Can Head Start Turn Around Falling NAEP Math and Reading Scores? What the Evidence Shows
The K–12 education system across the United States continues to face significant challenges. According to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results, fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math scores remain below their pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Chronic absenteeism also remains elevated, with nearly one in four students nationally chronically absent during the 2023–24 school year. In addition, public school leaders estimated that 32% of students ended the 2023–24 school year behind grade level in at least one academic subject.
How do we reverse these trends? One important part of the answer begins long before a child enters kindergarten.
In our September 2025 publication, Head Start’s Footprint: Children’s Learning and Education, the Children’s Equity Project (CEP) synthesizes research examining how Head Start supports the cognitive, academic, and social-emotional foundations associated with children's learning and longer-term educational success.
Key Academic Outcomes Highlighted in CEP’s Report
1. Language and Early Literacy Development
Head Start programs target the "Big Five" early literacy components: background knowledge, oral language/vocabulary, book concepts, alphabet knowledge, and phonological awareness
Research confirms that preschoolers enrolled in Head Start, even for just one program year, make substantial gains in receptive/expressive vocabulary and print knowledge compared to peers in informal care
2. Mathematical Reasoning and Science Inquiry
Early math ability is one of the strongest predictors of later academic performance
3. "Approaches to Learning" and Attention Focus
Entering kindergarten ready to learn involves more than knowing letters and numbers
The Community and K-12 Relief
When early childhood programs are underfunded or inaccessible, the K-12 system bears the cost
Depriving children of Head Start opportunities increases the proportion of students entering kindergarten with unaddressed developmental delays, elevated behavioral stress, and academic gaps, putting additional strain on an already overburdened public school infrastructure
What Policy Leaders Must Do
To address falling national academic scores and persistent opportunity gaps, federal and state policymakers must preserve and expand access to Head Start. More broadly, research on high-quality early childhood education has found returns on investment ranging from approximately $4 to $10 for every dollar spent, with long-term benefits associated with increased educational attainment and employment, a larger tax base, higher adult earnings, and reduced spending on remedial education and other services.
Learn More Head Start Policy
The Children's Equity Project's report, Head Start's Footprint: Children's Learning and Education, explores Head Start’s educational reach and impact. We review major tenets in Head Start policy that shape its focus on education, and synthesize the research on the impacts of Head Start on children’s pre-academic and long-term academic success, and the benefits communities see from ensuring all income-eligible children in their communities can access Head Start. We also review research from other countries that document the detriment to communities, schools, and all students when children who live in communities are excluded from education, including early education like Head Start, due to immigration documentation. We also explore research on the impact of administrative burden, particularly on families experiencing homelessness, families of children with disabilities, and children involved in the child welfare system, among others.