Volume 36, Number 4 (Fall) 2001
Aughinbaugh, Alison. 2001. "Does Head Start Yield Long-Term Benefits?" Journal of Human Resources 36(4):641-665.
Using a new data set, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLS'Y97), this paper examines the relationships between Head Start and school suspensions, grade retentions, and scores on math achievement tests. The body of previous work that has studied the effects of Head \[$' Start on child outcomes has examined relatively young children or small ;::::~ samples from compensatory preschool programs other than Head Start. Using the NLS'Y97 helps to remedy some of the data issues because it is a large nationally representative data set and contains outcomes up to the teenage years. The estimates indicate that Head Start participation does not have long-term benefits. This finding is compatible with past work showing that compensatory preschool programs that are long in duration and intensive are more likely to improve participants' outcomes.
Alison Aughinbaugh is a researcher with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics She thanks an anonymous referee, participants of the NLSY97 Early Results Conference, and seminar participants at East Carolina University, Kansas State University, St. Louis University, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and University of North Texas for useful comments. She is grateful to Tim Savage for helpful conversations about the estimators used in this paper. She takes responsibility for all remaining errors. The views of this paper do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics or its other staff members. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning May 2002 through April 2005 from Alison Aughinbaugh, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Room 4945, Washington, DC 20212.
© 2002 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
US ISSN 0022-166X