Research-based program found to enhance impact of Head Start on school...( Head Start the federal program that...),Health

Head Start, the federal program that provides comprehensive services to low-income children and their families, has had a positive effect on some aspects of school readiness, but not others. A new study shows that a program designed to make it easier to integrate research into the classroom by giving teachers enrichment manuals helped children in both academic and social-emotional areas.

The program, called REDI (for research-based, developmentally informed), was developed and implemented in partnership with Head Start programs in Pennsylvania by researchers at the Pennsylvania State University. An evaluation of the study appears in the November/December 2008 issue of the journal Child Development.

Designed to be integrated into existing Head Start programs, REDI featured a research-based curriculum to foster social-emotional learning and enhance language and emergent literacy skills through interactive reading, sound games, and print center activities. In addition, the program offered teachers professional development support, including workshop training and mentoring, to enhance the quality of language use and social-emotional support in the classroom.

Each week, children took home stickers and handouts to keep parents informed of the topics covered at school. Parents also received videotapes with tips on how they could support the program at home.

The researchers evaluated REDI by following 356 children in 44 Head Start classrooms over the course of a year, some of whom were in classrooms in which REDI was used, some of whom were not. They interviewed parents and children, collected ratings from teachers, and observed children in the classroom.

The study found positive effects in academic and social-emotional areas: Compared with children who were in regular Head Start classrooms, children in REDI classrooms showed greater growth in vocabulary, pre-reading skills, emotional understanding, social problem s
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