Table 1.
Descriptive Statistics by Head Start Participation
| Variable | Full sample (n= 2,803) |
Non-Head Startbefore matching (n= 2,417) |
Head Start(n= 386) |
Non-Head Start after matching (n= 375) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | SD | M | SD | M | SD | M | SD | |
| Care arrangement right before kindergarten | ||||||||
| Head Start | 0.14 | 0.34 | — | — | 1.00 | 0.00 | — | — |
| Parental care | 0.16 | 0.37 | 0.19 | 0.39 | — | — | 0.24 | (0.43) |
| Prekindergarten | 0.25 | 0.43 | 0.29 | 0.45 | 0.27 | (0.45) | ||
| Other center-based care | 0.37 | 0.48 | 0.43 | 0.50 | 0.38 | (0.49) | ||
| Other nonparental care | 0.08 | 0.27 | 0.09 | 0.29 | 0.11 | (0.35) | ||
| Child characteristics | ||||||||
| Child male | 0.53 | 0.50 | 0.53† | 0.50 | 0.49 | 0.50 | 0.52 | (0.50) |
| Age at in-home assessment (months) | 64.17 | 2.54 | 64.17 | 2.54 | 64.13 | 2.52 | 63.96 | (2.56) |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||||
| Non-Hispanic White | 0.17 | 0.37 | 0.18** | 0.39 | 0.07 | 0.26 | 0.07 | (0.26) |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 0.49 | 0.50 | 0.47** | 0.50 | 0.60 | 0.49 | 0.60 | (0.49) |
| Hispanic | 0.20 | 0.40 | 0.20 | 0.40 | 0.21 | 0.41 | 0.22 | (0.41) |
| Biracial/other | 0.14 | 0.35 | 0.15† | 0.36 | 0.11 | 0.32 | 0.11 | (0.32) |
| Mother’s first child | 0.39 | 0.49 | 0.40** | 0.49 | 0.32 | 0.47 | 0.35 | (0.48) |
| Low birth-weight | 0.10 | 0.30 | 0.10 | 0.30 | 0.11 | 0.31 | 0.11 | (0.32) |
| Mother reported fair/poor health | 0.03 | 0.16 | 0.02 | 0.16 | 0.03 | 0.17 | 0.03 | (0.17) |
| Behavioral & cognitive scores at age 3 | ||||||||
| PPVT-III scores | 87.56 | 17.22 | 87.93** | 17.21 | 85.23 | 17.11 | 85.78 | (15.76) |
| Social competence | 15.58 | 2.47 | 15.62† | 2.48 | 15.36 | 2.40 | 15.34 | (2.75) |
| Attention problems | 2.33 | 1.53 | 2.30** | 1.53 | 2.51 | 1.51 | 2.56 | (1.56) |
| Internalizing behavior problems | 9.78 | 5.41 | 9.60** | 5.37 | 10.89 | 5.51 | 10.50 | (6.32) |
| Externalizing behavior problems | 12.40 | 7.52 | 12.20** | 7.42 | 13.55 | 7.88 | 12.99 | (9.40) |
| Mother & household characteristics | ||||||||
| Age | 28.12 | 5.91 | 28.30** | 5.96 | 27.02 | 5.46 | 27.32 | (5.54) |
| First child born when < 19 years old | 0.32 | 0.46 | 0.30** | 0.46 | 0.40 | 0.49 | 0.39 | (0.49) |
| Relationship with father at child’s age 3 | ||||||||
| Married | 0.30 | 0.46 | 0.32** | 0.47 | 0.19 | 0.39 | 0.19 | 0.39 |
| Cohabitating | 0.20 | 0.40 | 0.20 | 0.40 | 0.20 | 0.40 | 0.20 | 0.40 |
| Friends/visiting | 0.24 | 0.43 | 0.23** | 0.42 | 0.30 | 0.46 | 0.33 | 0.47 |
| Other | 0.25 | 0.44 | 0.24** | 0.43 | 0.31 | 0.46 | 0.28 | 0.45 |
| Employment at child’s age 3 | ||||||||
| Work paid < 35 hrs per week | 0.16 | 0.37 | 0.16 | 0.37 | 0.17 | 0.38 | 0.17 | 0.38 |
| Work paid ≥35 + hrs per week | 0.45 | 0.50 | 0.45 | 0.50 | 0.44 | 0.50 | 0.40 | 0.49 |
| Looking for job | 0.21 | 0.41 | 0.21† | 0.40 | 0.25 | 0.43 | 0.27 | 0.44 |
| Not working | 0.18 | 0.38 | 0.19† | 0.39 | 0.15 | 0.35 | 0.16 | 0.37 |
| Education | ||||||||
| Less than high school | 0.27 | 0.44 | 0.27 | 0.44 | 0.29 | 0.45 | 0.34 | 0.47 |
| High school diploma/GED | 0.29 | 0.46 | 0.28 | 0.45** | 0.38 | 0.49 | 0.32 | 0.47 |
| Some college/tech school | 0.32 | 0.46 | 0.32 | 0.47 | 0.29 | 0.46 | 0.29 | 0.46 |
| Bachelor’s degree/graduate | 0.12 | 0.33 | 0.13** | 0.34 | 0.04 | 0.19 | 0.04 | 0.20 |
| Mother cognitive ability score | 6.83 | 2.55 | 6.89** | 2.58 | 6.44 | 2.29 | 6.59 | 2.50 |
| Mother depressed in past year | 0.21 | 0.41 | 0.21 | 0.40 | 0.24 | 0.43 | 0.23 | 0.42 |
| Parenting and learning environment | ||||||||
| Harsh parenting score | 0.50 | 1.05 | 0.47† | 1.03 | 0.61 | 1.14 | 0.61 | 1.13 |
| Maternal responsivity score | 5.13 | 0.98 | 5.14 | 0.96 | 5.08 | 1.09 | 5.15 | 1.07 |
| Cognitively stimulating materials | 9.54 | 1.14 | 9.55† | 1.13 | 9.44 | 1.19 | 9.45 | 1.20 |
| Household income at child’s birth | ||||||||
| Below 50% poverty line | 0.19 | 0.39 | 0.17** | 0.38 | 0.27 | 0.44 | 0.28 | 0.45 |
| 50–100% poverty line | 0.17 | 0.38 | 0.16* | 0.37 | 0.21 | 0.41 | 0.22 | 0.42 |
| 100–200% poverty line | 0.25 | 0.44 | 0.25 | 0.43 | 0.26 | 0.44 | 0.27 | 0.44 |
| 200–300% poverty line | 0.15 | 0.36 | 0.15 | 0.36 | 0.16 | 0.37 | 0.15 | 0.36 |
| 300% + poverty line | 0.23 | 0.42 | 0.26** | 0.44 | 0.10 | 0.29 | 0.08 | 0.27 |
| Household income at child’s age 3 | ||||||||
| Below 50% poverty line | 0.23 | 0.42 | 0.22** | 0.41 | 0.31 | 0.46 | 0.32 | 0.47 |
| 50–100% poverty line | 0.19 | 0.39 | 0.18** | 0.38 | 0.27 | 0.44 | 0.25 | 0.43 |
| 100–200% poverty line | 0.25 | 0.44 | 0.25 | 0.44 | 0.26 | 0.44 | 0.26 | 0.44 |
| 200–300% poverty line | 0.14 | 0.35 | 0.14* | 0.35 | 0.10 | 0.30 | 0.09 | 0.29 |
| 300% + poverty line | 0.19 | 0.39 | 0.21** | 0.40 | 0.06 | 0.24 | 0.08 | 0.27 |
Note. Two-tailed t statistics testing mean differences between Head Start participants and nonparticipants before and after propensity score matching. PPVT–III = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (3rd ed.; Dunn, Dunn, & Dunn, 1997).
†
p < .10.
*
p < .05.
**
p < .01.