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Subgroups
In Fall 2002, families that applied to enroll their 3- or 4-year-olds in Head Start were informed that the program was using a lottery system to offer access to Head Start that year. The applicant children were then randomly assigned to either the intervention group with access to Head Start or control group with no Head Start access. A total of 4,667 children were randomized, with 2,783 assigned to the intervention group and 1,884 to the control group.
Children and their families were enrolled in the study in Fall 2002 and followed through Spring 2006.
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
The study targeted low-income mothers seeking to enroll their kids in Head Start. Nearly half were married (45 percent in the Head Start group, and 47 percent in the control group). About a third were either Black, Hispanic, or White. One in three mothers had a high school education (34 percent in the Head Start group, and 33 percent in the control group). Nearly half of the mothers had some employment at baseline (49 percent in the Head Start group, and 49 percent in the control group).
Local Head Start providers.
Head Start has been implemented in the US since 1965.
The intervention group includes mothers whose 3- or 4-year-old was offered access to Head Start in Fall of 2002.
The control group includes mothers whose child was not offered access to Head Start but could access other childcare services or arrangements.
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Head Start provided early childhood education services to kids in the intervention group from preschool through Grade 1.
The program was implemented nationwide with services offered to children and their families either at a Head Start center or at home.
Economic hardship, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Household Income