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2006 High/Scope Evaluation
Key
Findings
- First Steps is Successfully Targeting the Poorest of the Poor
and the Neediest of the Needy. Across the strategies examined
(4K, Child Care and Parenting/Family Strengthening), children accessing
early interventions through the First Steps initiative were more likely
to qualify for Medicaid, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF),
food stamps and free/reduced-price lunches than their non-First Steps
counterparts. First Steps participants were also more likely to be in
foster care, be of low birth weight and/or have mothers with less than
a high school diploma.
- Full-Day Four-Year-Old Kindergarten Reaps Major Dividends.
While the report reveals the benefits of both half-day and full-day
programs, full-day programs not only enrolled children experiencing
more risk factors - but improved academic achievement and significantly
reduced rates of kindergarten retention.
- First Steps is Helping to Improve Child Care Quality.
35% of providers surveyed increased their ABC scores, levels of licensing
or achieved NAEYC accreditation as a result of their First Steps participation.
Participating centers overwhelmingly reported high levels of satisfaction
with the quality enhancement programs that First Steps subsidizes.
- First Steps Has Outgrown its Original Measurement and Client
Data Systems. While many of the initiative’s participants
are still too young to have tracked into the state’s educational
databases, the researchers strongly validated the initiative’s
own internal concerns about the utility and consistency of its existing
program data – particularly that collected during the first years
of implementation. High/Scope now transitions into a consulting role,
allowing First Steps to benefit from its expertise and international
standing as the initiative works to refine and enhance the state’s
early childhood data systems.
For more information on the High/Scope Evaluation:
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