Authors of a new study by Rutgers Graduate School of Education conclude that Alaska is one of five states where children in poverty need better access to Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
The study found significant enrollment drops from the 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 academic years in both programs among children living in poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic — with 257,000 fewer children in Head Start and 22,000 fewer in Early Head Start enrolling nationally.
In Alaska, 1,037 fewer children enrolled in Head Start and 146 fewer participated in Early Head Start in the 2020-2021 school year, the study determined. According to the report, released on Dec. 1, 36% of children living in poverty across the state enrolled in Head Start and 9% enrolled in Early Head Start.
In addition to poverty level, inequalities were found by race and ethnicity in Head Start and Early Head Start enrollment.
According to the report, states with more ethnically diverse populations enrolled in Head Start at a lower rate. In programs with higher percentages of Black children and Black teachers, both Head Start funding per child and observed instructional quality were lower.
Specific data comparisons on estimated enrollment by race and ethnicity in Alaska include:
- 29% of Black children in poverty attended Head Start — compared to 15% of White children in poverty, 10% of Asian children in poverty, and 51% of children of other races in poverty.
- 45% of Hispanic/Latinx children in poverty attended Head Start compared to 36% of Non-Hispanic/Non-Latinx children.
- Early Head Start enrolled 5% of Black children in poverty, 5% of White children in poverty, 2% of Asian children in poverty, and 13% of children of other races in poverty.
- Early Head Start enrolled 11% of Hispanic/Latinx in poverty compared to 9% of Non-Hispanic/Non-Latinx children in poverty.
“Inequities in access to Head Start and Early Head Start could be substantially erased by upping Head Start funding $2.5 billion each year for the next four years, for a total of $10 billion in new funds targeted on equity,” said Allison Friedman-Krauss, a research professor and NIEER’s lead author of the report. “This additional funding would also go to raising teacher compensation and program quality.”
