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Author: Imai, Kumiko

Resulting in 2 citations.

1.	Imai, Kumiko
1.	Evaluating Early Childhood Interventions: Lessons from Head Start Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University, 2003. DAI-A 64/09, p. 3416, Mar 2004 Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning Keyword(s): Childhood Education, Early; Cognitive Development; Family Characteristics; Head Start; Medicaid/Medicare; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Socioeconomic Factors Despite renewed interest in early childhood interventions in recent years, there have been only a handful of evaluations that use large-scale, nationally representative data. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the NLSY79 Child File, I present evidence from Head Start, the main federal preschool program that provides education, health, and social services to low-income children and their families. Unlike previous evidence that relies on family fixed effects models, my findings come from difference-in-differences estimators that use paired matching for control selection. Specifically, I match each Head Start child with a comparison child who is similar in terms of demographic and socioeconomic variables, and compare pre- and post-Head Start outcomes with comparable outcomes for comparison children. In the NLSY79 Child File, a battery of child cognitive and behavioral assessments is administered biennially to all age eligible children or a subset of all age eligible children. This allows me to assess Head Start children and comparison children at baseline and at follow-up, which ranges from two to ten years after baseline. In addition, I track health insurance and Medicaid coverage, and preventive care utilization separately for Head Start children and comparison children from preschool age into the early teen years. Estimates from matched-pairs difference-in-differences estimators suggest that contrary to previous findings Head Start has little impact on children's cognitive outcomes, even in the short-run. Moreover, there is little evidence that Head Start improves children's health insurance coverage or Medicaid take-up. Evidence also suggests that children are more likely to receive dental care while they attend Head Start but not after they graduate from Head Start. On a positive note, there is some evidence suggesting that Head Start may enhance children's home environment. Also, contrary to the recent controversial study that suggested that daycare makes children aggressive, I find little impact on children's problem behavior. All in all, this study demonstrates the importance of selecting adequate controls as well as controlling for unobserved child- and family-specific characteristics in evaluating early childhood interventions.
	Bibliography Citation Imai, Kumiko. Evaluating Early Childhood Interventions: Lessons from Head Start. Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University, 2003. DAI-A 64/09, p. 3416, Mar 2004.

2.	Imai, Kumiko
2.	Reassessing the Impacts of Head Start on Children's Cognitive and Health Outcomes Presented: Atlanta, GA, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, May 2002 Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Publisher: Population Association of America Keyword(s): Child Health; Family Models; Head Start; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. Positive evidence on the benefits of Head Start using large, nationally representative data comes from a handful of studies that used family fixed models, which assume that unobserved family characteristics determine participation in Head Start. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and NLSY79 Children data, I present evidence from difference-in-differences estimators that use paired matching for control selection. Specifically, I match each Head Start child with a set of control children who are similar in terms of demographic and socioeconomic variables, and compare pre- and post-Head Start outcomes with comparable outcomes for control children. My matched-pairs difference-in-differences estimators suggest that, contrary to previous findings, Head Start has little effects on child cognitive outcomes, but positive short-run effects on health measures. My study demonstrates the importance of selecting appropriate controls and controlling for unobserved child-specific characteristics in evaluating early childhood interventions.
	Bibliography Citation Imai, Kumiko. "Reassessing the Impacts of Head Start on Children's Cognitive and Health Outcomes." Presented: Atlanta, GA, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, May 2002.

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