Even Start and Head Start similarly target disadvantaged populations, seeking to improve their educational outcomes. While both programs are required to provide education and literacy services to children and their families, Head Start’s goal is to prepare children to enter school while Even Start’s goal is to improve family literacy and education. Consistent with its family literacy goal, Even Start is authorized to serve low-literate parents and their young children. Grantees in Both Programs Provided Similar Early Childhood Services to Poor Children, but Adult Services Differed

In 1999–2000, both Head Start and Even Start grantees served poor families with young children, but the parents they served had different education and literacy needs and the extent to which parents received services to meet those needs differed. Information about the Effectiveness of Head Start and Even Start Is Limited

No recent, definitive, national-level research exists about the effectiveness of Head Start and Even Start for the families and children they serve. Nevertheless, their common focus on improved educational outcomes for poor children and their families calls for coordination between the two programs. While most Head Start and Even Start grantees have reported they collaborate with one another in some way, at the program sites we visited, we found that differences in participants and service areas may mean that collaboration involves only limited opportunities for program staff to work together. Local officials said this is partly due to the location of the two sites in different neighborhoods several miles apart, differences in the ages of the children served by each program, and differences in the adult education needs of the families. Recognizing that these programs serve a similar population of children, Head Start and Even Start have jointly developed similar outcome measures for children. Recommendation

We recommend that the secretaries of HHS and of Education direct the administrators of Head Start and Even Start to coordinate the development of similar performance goals and indicators for adult education and literacy outcomes and that the effort include the identification of indicators that specifically measure adult education and literacy. We are sending copies of this report to the secretaries of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education and appropriate congressional committees.
What GAO Found

The Head Start and Even Start Family Literacy programs have sought to improve the educational and economic outcomes for millions of disadvantaged children and their families. Because the two programs seek similar outcomes for similar populations, GAO has pointed out that they need to work together to avoid inefficiencies in program administrative and service delivery. Questions have also arisen about the wisdom of having similar early childhood programs administered by different departments. Head Start's goal is to ensure that young children are ready for school, and program eligibility is tied to specific income guidelines. In contrast, Even Start's goal is to improve family literacy and the educational opportunities of both the parents and their young children. Even Start eligibility is tied to parents' educational attainment. Despite these differences, both programs are required to provide similar services. Both programs have some similar and some identical performance measures and outcome expectations for children, but not for parents. Head Start and Even Start grantees provided some similar services to young children and families, but how these programs served adults reflect the variations in the need of the parents. No recent, definitive information exists on the effectiveness of either program so it is difficult to determine which program uses the more effective model to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged children and their parents. At the local level, differences in the needs of participants and the location of neighborhoods served by the two programs may mean some Head Start and Even Start grantees find only limited opportunities to work together. At the national level, the Departments of Health and Human Services and of Education have begun to coordinate their efforts, including the funding of state-level organizations to improve collaboration among groups serving poor children and their families.