What is a rebuttal to the comment "research shows that the gains made by Head Start students evaporate or level off by third grade?"

NIEER Director Steve Barnett reviewed 22 long-term studies of the effects of preschool in a 1993 article entitled Does Head Start Fade Out? Each study followed children from preschool until at least 3rd grade. Results from these studies show that initial gains in children's IQ scores tended to disappear over time. However, gains in graduation rates, as well as declines in special education placements and grade retention, were maintained.

While initial gains in Head Start children's achievement-test scores appear to fade over time, Barnett argues that these apparent declines can be attributed to poor research designs and selective attrition of research participants. Most notably, children placed in special education classes and those retained in grade have often been excluded from school-administered achievement tests. The cumulative effect is that the group of tested children who participated in preschool programs is eventually equated with the group of tested non-participants in terms of academic ability. Thus increases in Head Start children's achievement scores may appear to vanish even when maintained.

An August 2000 report by Sherri Oden and colleagues, Into Adulthood: A Study of the Effects of Head Start, provides additional insight into Head Start's long-term effects. This study focused on the High/Scope curriculum, which is used by more than a third of Head Start programs. Results from the study suggest that, throughout their school years, former Head Start participants from High/Scope classrooms earned higher GPAs than those from non-High/Scope classrooms.

Therefore, the so-called fade out effect--by which the positive effects of preschool programs are said to evaporate as time passes--is a myth. According to Barnett, "There is considerable evidence that preschool programs of many types--including Head Start--have persistent effects on academic ability and success. There is no convincing evidence that these effects decline over time."

More information:

The Battle Over Head Start: What the Research Shows

Does Head Start Fade Out?

Into Adulthood: A Study of the Effects of Head Start