School Readiness: Evaluation of a Collaborative Project Between Head Start and a School of Nursing

Head Start is a program administered by the Administration for Children and Families, under the U.S. Health and Human Services Agency. The program serves over 900,000 low-income, disadvantaged children annually. The mission of Head Start is to assure that these children are school ready by age 5. Aim: The purpose of this project was to develop a sustainable partnership between Head Start and a School of Nursing and to evaluate changes in rates of school readiness of children in an urban Head Start program as a result of the partnership. The partnership resulted in the placement of nursing students in each of the Head Start centers. The students worked closely with Head Start staff on health and safety issues at the center. Methods: Health indicators such as rates of screening and referral of vision and hearing problems, initiation of an oral health maintenance program, referral and treatment of anemia, and interventions to reduce rates of childhood obesity were selected as the outcome measures of interest. Results: Analysis of pre-intervention and post-intervention rates indicate that nursing students have been instrumental in increasing rates of school readiness in this vulnerable population. Conclusions: Partnerships between schools of nursing and community agencies that serve vulnerable populations are beneficial to the community as well as to assuring that students learn how to work with communities to address health needs and reduce disparities.