Bettye McDonald Caldwell (December 24, 1924 – April 17, 2016) was an American educator and academic who influenced the development of Head Start.
She was the 1993 recipient of the Society for Research in Child Development's Award for Distinguished Contributions to Public Policy for Children.
After graduating first in her high school class, Caldwell attended Baylor University, where she was a psychology and speech major.
[4] Caldwell felt that an emphasis on early childhood education could help to "level the playing field" for poor children before they started kindergarten.
[5] In 1964, Caldwell and Richmond's work led to the establishment of the Head Start project under Lyndon B. Johnson.