The Influence of a Head Start Program on Reading

A STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF ATTENDING AN 8 -WEEK HEADSTART PROGRAM DURING THE SUMMER PRIOR TO THE FIRST GRADE ON THE FIRST-GRADE READING ACHIEVEMENT OF 152 PUPILS IN SCOTT COUNTY, KENTUCKY, INDICATED A NEED FOR A CLASSROOM CONTINUATION OF THE EXPERIENCE APPROACH IN READING METHODS. AT THE OPENING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, THE HEADSTART PUPILS WERE MIXED IN 15 FIRST-GRADE ROOMS. SOME TEACHES USED A SYNTHETIC, AND SOME AN ANALYTIC, APPROACH TO READING. THE METROPOLITAN READINESS TEST WAS GIVEN IN OCTOBER, THE CALIFORNIA TEST OF MENTAL ABILITY IN DECEMBER, AND THE STANFORD ACHIEVEMENT TEST IN MAY OCCUPATIONS OF PARENTS WERE CATEGORIZED BY USE OF THE SOCIOECONOMIC SCALE OF OCCUPATIONS DEVISED BY A.M. EDWARDS. A STRAIGHT AND UNEQUATED COMPARISON OF THE READING SCORES OF THE TWO GROUPS REVEALED NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN ACHIEVEMENT. EVIDENTLY, THE HEADSTART PROGRAM ACHIEVED SUCCESS IN PREPARING CHILDREN FOR ACADEMIC LEARNING. SOME RADICAL APPROACH TO TEACHING READING TO CHILDREN WHOSE NORMAL DIALECT IS NONSTANDARD ENGLISH IS NEEDED. SUBSTANTIAL FURTHER EXPERIMENTATION AND STUDY ARE NECESSARY FOR HEADSTART TO ACHIEVE ITS t:-^ULL PROMISE. CORRELATIONS ON FIVE VARIABLES SUBSTAr7IATE THE STUDY. A SUMMARY OF FINDINGS IS INCLUDED AND REFERENCES ARE GIVEN. THIS PAPER WAS PRESENTED AT THE INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONVENTION (12TH, SEATTLE, MAY 4-6, 1967).(BK)