Page 42 - PROGRAM IMPACT AND SATIFACTION AS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF HEAD START PARENTS

Most parents at each Head Start Center agreed 100% with the statement I am prepared to help my child succeed in kindergarten through elementary school. Of the 872 parents who provided a response to this statement, 12 (1.4%) disagreed and were from nine of the 17 Head Start Centers, which included:
 Chase
 Miguel Montes
 Napa
 Noble
 Osborne
 Sepulveda
 Sherwood
 Woodman
 Zine
Sepulveda had the greatest percentage of parents (4.5%) who disagreed with that statement. Table 16 in the Appendix provides more details by Head Start Center.
Parents least agreed with the statement, because of the Head Start program, my child is prepared to enter kindergarten. Of 356 English-speaking parents, 93.3% agreed with this statement. Additionally, of 497 Spanish-speaking parents, 95% agreed with the statement. This finding supports results from the 2014-2015 Head Start and Early Head Start Parent Training Survey Report which showed that preparing children for kindergarten was the most frequently requested topic by 67.3% of parents. However, it should also be noted that although this statement had the least percentage of parents who agreed with it, parents in their open-ended responses frequently attributed their child’s preparation for kindergarten to the Head Start program (see Figures 18 to 34 in the Appendix for parents’ comments on what they liked best about the program).Table 7 below presents the difference in percentage between English and Spanish-Speaking parents for statements related to the impact the Head Start program had on parents’ and children’s lives.
TABLE 7: Percent of English and Spanish-speaking parents who agreed or disagreed with each Head Start statement
Statements Regarding the Head Start Program
Language
Parent Perception
Disagree
Agree
I am prepared to interact with the teachers and principals at my child's new school.
English
2.2%
97.8%
Spanish
3.2%
96.8%
I am prepared to help my child succeed in kindergarten through elementary school.
English
0.3%
99.7%
Spanish
2.2%
97.8%
My child is prepared to enter kindergarten.
English
6.7%
93.3%
Spanish
5.0%
95.0%
My child eats a greater variety of healthy foods now after participating in the Head Start program.
English
3.8%
96.2%
Spanish
3.7%
96.3%
Note: The statements for which the greatest percentages of Spanish and English-speaking parents agreed are highlighted in yellow. The statements with lowest percentages of parents who agreed are highlighted in green.
CCRC’s Head Start Parents Page | 39 December 2014