ABSTRACT
Head Start has been billed as ‘a proven success that gives disadvantaged children a chance to get ahead’ (Clinton and Gore, 1992). Yet despite remarkable bi-partisan support, the program is not without detractors who claim that its benefits have been vastly overstated (cf. Borden and O’Beirne, 1989). Given incontrovertible evidence of short-run gains to IQ, the argument centers on whether Head Start has any lasting effects.
