In August, the Trump administration proposed changes to the Head Start program that would roll back most of the Head Start Program Performance Standards. Created by leading child development experts and developmental psychologists, these rules set important benchmarks for program quality, such as educator-to-child ratios, group size, guidance about evidence-based curricula (PDF), and comprehensive service standards (PDF).

If the proposed rule goes into effect, programs could theoretically continue to follow current quality standards. But in practice, it’s unlikely. That’s because the proposed rule also introduces a stricter cap on administrative spending, making it more difficult for programs to cover the costs of meeting current standards.

Drawing on decades of research, we outline three ways eliminating the performance standards and the associated financial supports would undermine the quality of care, education, and services that Head Start provides to hundreds of thousands of children and families with low incomes each year. Without the standards, research suggests fewer children would have access to quality programs that prepare them to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.

Centers and home-based providers that follow the Head Start Program Performance Standards provide higher-quality care and education

Randomized controlled trials—the gold standard for evaluating interventions—have found that children randomly assigned to Head Start are more likely than children in a control group to be in settings that were clean and safe, support learning and development (PDF), and engage parents.

Further, child care centers that follow Head Start’s standards have been shown to be higher quality. A study of child care providers partnering with Head Start—that therefore had to follow the standards—found these providers were more likely to provide quality staff-child interactions that supported early learning and development than providers that were only subject to their state’s existing child care standards.

In a comparison study of child care centers in Ohio, centers that were required to meet Head Start’s performance standards were significantly more likely to provide the kinds of education and care that evidence shows lead to improved child outcomes than centers not required to meet the standards. In other words, these programs offered adequate supervision, space and furnishing designed for young children, early language and literacy supports, and engagement in more activities to support parents’ involvement in their children’s growth and development. Further analysis confirmed that differences in quality between the two groups were not explained by class size and the number of children with special needs.

This evidence suggests that eliminating the standards would likely reduce access to high-quality care providers.

Children in programs that follow the performance standards have better educational outcomes

Head Start’s standards set important guideposts for the quality of teaching educators offer. Research suggests rescinding the standards—and the administrative funding to meet them—will likely adversely affect children’s learning.

In our research, we’ve found that family child care providers that partner with Head Start—and therefore are required to meet the Head Start Program Performance Standards—were more likely to use a structured, research-backed curriculum, compared with other providers. In turn, children who are taught in settings using an evidence-based curriculum are more likely to demonstrate gains in language and literacy (like being able to identify letters and match sounds to letters), math (like counting) and executive functioning (like being able to focus and follow instructions) than children in a control group who were taught using an unstructured curriculum.

In separate analyses, we used reliable language and literacy assessments to explore the difference in outcomes between children attending centers partnering with Head Start and children at matched comparison centers. We found that children at centers partnering with Head Start demonstrated statistically significant improvements in language and literacy outcomes compared with the comparison group. In particular, children at centers partnering with Head Start were better able to recognize letters, rhyme, and identify spoken words than the comparison group. These findings are consistent with the Head Start Impact Study (PDF), which has shown language, literacy, and socioemotional outcomes were higher among children in Head Start than those in the control group.

As such, getting rid of current Head Start’s teaching and learning standards likely means fewer children in the US will be ready for kindergarten when they leave Head Start or Early Head Start.

Programs that follow the Head Start’s standards are more likely to provide comprehensive services to children and families

Head Start, Early Head Start, and child care programs required to meet the Head Start Program’s Performance Standards do not just care for and educate children, but they also provide a range of screenings, referrals, and services to children and families. These include:

• dental and vision screenings and referrals for children
• referrals to early intervention and special education services
• health and nutrition services for children and their families
• health and mental health screenings and referrals for children and families
• connecting parents and families to education, employment services, and safety net services (PDF)

Our research shows that child care programs that are required to follow the Head Start standards report statistically significant improvements over comparison providers in the provision of comprehensive services to families (PDF), including connections to education, employment services, and safety net services. Evidence also shows that providing these types of services to children and families with low incomes improves children’s school readiness and saves the government (including local school districts) money in the longer term by increasing families’ earnings and improving children’s behavioral outcomes and longer-term educational attainment.

The proposed new standards place a spotlight on nutrition, but evidence is clear that the range of comprehensive services offered by Head Start—not just nutrition services—support children’s healthy growth and development.

Though the proposed rule doesn’t prohibit programs from offering these services, the rule would eliminate the requirement that programs designate staff to provide these services and the funds for their salaries. Given the rule reduces administrative funding and requires programs to maintain full enrollment, Head Start programs needing to balance their budgets may decide to cut or reduce these services.

Ensuring all families have access to high-quality care, regardless of their income and where they live

The evidence is clear. Whether at a Head Start center or a family child care provider, classrooms that follow the existing Head Start Program Performance Standards tailor services to local conditions and have higher-quality interactions with the children and families they serve. The standards improve children’s educational outcomes and parents’ earnings, with long-term economic benefits for entire communities.

To live up to the promise of the Head Start Act, it is important for the administration to retain the existing standards. Without these requirements and adequate funds to support them, access to high-quality care among families with low incomes is in jeopardy, especially among those living in states with lower child care standards.