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Experts, Providers, Parents, and Policymakers Respond to Proposed Head Start Changes
August 14, 2026
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Experts, Providers, Parents, and Policymakers Respond to Proposed Head Start Changes
On August 6, 2026, the Trump Administration proposed sweeping changes to the Head Start program. Although less federal micromanagement of Head Start is to be lauded, the proposed changes include provisions that could undermine Head Start as a school readiness program and make integration with high-quality state pre-K programs more difficult.
NIEER’s research over the years has found that the strongest state-funded preschool programs raise quality far above typical childcare. Whether public or private, high-quality pre-K programs have been found by rigorous evaluations to produce large improvements in school readiness and success, educational attainment, and adult earnings.
NIEER’s annual State of Preschool report measures the quality and strength of state-funded pre-K programs relative to one another, and has identified 10 research-based benchmarks that distinguish high-quality programs. In addition, NIEER has produced two nationwide reviews of Head Start detailing both strengths and challenges state by state, including longstanding issues with limited enrollment and instructional quality.
Those thinking through the implications of the proposed Head Start changes may also want to look at the appendix of NIEER’s 2025 State of Preschool Yearbook, which includes state-by-state data charts on enrollment in both state-funded pre-K and Head Start, children dually enrolled in state pre-K and Head Start, State Supplements to Head Start and Early Head Start, Maximum class sizes for state-funded preschool programs, and Staff to child ratio requirements in state-funded preschool.
Here's a roundup of selected news coverage in states across the country:
NJ Spotlight News: Trump’s Head Start rollback a ‘Trojan horse’ for pre-K, critics say
Texas Standard: Proposed Head Start changes would shift costs — and risk — to Texas
WHYY’s Studio 2: The Trump administration’s proposal to overhaul Head Start
NIEER Activity
Head Start’s current ratio standards are based on expert consensus and empirical evidence that pre-K quality is higher and children’s safety and development improved when there are reasonable limits to the number of young children per staffer in the classroom. Current Head Start standards limit staff:child ratios to 1:4 for babies and toddlers under age 3, 1:8 for 3 year olds and 1:10 for 4 year olds. In contrast, state child care licensing ratios are less salutary and vary enormously.
NIEER’s new brief, The race to the bottom: What replacing Head Start ratios standards with state child care minimums will mean for children in poverty, by Morgan Healy and Steve Barnett, compares Head Start ratio standards as they are currently written to state child care regulations across all 50 states and DC, and asks: if Head Start programs defaulted to state child care licensing minimums, what would change? And how do state child care ratio requirements compare to those of public pre-K in the same state?
Read the new brief.
14 years of Pre-K 4 SA: A short history of San Antonio’s city-funded preschool program
Texas Public Radio’s Camille Phillips recently interviewed NIEER’s GG Weisenfeld for a piece looking at the history of San Antonio’s groundbreaking pre-k program, which voters approved in 2012.
Since 2017, CityHealth has partnered with NIEER to conduct research on pre-k efforts operated at the city level.
Weisenfeld is the co-author of the latest study in that series, An Updated Look at Pre-K in Large American Cities, and she said Pre-K 4 SA is one of the few city preschool programs that meets all 10 of NIEER’s recommended benchmarks for quality.
Beyond Benchmarks: The Future of Quality in Pre-K
What if we’ve been trying to improve early childhood quality by optimizing the parts, when we should be strengthening the system that connects them?
NIEER’s Allison Friedman-Krauss and Praidea’s Crystal Xu Rose have proposed a fireside conversation at SXSW EDU 2027 that explores how standards, curriculum, assessment, accountability, and evidence can work together to create more coherent early learning systems—and what happens when the evidence we rely on isn’t designed to support the decisions we’re making.
If this is a conversation you’d like to see next year in Austin, vote for the session in the SXSW EDU PanelPicker by August 23! You must create a free universal SXSW online account (or sign in with an existing one) to vote, which prevents duplicate voting.
Focus on New Jersey Weekly Feature
Join leaders from research, government, philanthropy, advocacy, and the early childhood community for a day of presentations and discussion examining findings from the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative. Together, we will explore what the research tells us about New Jersey's child care landscape and consider how these findings can inform policy, practice, and future research.
The Center for Women and Work (CWW), the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development (Heldrich), and the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) have joined together to form the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative. Funding for the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative is provided by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.
International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy (IJCCEP) Weekly Feature
Numeracy Skills Development Through Indigenous Games in Pre School Learners: A Teacher Perspective
Grant Mapoma Mwinsa, Beatrice Matafwali, and Mulenga Mwangala Chewe examined how indigenous games support numeracy development among preschool children in Zambia. Using participatory action research with 10 early childhood teachers from four schools, the study found that the games supported counting, number recognition, seriation, problem solving, and critical thinking while increasing children's engagement and understanding of math concepts. The games also connected classroom learning with cultural knowledge and traditions, supporting children's identity alongside academic development. The authors recommend incorporating indigenous games into early childhood curricula and teacher preparation to strengthen culturally responsive, play based approaches to early numeracy.
Publish in the International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy (IJCCEP)
- It’s FREE – article processing charges for all articles published in the journal are fully sponsored.
- The journal is indexed by Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) and by Scopus.
- All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 license. Authors will retain copyright.
ECE Research
In Developmental Psychology, Kimberly Turner Nesbitt and Dale Clark Farran examined how classroom activities and instructional experiences helped develop executive function skills among 1,103 children in 80 public school Pre K classrooms serving primarily children eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Children who were more actively involved in goal directed and social activities demonstrated greater gains in executive function, with particularly strong benefits for children who entered Pre K with lower executive function skills. Teacher led activities that were engaging and provided opportunities for social interaction also supported executive function development.
Long-Term Effects of Pandemic-Era Mask Exposure on Preschoolers’ Emotion Recognition and Gaze Behavior: A Cross-Cohort and Longitudinal Eye-Tracking Study
Chia Yen Hsieh, writing in SAGE Open, examined whether preschool exposure to mask wearing and reduced facial visibility during the COVID 19 pandemic was associated with lasting differences in children's emotion recognition and visual attention to faces. Using a cross cohort and longitudinal eye tracking design with children in Taiwan, the study found that children whose early development occurred under pandemic conditions were less accurate at recognizing negative emotions, particularly sadness and anger, and focused more attention on the eyes and less on the mouth when viewing faces. These patterns remained evident when the same children were assessed two years later at age eight, suggesting persistent rather than temporary differences in emotion processing.
Maureen Su Ling Lim, Ng Ee Lynn, Yiling Song, Kylie D. Hesketh, and Wei Peng Teo, writing in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 25 randomized controlled trials examining the effects of physical activity interventions on self-regulation among preschool children. The analysis found a small to moderate overall improvement in self- regulation (g = 0.549), with significant benefits for behavioral and cognitive self- regulation but no significant effect on emotional self-regulation. Both low intensity and moderate to vigorous physical activity were effective, while group-based interventions produced significant improvements and individually delivered interventions did not.
Effects of Gymnastics on Motor Abilities of Preschool and Early Primary School Aged Children
Đorđe Hajder, writing in the Journal of Sports and Rehabilitation Sciences, conducted a systematic review of 10 studies examining the effects of gymnastics on motor development among children ages 4 to 7. The review found that structured developmental, rhythmic, artistic, and creative gymnastics programs improved gross and fine motor skills, balance, strength, coordination, agility, flexibility, and overall motor proficiency. Even short interventions of eight weeks improved locomotor skills and balance, while programs lasting three to nine months produced additional gains in strength, coordination, and gymnastics specific skills.
In the Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), Terrance Knox Lane, Timothy Hayes, Angela Waguespack, and Katie C. Hart examined how home literacy environments and socioeconomic factors relate to early literacy development among 471 preschool children preparing to enter kindergarten. Greater parental involvement in literacy activities and stronger children's interest in literacy were associated with better print knowledge and phonics fluency, while parents’ own literacy habits were associated with stronger receptive vocabulary. Importantly, aspects of the home literacy environment contributed to children's emergent literacy skills beyond demographic influences, suggesting that supportive literacy routines may help buffer socioeconomic risks.
Opportunities
Lead Advocacy Officer, ZERO TO THREE
Project Manager, ZERO TO THREE
Postdoctoral Associate in Early Literacy Research and Development, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
Program Officer, Children and Families, The David & Lucile Packard Foundation
Chief of Early Learning, First Steps, State of South Carolina
Early Learning Services Research and Evaluation Scientist, Children Youth & Families Department State of Minnesota
Vice President, Early Childhood Policy, Center for American Progress
Director of Community Impact, Early Matters Texas
Director of Rural Initiatives, Early Matters Texas
Early Childhood Policy Manager, Zero To Five Montana
Director of Early Childhood Policy, Colorado Children’s Campaign
The Authors
Allison Muhlendorf manages external affairs for NIEER, including communications, earned and owned media, government relations, partnerships, and outreach. Allison and her team at Longleaf Strategies are conducting a communications audit for NIEER and developing a long-term external affairs strategy.
About NIEER
The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at the Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, conducts and disseminates independent research and analysis to inform early childhood education policy.
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