'Fade-Out' in Head Start Gains Linked to Later Schooling

By Debra Viadero

New Orleans

By the time they reach the 8th grade, children who have taken part in the federal Head Start program for disadvantaged preschoolers are more likely than their other peers to attend "lower quality'' schools, suggests a new national study.

The authors said their findings are significant because they point to one possible reason why the academic and social benefits students gain from the widely respected preschool program tend to "fade out'': the inadequacy...