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Who Benefits Most From Head Start? Using Latent Class Moderation to Examine Differential Treatment Effects
Author(s) -
Cooper Brittany Rhoades,
Lanza Stephanie T.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12278
Subject(s) - head start , psychology , disadvantaged , moderation , developmental psychology , cognition , differential effects , cohort , cognitive development , cognitive test , child development , latent class model , clinical psychology , medicine , social psychology , statistics , mathematics , neuroscience , political science , law
Head Start ( HS ) is the largest federally funded preschool program for disadvantaged children. Research has shown relatively small impacts on cognitive and social skills; therefore, some have questioned its effectiveness. Using data from the Head Start Impact Study (3‐year‐old cohort; N = 2,449), latent class analysis was used to (a) identify subgroups of children defined by baseline characteristics of their home environment and caregiver and (b) test whether the effects of HS on cognitive, and behavioral and relationship skills over 2 years differed across subgroups. The results suggest that the effectiveness of HS varies quite substantially. For some children there appears to be a significant, and in some cases, long‐term, positive impact. For others there is little to no effect.