Evaluating academic outcomes of Head Start: An application of general growth mixture modeling

A brief review of the history of Head Start is presented, in addition to an impact evaluation (the first study) testing the reading and mathematics growth outcomes of this program. The first research question was the following: do children with Head Start experience have faster reading and mathematics achievement growth than children with no preschool experience, after adjusting for socioeconomic status (SES) differences? No statistically significant differences between the two groups were observed, using traditional growth modeling. It was found that females started out with higher reading achievement in first grade, but that male grew faster in reading and mathematics achievement over time.; A new procedure known as growth mixture modeling was utilized in the second study to explore the following research question: do children with Head Start experience have a mixture of population growth patterns? This question was answered. Children with Head Start experience did have two distinct growth patterns.; In the final study, the third research question was the following: do children with two or more years of program participation have faster achievement growth, on average, than children with only one year of program participation? Using general growth mixture modeling, it was not found that children with two or more years of program participation had faster achievement growth, on average, than children with only one year of program participation. Finally, a fourth and final research question was explored, using general growth mixture modeling in this final study. This fourth research question was the following: is growth trajectory class more predictive of problematic behavior for children with no preschool experience than for children with Head Start experience?; Although growth trajectory class was not more predictive of problematic behavior for children with no preschool experience than for children with Head Start experience, a gender gap in mathematics and an income gap in reading and mathematics were exclusively exhibited by the children with no preschool experience. Therefore, it was concluded that the Head Start program may be reducing both the gender gap in mathematics and the income gap in reading and mathematics.