Working Paper: NBER ID: w12973
Authors: Jens Ludwig; Deborah A. Phillips
Abstract: In this essay we review what is known about Head Start and argue that the program is likely to generate benefits to participants and society as a whole that are large enough to justify the program's costs. Our conclusions differ importantly from those offered in some previous reviews because we use a more appropriate standard to judge the success of Head Start (namely, benefit-cost analysis), draw on new accumulating evidence for Head Start's long-term effects on early cohorts of program participants, and discuss why common interpretations of a recent randomized experimental evaluation of Head Start's short-term impacts may be overly pessimistic. While in principle there could be more beneficial ways of deploying Head Start resources, the benefits of such changes remain uncertain and there is some downside risk.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: H43; I2; I3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Head Start (I21) | benefits that exceed its costs (H43) |
| Head Start participation (I21) | short-term impacts (F69) |
| Head Start participation (I21) | estimated effects 1.5 times larger than ITT impacts (C22) |
| ITT impacts (F38) | expected value of the program remains positive (C62) |
| TOT effects (C22) | more accurate estimate of program's benefits (H43) |
| Head Start (I21) | improving educational outcomes (I24) |
| Head Start (I21) | reducing social costs associated with poor childhood development (J13) |