In January 2007, each student in FSoS 5014, Introduction to Quantitative Family Research Methods, was asked to summarize and evaluate information about a secondary data set used in the family field. The following summary was prepared by Seongdok Kim.
Early Head Start (EHS) Research and Evaluation Project
• Study purpose
- Designed to evaluate effectiveness of EHS: fathers added to learn more about their role in low-income families. The Early Head Start Research and Evaluation project, random-assignment evaluation of Early Head Start, was designed to carry out the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers for a strong research and evaluation component to support continuous improvement within the Early Head Start program and to meet the 1994 reauthorization requirement for a national evaluation of the new infant-toddler program.
• Principal investigators - Evaluation Team
Birth to Three Phase (1996-2001)
ACF contracted with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) of Princeton, New Jersey, and its subcontractor, the Center for Children and Families at Columbia University, Teachers College. Dr. John M. Love and Dr. Ellen Eliason Kisker of MPR and Dr. Jeanne Brooks-Gunn of Columbia University led the national evaluation team.
ACF also funded 15 local research teams to work with the Early Head Start research programs to conduct their own research on issues central to the local programs and to participate in many national evaluation activities (including providing field support for the national data collection).
The Early Head Start Research Consortium—composed of federal staff, national evaluation contractor staff, 15 local research teams, and directors of the 17 Early Head Start programs—was created to facilitate collaboration on issues related to policy, assessment, and the use of research and evaluation data.
Pre-Kindergarten Follow-up Phase (2001-2005)
In order to answer policy relevant questions related to child experiences after Early Head Start, ACF funded a Pre-Kindergarten follow-up of the children in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation sample. In this phase of the study, 15 local research teams were funded to develop cross-site measures and collect data, while MPR was funded in the role of a Data Coordinating and Analysis Center in order to facilitate training, certification, and data consolidation.
Elementary School Follow-up (2005-2010)
ACF has funded a fifth grade (G5) follow-up study of the children in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Sample. MPR, along with the National Center for Children and Families at Columbia University and Educational Testing Service, will direct the fifth grade round of data collection scheduled to begin in the spring of 2007. The 15 local research teams will advise MPR on the study design, planning and assist with oversight of the data collection. Xtria will continue to provide support to the EHS Consortium and workgroup activities as they have in previous phases of the study.
• Number of waves of data and ages of participants at each wave
The Early Head Start Research and Evaluation project consisted of three phases: the Congressionally-mandated Birth to Three Phase, the Pre-Kindergarten Follow-up Phase, and the Elementary School Follow-up Phase.
Birth to Three Phase (1996-2001)
It included a cross-site national study that encompassed an Impact Evaluation and Implementation Study as well as site-specific research conducted by local research projects
* Impact Evaluation
A rigorous evaluation was designed to examine the impacts of Early Head Start on key child and family outcomes. The evaluation was conducted in 17 sites where Early Head Start research programs were located. Comprehensive data from multiple sources were used to examine the effects of participation in Early Head Start. Direct child assessments, observations of the parent-child relationships, and the home environment as well as interviews with parents about child and family functioning were conducted when children were 14, 24, and 36 months of age. Information on family service use was collected at 6, 15, 26 months after enrollment and at the time of exit from the program.
* Implementation Evaluation
The implementation study measured the extent to which programs implemented the Head Start Program Performance Standards by 1997 and 1999. Data for the implementation study came from many sources, including three rounds of site visits to the research programs, program documents, self-administered staff surveys, Head Start Family Information System (HSFIS) application and enrollment forms, and other documents and databases.
* Local Research Projects
The major focus for these local studies was the identification of what mediates and moderates positive child and family development within the context of the specific Early Head Start programs and local communities. These local research studies identified site-specific outcomes and examined intra-site differential impacts and their reasons for them.
Pre-Kindergarten Follow-up Phase (2001-2005)
In order to address important policy questions related to childhood experiences after Early Head Start, ACF funded the Pre-Kindergarten Follow-up Phase and awarded cooperative agreements to the same local universities funded during the Birth to Three Phase. These universities conducted cross-site and site-specific research, building upon earlier research and following the original children and families from the time they left the Early Head Start program until they entered kindergarten.
Elementary School Follow-up (2005-2010)
In the Elementary School Follow-Up phase, children and families will be assessed when the children will be fifth graders or attending their sixth year of formal schooling. Approximately 1,900 children, their parents, and teachers in 17 sites across the U.S. are expected to participate. The study includes direct assessments of children's cognitive, socioemotional, and physical development; parent interviews; teacher questionnaires; and videotaping of maternal-child interactions.
• Participants (type and numbers) from whom data were directly collected
- 3,000 low-income families with children born between September 1995 and July 1998 in 17 sites.
• My assessment of strengths and weaknesses of the data set
* Strengths
- One of the strengths of the data set is that it has comprehensive longitudinal study of the subjects via three stages. In doing so, the evaluation can track impacts of the Early Head Start project on infants (to 5 or 6th grade ) and their family. Secondly, the data set has a number of subjects. It includes about 3,000 children and their parents. In the last follow-up (Elementary school follow-up) expect approximately 1,900 children still. Thirdly, the evaluation project utilizes diverse evaluation methods including Infants- Toddler observation, parents’ interview, and teachers’ interview. Thus, it can measure impacts of the Early Head Start in more systematic ways. In addition, there are local research teams join the process of work that identified site-specific outcomes and examined intre-site differential impacts and their reasons for them.
* Weakness
- It may not grasp characteristics for the subgroups (i.e. ethnicity) among low-income families. Despite the same category, different ethnic subgroups might have different cultures on family norm and education that affect on children’s development (intellectual, cognitive, and socioemotional). Secondly, the data may not have the same or similar representation of children among states. Since this evaluation project is a longitudinal, there are dropouts from the project. However, the number of dropouts may different from states. In that case, the sample may not represent a whole population in states restricting validity of the results.
• My assessment of how useful this data set would be for family research
- The data is quite useful for family research since it provides comprehensive longitudinal data on children’s development through diverse evaluation tools. Given the importance of Early Head Start program, the data will provide critical understanding on the children’s development not only by the program itself, but also by interactions among family members.
• Web site, and what kind of information is there
- The website covers overview, evaluation design and components, and evaluation team of the project. The website provides information on Early Head Start Research Consortium, Fatherhood Research, Research Partners, unique features of the project for assessing impacts of an Infant-Toddler Intervention, and about Early Head Start. Also we can access to “Reports�, “Presentations and Papers�, “Instruments�, “Related Resources� related to the project.
• How does one gain access to the data?
- People can access to the data on the webpage at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/ehs_resrch/index.html