Head Start and Even Start: Greater Collaboration Needed on Measures of Adult Education and Literacy. Report to the Congressional Requesters.

This report examines whether Head Start and Even Start are substantially similar in key areas. At the request of a congressional subcommittee, the Government Accounting Office determined: (1) how similar the programs are in legal requirements and administration and the extent to which they have similar purposes, performance goals, and indicators; (2) how these programs differ operationally, particularly in terms of the services they provide, how those services are provided, and who receives them; (3) what is known about the relative effectiveness of the two programs; and (4) the extent to which opportunities exist for the programs to work more effectively with one another to meet the needs of program participants. Findings presented include the following: the programs share many common elements but differ in focus and design; grantees in both programs provided similar early childhood services to poor children but adult services differed; information about the effectiveness of Head Start and Even Start is limited; and opportunity exists for additional collaboration between the two programs. The report recommends that the secretaries of Health and Human Services and of Education direct the administrators of Head Start and Even Start to coordinate development of similar performance goals and indicators for adult education and literacy outcomes and that the effort include identification of indicators that specifically measure adult education and literacy. Comments from the Department of Education are appended. (EV)