Jenkins Jade Marcus, Sabol Terri J, Farkas George
1 School of Education, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
2 School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
Eval Rev. 2018 Jun;42(3):283-317. doi: 10.1177/0193841X18786591. Epub 2018 Jul 22.
Recent growth in subsidized preschool opportunities in the United States for low-income 4-year-old children has allowed federal Head Start programs to fund more slots for 3-year-old children. In turn, when Age-3 Head Start participants turn four, they may choose to switch into one of the many alternative care options or choose to stay in Head Start for a second year.
We analyze a nationally representative sample of Age-3 Head Start participants to examine whether children who stay in Head Start for a second year at Age 4 exhibit greater school readiness and subsequent cognitive and behavioral performance compared with children who switch out of Head Start into alternative care. We also examine differences between children who stay at the same Head Start center at Age 4 with those who switch to a different Head Start center.
Child fixed effects analyses coupled with inverse probability of treatment weights to remove observable, time-invariant differences between Head Start stayers and switchers.
Cohort of Age-3 Head Start attendees from the Head Start Impact Study.
Child cognitive and behavioral skills assessed by trained administrators annually at ages 3-7.
Age-3 Head Start participants' outcomes do not differ at the end of preschool, kindergarten, or first grade based on their choice of Age-4 program. Staying at the same Head Start center for 2 years may be beneficial for behavioral skills.
For low-income families, there exist many equally beneficial options to support their children's school readiness through public preschool programs.
美国近期为低收入4岁儿童提供的补贴学前教育机会有所增加，这使得联邦“启智计划”项目能够为3岁儿童提供更多的入学名额。相应地，当参加“启智计划”的3岁儿童满4岁时，他们可以选择转入众多其他的照料选项之一，或者选择在“启智计划”中再待一年。
我们分析了一个具有全国代表性的3岁“启智计划”参与者样本，以检验4岁时在“启智计划”中再待一年的儿童与转出“启智计划”进入其他照料方式的儿童相比，是否在入学准备以及随后的认知和行为表现方面更出色。我们还研究了4岁时留在同一“启智计划”中心的儿童与转入不同“启智计划”中心的儿童之间的差异。
儿童固定效应分析，结合处理权重的逆概率，以消除“启智计划”留用者和转出者之间可观察到的、时间不变的差异。
来自“启智计划”影响研究的3岁“启智计划”参与者队列。
由经过培训的管理人员在儿童3至7岁时每年评估其认知和行为技能。
3岁“启智计划”参与者在学前教育、幼儿园或一年级结束时的结果，不因他们4岁时对项目的选择而有所不同。在同一“启智计划”中心待满2年可能对行为技能有益。
对于低收入家庭而言，有许多同样有益的选项可通过公共学前教育项目来支持其子女的入学准备。
