Head Start
a U.S. government-funded program designed to enhance early childhood education and foster school readiness, with special emphasis on high-risk, inner-city, and minority children up to 5 years of age and their families. It was initially designed in 1965 by developmental psychologist Edward Zigler, with the intention of breaking the cycle of poverty by providing preschool children of low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs in an 8-week summer program. In 1977, the program became bilingual, and by 1998, it had expanded to full-day, full-year services. Head Start has served more than 30 million children since its inception and now includes a variety of services and program options, including Early Head Start, a home visit- and center-based program for children up to age 3 and their families. Head Start serves more than a million children and their families each year in urban and rural areas
in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. territories. Also called Project Head Start. See also Project Follow Through.