FAMILY AND CLASSROOM CORRELATES OF HEAD-START CHILDRENS DEVELOPMENTALOUTCOMES

Program quality is an important theme for Head Start. Even staunch sup porters of Head Start are concerned that too few Head Start classes ar e of the quality that is needed to best promote children's growth and development. This study examined relationships between classroom duali ty and child outcomes among 145 Head Start children from poor quality to more stimulating home environments. Results indicated that children in higher quality Head Start classrooms performed better on measures of achievement and preacademic skills, regardless of the quality of th eir home environment. Children from better home environments seemed to benefit more from classroom quality in the area of problem solving an d reasoning than did children from less stimulating homes. Teacher cha racteristics such as education, experience, and attitudes were not ass ociated with classroom quality in this group of 32 Head Start classroo ms. On the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, no classroom rece ived a rating of inadequate, but only 9% met or exceeded the score tha t would be considered developmentally appropriate.