Early Head Start Research and Evaluation
The Early head Start (EHS) research and evaluation plan has the following purposes:

These purposes will be carried out through the combined research efforts of a national contractor and a group of local researchers working in complementary efforts. The national research contract has been awarded to Mathematic Policy Research (MPR), with a subcontract to Columbia University. The principal investigators are Drs. John Love and Ellen Kisker from MPR, and Dr. Jeanne Brooks- Gunn from Columbia University. A Request for Proposal for the local research grants was published December 21, 1995, for awards in early 1996. The research partners of current local EHS programs may compete for the local research grants and be a site for the national evaluation.

Continuous program improvement is the first purpose of EHS research and evaluation. All current 68 EHS sites, as well as future sites, will participate in this improvement. The tool for continuous improvement will be the HSFIS, the Head Start Family Information System, and automated management information system that will be available to all sites. The national EHS research contractor will assists sties in developing the format for this activity.

The second purpose, the study of program impact to determine for whom and under what conditions EHS has an impact on children, families, staff, and communities, will be conducted at 12 EHS sites across the country using an experimental design. For the research sample families with children under 1 year of age will be randomly assigned to EHS and to comparison groups over an enrollment period of 27 months. The study will be conducted by MPR and will feature sub-studies of program implementation, program variation, and program quality. The study will also include new methodology which will focus on changes in communities, including a special substudy of change in community child care. This study will span five years.

The third purpose involves local research studies. Local researchers will work with the national researcher in a consortium. Research partners of approximately 12 EHS programs will have an opportunity to do in-depth research related to the four program cornerstones of child, family staff, and community outcomes. These studies will include both qualitative and quantitative methods and will complement the national cross-site study.

EHS research offers the opportunity to begin a study that could extend beyond the EHS years and lay the ground work for future longitudinal studies. It is the intention of ACYF to continue to study EHS children and families from the original research sites as they progress in and through Head Start and formal schooling to determine the effects of the program in the lives of these children and their families.

For more information on EHS research and evaluation, contact Helen Raikes, Society for Research in Child Development Fellow, (202-205-2247), or Louisa Tarullo, Social Demonstration and Evaluation Branch, ACYF.
For information on local research, contact Esther Kresh, Program SPecialist, Program Development Branch, Head Start Bureau (202-205-8115).

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