Head Start: The Inside Story of America's Most Successful Education Experiment

Yale psychology professor Zigler (Child Care Choices) was one of the creators of Head Start, perhaps the only War on Poverty program to still claim support from both ends of the political spectrum; Muenchow, executive director of the Florida Children's Forum, has written extensively about Head Start and other early childhood programs. Their informative, enjoyable and moving history provides a look at the politics of policymaking, and it highlights various theories of early childhood education that helped shape Head Start even in the midst of fiscal and political constraints. Zigler describes his occasionally traumatic political education as the first director of the Office of Child Development under President Nixon; Muenchow contributes interviews and findings from Head Start field research. Presidents from Johnson to Bush make appearances, as do Sargent Shriver, Walter Mondale, Daniel P. Moynihan, Marian Wright Edelman and Cap Weinberger. Educators, public policy students, children's rights advocates and parents will appreciate this clear and important book. (Nov.)