Final answer:
The Head Start program is designed to improve cognitive development and academic skills for economically disadvantaged children. Beyond the federal program, community-driven initiatives, such as language-rich home environments and diverse classroom settings, can further decrease the educational achievement gap.
Step-by-step explanation:
Head Start Program: Enhancing Preschool Education
The preschool program designed to enhance cognitive development and academic skills among economically disadvantaged children is known as the Head Start program. Initiated in response to the Coleman Report's findings, this federal program provides an opportunity for low-income students to bridge the preschool education gap. The Head Start program focuses on academic-centered preschool education, which plays a crucial role in improving long-term educational outcomes and reducing the use of social assistance programs.
Other methods to decrease the achievement gap can include interventions such as home visits by nurses for prenatal and infancy development support, integrating students from diverse economic backgrounds into the same classrooms and community programs focused on the human capital development of at-risk children. Activities that could be implemented to support children's development may involve enhancing language exposure at home, providing school meal programs, and offering high-quality early childhood education that extends beyond academics to nurture overall development.
An example to follow is the research conducted at the University of Chicago, wherein experts worked with low-income families to stimulate more language interaction between parents and children. This approach exhibited significant improvements in the children's language development.