The debates over the 2003 reauthorization of Head Start highlighted a controversy about the devolution of federal early education policy. At the center of the debate is the concern that state control of early education programs will reduce the quality and effectiveness of federal support for children living in poverty, and their families. The…

Initial findings of a longitudinal study of the efficacy of public preschool programs in South Carolina are presented. Two separate research designs were used to study 362 preschoolers in comparison with 1,662 non-preschoolers. School readiness was increased by participation in preschool when a minimum level of quality was maintained. (SLD)

The relationship between preschool experience and the quality of schools subsequently attended as young adolescents was studied for 14,837 eighth graders from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988. The low quality of middle-grade schools attended by former Head Start participants explains, in part, why Head Start effects fail. (SLD)