Early Childhood Research Quarterly 27 (2012) 708–715 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Early Childhood Research Quarterly Review Supporting optimal child development through Early Head Start and Head Start programs: Reflections on secondary data analyses of FACES and EHSREP Rachel Chazan-Cohen a,∗ , Tamara G. Halle b , Lauren R. Barton c , Adam Winsler a a George Mason University, United States b Child Trends, United States c SRI International, United States article info Keywords: Head Start Low-income Methodology abstract We are delighted to reflect on the 10 papers highlighted in this important special issue of Early Childhood Research Quarterly devoted to recent secondary data analyses of the FACES and EHSREP datasets. First, we provide some background on Head Start research and give an overview of the large-scale Head Start and Early Head Start datasets that are available for researchers to analyze. Then, we comment on the papers in this special issue from a methodological and statistical standpoint. Finally, we reflect on themes that stood out across the various papers. Throughout, we make recommendations for future large-scale data collection efforts and future research on Head Start and Early Head Start programs. © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Background .......................................................................................................................................... 708 2. Available data sets ................................................................................................................................... 709 3. Methodological considerations ..................................................................................................................... 710 4. Diversity ............................................................................................................................................. 713 5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 715 References ........................................................................................................................................... 715 1. Background Head Start began in 1965 as part of President Johnson’s War on Poverty. In addition to its ambitious social agenda, Head Start was seen as a laboratory of innovation for early childhood programs (Zigler & Muenchow, 1994). To fulfill this mission, the founders insisted on a significant investment in research that has continued to the present day. The founders of Head Start created an ongo- ing partnership between service providers and researchers in order to create feedback loops to improve services and to glean lessons learned from this national program that could be applied to other early childhood settings. Other contextual factors at the time of the program’s founding, specifically the new demands for measur- able results of government spending (Rivlin & Timpane, 1975), also supported this investment in research. ∗ Corresponding author at: George Mason University, Department of Psychology, MSN 3F5, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030, United States. Tel.: +1 703 993 5626. E-mail address: rcohen8@gmu.edu (R. Chazan-Cohen). While the extensive legacy of Head Start research is beyond the scope of this piece (see Love, Chazan-Cohen, & Raikes, 2007 for a review), the themes of accountability, program improvement, development of innovative intervention strategies, and the dissem- ination of effective strategies have continued to drive the Head Start research agenda. Major questions posed by Head Start research include: • Descriptive studies: What services are provided? To whom? • Impact studies: How does the program “work”? And for whom? • Innovation: How can the program be more effective? Funding for Head Start research has had a large impact beyond the study of these Head-Start-relevant questions. While the descriptive and impact studies and their resultant data sets (such as those utilized for this special issue) have mostly been larger contract-funded national efforts, smaller and usually grant- funded innovation studies also have been extremely influential. Grants funded with Head Start research funds have fueled a rich legacy in the development and refinement of many curricula and measures used widely in early childhood settings; some 0885-2006/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2012.09.002