tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35248477.post7469710929069129181..comments2024-03-27T14:20:05.905-04:00Comments on Montclair SocioBlog: Politics and Negative ResultsJay Livingstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06652075579940313964noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35248477.post-771677941369753392011-03-16T02:12:03.053-04:002011-03-16T02:12:03.053-04:00To me it's both disappointing and surprising. ...To me it's both disappointing and surprising. <br /><br />One of the the things I learned in graduate school and actually believed was that Head Start works. That it helps kids and was sort of a (partial) silver bullet. <br /><br />So what happened to all that research from the 1990s? Was it wrong?PCMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13647097472236933108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35248477.post-82007941446973510862011-03-15T15:38:19.595-04:002011-03-15T15:38:19.595-04:00Mike, I don't know the research, but I assume ...Mike, I don't know the research, but I assume it's comparing Head Start kids with controls from a similar background. So, to me at least, it's disappointing that the gains don't last. Disappointing, but not surprising. I'm also guilty of those inflated expectations you mention, at least in my less sociologically aware moments. It would be nice if there were a silver bullet or a Superman.Jay Livingstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06652075579940313964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35248477.post-86497462841243823802011-03-15T12:43:47.876-04:002011-03-15T12:43:47.876-04:00The caveat that you have about the program not wor...The caveat that you have about the program not working is not only "not quite accurate," but I would argue actually wrong. Head Start is designed to level the playing field and, if Head Start kids have some advantages into first grade then it has done that. <br /><br />Why we would expect a child's past participation in Head Start to outweigh variation in their current schooling? It seems unreasonable to expect it to do so; in fact, it is a large expectation of any program or policy to have benefits that last throughout one's lifetime. <br /><br />That said, I don't know the study or whether liberals would be more likely to do the same (e.g., over <a href="http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/news_releases/2010/02/theory-based-abstinence-education/" rel="nofollow">abstinence-only education</a> or charter schools); however, I believe that saying that Head Start falls short of expectations is partly due to the rather large expectations placed on the program.mike3550https://www.blogger.com/profile/09621465191508532187noreply@blogger.com