Jackson Free Press

Although President Bush has been pushing his "No Child Left Behind" act as a way to help improve the standards of education in public schools, it seems the truth is that no child will be left alone. No matter how young. Even as the scores start rolling in for the first year of federal high-stakes testing—and with educators and families nervously awaiting federal report cards—the Bush administration will begin testing the limits of Head Start and Early Head Start starting in September 2003. Literally. In addition to the local tests these children take each year to chart their progress, 3- and 4-year-olds will now face federal testing in language, math and reading.

And the stakes may be high for the millions of low-income children served by Head Start: Critics say the test results will be used to justify eliminating programs, which are already not fully funded to serve all children who are eligible.

The president's plan to overhaul Head Start, called "Good Start, Grow Smart," included a proposal to return control of Head Start to the state governments—a shifting of priorities that has created a din of controversy. On July 26, the Clarion-Ledger called the GOP state-control plan a "death knell," warning that states will be able to "blend" Head Start programs into existing preschool programs. Ohio, for instance, plans to merge day care and Head Start programs so that the state can save money. This year, the Akron Summit Community Action (the county's Head Start agency) will have to accept 304 fewer children than last year in order to adjust to the budget changes.

In an Aug. 10 letter, Wade F. Horn, the Department of Health and Human Services assistant secretary for children and families, responded to The Clarion-Ledger. "Giving the states the option of coordinating Head Start with state-run preschool programs will allow more—not less—children the opportunity to benefit from a high quality preschool program including Head Start," he wrote.
Much as when they dropped private-school vouchers from No Child Left Behind, at least temporarily, the Bush administration has responded to the Head Start outcry by amending its immediate proposal. Bush now wants to shift control of Head Start to only eight states as a pilot to test state control, a compromise that the U.S. House recently passed by one vote. Meantime, though, as with NCLB, the administration has forged ahead with its accountability plan, a less-publicized component of "Good Start," preparing to launch tests that critics worry will be used to justify cutting back the program.

Writing in Phi Delta Kappan, education writer Anne C. Lewis called the Head Start testing plan a "topdown strategy" to reveal weaknesses in Head Start education in order to then cut back the program even further. Horn has repeatedly denied that claim, saying that these tests will be used to help improve the standards of Head Start and not be used as an entrance exam for kindergarten, or to replace assessment programs developed locally.

Ostensibly to "strengthen" Head Start, the administration's new accountability system will, they say, ensure that individual Head Start programs are properly assessing the standards of reading, language and math skills of their tiny participants. Then the plan is to build a closer "partnership" between federal and state governments through early childhood education programs. This is where the state-turnover comes into play: many are not going to be able to properly fund these programs. As The Clarion-Ledger editorialized, "In Mississippi, state government has a rather lousy record of keeping faith with the public on trust funds, special funds and earmarked funds… ."

David Dennis of the Southern Initiative Algebra Project in Jackson warns that standardized tests are culturally biased and are created to "rescue a few children while the majority of them slip through the cracks of the system." He does agree that there should be some form of testing but says the key factor to remember is "who is giving the tests and how the tests are administered."

Just as with NCLB, children's advocates worry that now teachers will be teaching to the test, even with 3- and 4-year-olds. Robert D. Williamson, the executive director of the Economic Opportunity Committee of Clark County, says that Head Start teachers are already spending more time preparing students for the tests. He says that solely concentrating on literacy serves as a huge distraction to the children in the programs, who have varied needs. Academics are only one component.

Since 1965 Head Start programs have provided educational services to 20 million low-income children nationwide. Early child development, nutritional, social, medical, mental health, dental and parental involvement services are just a few of the benefits found in Head Start Programs. In addition to these services, Head Start programs are generally geared toward the cultural and ethnic background of each of its children—an educational flexibility that may be a relic of the past in the new "accountability" times.