increase the number of children served by Head Start and other preschool programs.
A second issue involves the government’s unprecedented requirement that 900,000 low-income pre-schoolers in Head Start take a test on math and language skills. In theory, testing seems a logical way to track children’s progress and to measure the program’s efficacy. But as we have seen in higher grades, testing itself can be problematic. In addition, just testing cognitive skills ignores the value of social skills imparted by Head Start.
In a study released last month, the Government Accountability Office found flaws in the first nationwide skills exam for 4- and 5-year-olds in Head Start. The administration says the test will gauge the extent to which Head Start students are developing skills such as understanding spoken English, recognizing letters of the alphabet and mastering early math. But the GAO report says Head Start never conducted a pilot test of its exam, hasn’t shown that its results are “valid and reliable” over time and failed to monitor whether Head Start grantees have started “teaching to the test.” The GAO also urges the Department of Health and Human Services to pay more attention to mismanagement in local Head Start programs. The House legislation also addresses this key issue by requiring more federal monitoring of local Head Start grantees.
Wade F. Horn, an assistant HHS secretary, says an effort is being made to show the reliability of the test data. He also stands by the idea of using the test to make sure Head Start is providing “meaningful and challenging learning experiences.” Nobody finds fault with that point, but there’s no proof that Head Start isn’t serving children well. Study after study has shown that children in Head Start programs come to kindergarten better prepared to learn and interact with their peers.
Once the testing wrinkles are ironed out and poorly managed programs are weeded out, Congress should focus on finding the money to expand Head Start to reach the 40 percent of impoverished children who don’t have access to them.
