Project Follow Through - Selection of Follow Through Communities

Selection of Follow Through Communities

Selection of Follow Through implementation sites proceeded in concert with the selection of models. With the assistance of various state and federal education agencies, 100 communities were invited to apply to the program, based on criteria established by the OEO. According to Egbert (1981), 90 districts applied, of which 30 were chosen for participation in Follow Through. However, due to pressure from influential politicians, additional sites were later added. Not coincidentally, the inclusion of several additional districts appears to have been an attempt to satisfy a number of local political figures by including their communities in the program (Egbert, 1981, p. 9).

While Elmore (1977) laments that sites could have been chosen with a greater degree of scientific rigor (e.g. stratified random sampling), it was obvious that this would have been impossible, for at least two reasons. First, Follow Through administrators had the obligation to select a minimum number of sites with Head Start programs, because the ostensible purpose of Follow Through was to complement Head Start. Second - aside from political pressures - communities had to be willing participants in the process (ostensibly) to preserving the fidelity of the implementations. On this point, Elmore (1977, p. 215) tends to agree.