The Impact of Quality Instruction in a School District Head Start Program on Kindergarten Students’ Attendance Rates and Cognitive and Social-Emotional Outcomes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to observe Head Start classrooms in public schools to examine differences among instructional practices by teaching staff and whether these practices were related to student outcomes in their kindergarten year. The current study differed from and built upon previous classroom observational research in several major ways. First, the kindergarten teachers rated student outcomes in the areas of (a) social/emotional; (b) behavior; (c) attendance and (d) cognitive. Second, authentic Head Start teacher behaviors as measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System® (CLASS®) were examined in relation to the child’s kindergarten outcomes. Overall, the results of this study found that children in the Head Start program were not rated significantly different than similar children who were not in Head Start programs. The scores from the classrooms of highly effective teachers in the domain of Emotional Support were found to have significantly higher social/emotional, behavior and cognitive outcomes. The classrooms of highly effective teachers in the Classroom Organization domain were found to have significantly higher student attendance. A between-subjects ANOVA test on students’ cognitive outcomes found that there were no significant differences by language or race and no significant interaction among the variables. However, there was a statistical difference (p = .031) found for sex. Girls were found to be rated as having higher cognitive outcomes than boys. Finally, the present study did not find that the Head Start program made a significant difference for kindergarten readiness. This finding is similar to other studies which have found that Head Start does not provide readiness skills necessary for success in kindergarten.