The Head Start Debates

Are we failing the children most at risk? 52 of America's leading experts weigh in.

The future of Head Start depends on how well we learn from and apply the lessons from its past. That's why everyone involved in early education needs this timely, forward-thinking book from the leader of Head Start. The first book to capture the Head Start debates in all their complexity and diversity, this landmark volume brings together the research and personal experience of 52 top experts in a wide range of fields—including education, research, medicine, and social work. This powerful compilation of voices mines Head Start's 38-year history for lessons learned, turns a critical eye on where the program is headed, and offers readers distinct and often contrasting viewpoints on three major issues:

• Goals. Explore three crucial questions about the goals of the program: cognitive development vs. school readiness, short-term vs. long-term progress, and Head Start as an antipoverty tool vs. Head Start as a child development program
• Effectiveness. Investigate the impact of Head Start on children's literacy, cognitive skills, health, school readiness and success, and parent participation—and learn how research might be improved so outcomes can be assessed more accurately
• Future directions. Examine ways that Head Start might evolve to improve program quality, explore how to meet the child care needs of particular families, provide universal access, address administrative and funding challenges, and prepare children for lifelong learning

This compelling, urgently needed book will help readers understand the complexity of Head Start, shape future policy, and ensure that all young children will arrive at school ready to succeed.

Edward Zigler, Ph.D., was Sterling Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, at Yale University and Director Emeritus of the Yale Center in Child Development and Social Policy. He was one of the planners of Project Head Start and was the federal official responsible for administering the program when he served as the first director of the U.S. Office of Child Development (now the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families). He was also Chief of the U.S. Children's Bureau. He regularly testified as an expert witness before congressional committees and had served as a consultant to every presidential administration since that of Lyndon Johnson. Dr. Zigler conducted extensive research on topics related to child development, psychopathology, and mental retardation and authored hundreds of scholarly publications.

Sally J. Styfco is Research Associate at the Child Study Center and in the Psychology Department at Yale University and Associate Director of the Head Start Section at the Yale Center in Child Development and Social Policy. She is a writer and policy analyst specializing in issues pertaining to children and families, particularly early childhood and later educational intervention. Her work spans the topics of Head Start, child care, children with disabilities, federal education initiatives, the effects of poverty on child development, and the historical progression of government policies in these areas.

Barbara T. Bowman is a pioneer in the field of early childhood education. Throughout her career, she has been an advocate for young children, applying knowledge about child development to her work integrating policy and practice. She is a founder and past president of Erikson Institute and has held local and national leadership positions in public education and professional organizations. She is currently on the faculty of Erikson Institute.

Barbara T. Bowman is a pioneer in the field of early childhood education. Throughout her career, she has been an advocate for young children, applying knowledge about child development to her work integrating policy and practice. She is a founder and past president of Erikson Institute and has held local and national leadership positions in public education and professional organizations. She is currently on the faculty of Erikson Institute.

John T. Bruer, Ph.D., has been a foundation executive for more than 20 years, administering programs in education, psychology, and neuroscience. He is the author of Schools for Thought (MIT Press, 1993) and The Myth of the First Three Years (Free Press, 1999).

James A. Griffin, Ph.D., Deputy Chief, Child Development and Behavior Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Director, Early Learning and School Readiness Program, 6100 Executive Boulevard, Suite 4B05, Rockville, MD 20852-7510. Dr. Griffin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude in psychology from the University of Cincinnati and a doctoral degree with honors in child clinical psychology from the University of Rochester. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. Dr. Griffin's career has focused on research and evaluation efforts related to service systems and early intervention programs designed to enhance the development and school readiness of children from at-risk and disadvantaged backgrounds.

The late Jane Knitzer, Ed.D. was Director of the National Center for Children in Poverty, and Clinical Professor of Population and Family Health in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York.

In addition to her work with the National Center for Children in Poverty, Dr. Knitzer was also a Clinical Professor of Population and Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. As a psychologist, Dr. Knitzer focused her own research on improving public policies related to children's mental health, child welfare, and early childhood. Her work on mental health included the ground-breaking policy report, Unclaimed Children: The Failure of Public Responsibility to Children and Adolescents in Need of Mental Health Services (Children's Defense Fund, 1982). Most recently, she was a leader in calling attention to the importance of addressing social and emotional issues in young children. Dr. Knitzer was on the faculty at Cornell University, New York University, and Bank Street College of Education. She was a member of the New York State Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children and a past president of Division 37: Child, Youth, and Family Services of the American Psychological Association, and a member of the American Association of Orthopsychiatry. She was the first recipient of the Nicolas Hobbs Award for Distinguished Service in the Cause of Child Advocacy from the American Psychological Association.

Mariela M. Páez, Ed.D., is Associate Professor at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College. She has a doctorate in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her primary research interests include bilingualism, children’s language and early literacy development, and early childhood education. Dr. Páez has conducted several longitudinal studies with young bilingual children with funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Office for Educational Research and Improvement of the U.S. Department of Education. Currently, she is conducting a study investigating practices of exemplary teachers for dual language learners across different early childhood programs (i.e., public, private and Head Start). Dr. Páez is author of numerous articles in top journals and, with Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, co-edited Latinos: Remaking America (University of California Press, 2008).

Craig Ramey, Ph.D., is the creator and founding director of the Abecedarian Project and its replicants including Project CARE and the Infant Health and Development Program. His program of research centers on the role of early experience, especially education – across the human lifespan - in the development of competence and robust health. His approach relies largely on experimental interventions in education, psychology, and pediatrics that provide rigorous tests of plausible developmental mechanisms of stability and change within dynamic, multilevel ecologies.

Arthur J. Reynolds, Ph.D.

, Professor, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 51 East River Parkway, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455. Dr. Reynolds is Director of the Chicago Longitudinal Study, one of the largest and most extensive studies of the effects of early childhood intervention. He also studies the effects of early childhood intervention on children's development from school entry to early adulthood and the family and school's influences on children's educational success.