Getting Ready for Kindergarten: Children's Progress during Head Start. FACES 2009 Report. OPRE Report 2013-21a

This brief report focusing on children' s kindergarten readiness i s the third in a series of reports describing data from the 2009 cohort of the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2009). Previous FACES 2009 reports described the characteristics of children and their families and programs as they entered Head Start in fall 2009 ( Hulsey et al. 2011) and, in spring 2010, at the end of one year in the program (Moiduddin et al. 2012). This brief report describes the family backgrounds and developmental outcomes of children as they completed the Head Start program and also describes progress in children's outcomes between Head Start entry and exit. It focuses on the population of children who entered Head Start for the first time in fall 2009 and completed one or two years of the program before entering kindergarten in the fall. Findings include: (1) With the exception of letter-word knowledge, children assessed in English score below norms across language, literacy, and math measures at both Head Start entry and exit. However, children make progress toward norms across areas, and they score at the norm on letter-word knowledge at program exit; (2) Teachers report that children show growth in their social skills from program entry to exit, and they also rate children as having fewer problem behaviors by program exit, as well as more positive approaches to learning and stronger executive functioning skills; and (3) There are no changes in children's body mass index (BMI) between the beginning and end of the program, nor are there differences in parent reports of children's general health status between program entry and exit. The majority of children are reported by their parents as being in excellent or very good health at Head Star t entry and exit. Using criteria set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one-third of children are over weight or obese at Head Start entry and exit.