Estimating the effects of Head Start on parenting and child maltreatment

► Using a large and diverse sample of low-income families in large U.S. cities. ► Employing several analytic approaches to address the issue of selection bias. ► Comparing Head Start to non-Head Start and specific types of other arrangements. ► Head Start reduces probabilities of low access to learning materials and spanking. ► Effects of Head Start vary depending on what the counterfactual arrangement is.