To: koan who wrote (780326 ) 4/17/2014 11:51:44 AM From: TimF Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 1583503 Whitehurst is a flaming right winger Adhominem (if your implying he's wrong because of that, irrelevant if your not). And from what I can tell false (not that it matters either way). Also he isn't the source, he's just reporting the data. Data from HHS and education (during the Obama administration, are obama Kathleen Sibelius, and Arne Duncan also "flaming right wingers"?) show that by 3rd grade the benefit is pretty much gone - "The Head Start Impact Study found impacts for the sample as a whole at the end of one year of Head Start on a broad range of early language and literacy outcomes for children in both the 3- and 4-year-old cohorts, with impacts on math skills for children in the 3-year-old cohort. However, these early effects rapidly dissipated in elementary school, with only a single impact remaining at the end of 3rd grade for children in each age cohort. The data indicated that the initial Head Start benefits are quickly “made up” by children in the non-Head Start group.The Head Start Impact Study found impacts for the sample as a whole at the end of one year of Head Start on a broad range of early language and literacy outcomes for children in both the 3- and 4-year-old cohorts, with impacts on math skills for children in the 3-year-old cohort. However, these early effects rapidly dissipated in elementary school , with only a single impact remaining at the end of 3rd grade for children in each age cohort. The data indicated that the initial Head Start benefits are quickly “made up” by children in the non-Head Start group ."acf.hhs.gov And that's from a paper from an organization that supports federal funding of preschool. If anything they would be biased to show a large benefit, but they can't find one.