Idaho Pre-K Would Be as Effective as Head Start

Pre-K programs in Idaho could be as effective as Head Start, which according to a recent study, it means not very effective at all:

In sum, this report finds that providing access to Head Start has benefits for both 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds in the cognitive, health, and parenting domains, and for 3-year-olds in the social-emotional domain. However, the benefits of access to Head Start at age four are largely absent by 1st grade for the program population as a whole. For 3-year-olds, there are few sustained benefits, although access to the program may lead to improved parent-child relationships through 1st grade…

The Heritage Foundation suggests some evidence that “Had HHS not used a less-rigorous method of evaluating Head Start, the report would have shown no impact on the language and literacy outcomes for the four-year-old cohort.”

So, let’s understand this. Almost all the benefits of Head Start disappear by first grade, even being very generous to the program. This is why public pre-K is a waste of money. There’s only one thing that public pre-k is effective at, and that is being government-funded free daycare. It’s going to do nothing for education, and it’s absurd pandering to public disinformation to even continue to boost it.

(Hat Tip: Right Wing News.)