Head Start

Head Start is a program administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive services including health, nutrition, and early childhood education to children and families who live below the poverty line. The program’s goals include (a) building and supporting stable family relationships, (b) enhancing children’s physical and social–emotional development, and (c) improving literacy, language, and problem-solving skills to strengthen cognitive development.

Head Start provides several advantages to the children and families it serves, including giving children the opportunity to attend preschool and helping them become better prepared for kindergarten. The program is designed to address the effects of poverty by providing substantial intervention to participating children and their families. There have been questions about the efficacy of Head Start and whether ...