Chronic Homelessness, Head Start, and Changing Federal Policies.

Federal policy changes for Head Start (HS) elevate the importance of measured academic performance over other traditional program aims, particularly those associated with the social-emotional development of children. Concerned about the possible effects of these changes on children, based on observations and interviews, detailed portraits of teachers, parents, and children in a program serving the chronically homeless were constructed. Based on these portraits, the authors conclude that the question that has largely directed studies of HS—“does Head Start do any lasting good?”—is the wrong guiding question for policy. The better question is “What is good for them now?” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]