Project Follow Through - Debates About Purpose

Debates About Purpose

Due largely to the sociocultural context in which Follow Through was born, planners deliberately structured the program to minimize the involvement of federal officials in the implementation effort (Watkins, 1997, p. 16; Elmore, 1977, p. 191). The more Follow Through could be perceived as a locally controlled effort, the better. OEO hoped “idealistically” that Follow Through could satisfy both empirical and social action purposes (Egbert, 1981, p. 4; Hill, 1981, pp. 8, 10).

It seems doubtful that any form of experiment could realistically and faithfully serve both aims. According to Hill (1981), true program evaluators should be “technical rather than political or programmatic, and their attitudes skeptical and dispassionate” (pp. 8–9). The planning group of OEO wanted a true empirical investigation that would determine the most effective models. Conversely, CAP and Head Start personnel advising the Follow Through planners viewed it as a social program. Thus, “neither set of constituent groups was fully satisfied with this solution” (Egbert, 1981, pp. 4–5).