Gains in Language and Cognitive Scores Among Children in Their First and Second Years of Head Start
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Gains in Language and Cognitive Scores Among Children in Their First and Second Years of Head Start

OPRE Report # 2021-42
Published: Jun 01, 2021
Publisher: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
Human Services Early Childhood Child Development Research and Evaluation Policy Analysis
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Associated Project

Head Start: The Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES)

Time frame: 2006-2022

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

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Key Findings

Second-year children made smaller gains in expressive vocabulary, letter-word knowledge, early writing, and early math than first-year children, although they made similar gains in receptive vocabulary.

We found some different patterns for different language and cognitive assessments:

  • Child age explained second-year children’s smaller gains in early writing and early math, such that first- and second-year children made similar gains after including age in the analyses.
  • For letter-word knowledge, second-year children’s higher fall scores explained some, but not all, of their smaller gains.
  • Even after accounting for child and family background characteristics, children’s scores at the beginning of the program year, and children’s classroom and teacher characteristics, second-year children made smaller gains in letter-word knowledge and expressive vocabulary.

The purpose of this brief is to explore possible explanations for why second-year children made smaller gains in language and cognitive scores than first-year children during the Head Start program year. We explore whether differences between first- and second-year children’s language and cognitive gains across the program year can be explained by differences in child and family characteristics, including age; fall language and cognitive scores; part-day enrollment; classroom quality; or teacher experience or education. In other words, we explore whether second-year children made smaller gains than first-year children because they had different characteristics or experiences that are associated with smaller gains.

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