Do Federal Compensatory Education Programs Really Work? A Brief Historical Analysis of Title I and Head Start

After more than three decades, popular federal compensatory education programs are now being criticized for failing to have done enough to close the large gap in school achievement between disadvantaged students and their more fortunate counterparts. This article will analyze the expanding federal role in K-12 education after the mid-1960s and focus on two particularly large and popular federal initiatives: Title I and Head Start. Abrief historical overview of these programs will be provided as well as a discussion of some of the major evaluations of them. Finally, some suggestions will be made on how we might try to improve the effectiveness of these programs in the future.