The School Readiness Act of 2007 offered improvements to ensure that school readiness is a top priority for all the children they serve.  In general terms, the Office of Head Start has defined school readiness to mean:

• Children are ready for school
• Families are ready to support their children’s learning
• Schools are ready for children

As programs work to contribute to children’s learning and development, Head Start leaders articulate the knowledge and skills needed for preschool children in social, emotional, cognitive/language and physical development. Clear identification of these factors demonstrates when a child is “school ready.”  By understanding the goals and skills needed, Head Start staff can plan and implement the most effective curriculum, assessments, and teacher-child interactions.

Head Start has long defined school readiness as children being prepared for success in school and for later learning in life. In addition, for parents and families, school readiness means they are engaged in the long-term, lifelong success of their child.

The Office of Head Start’s approach to school readiness involves three major frameworks. The frameworks promote an understanding of school readiness for parents and families. They also lay the foundation to implement systemic and integrated comprehensive child development services and family engagement efforts that lead to school readiness for young children and families. Visit the links below to learn more about these frameworks:

• Parent, family and community engagement framework
• Framework for program serving infants and toddlers and their families
• The Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework

With Head Start’s “On the road to school readiness” approach, resources are available for local agencies to establish goals and metrics, implement and plan, determine priorities for improvement, and track progress. Look for more details here.

In addition, be sure to check out the school readiness FAQs to fully understand what it means for our children.

Is there a program or method you’ve implemented locally that should be included here?  If so, please share your comments below.

In a recent blog post, Parent Involvement is Key to Children’s Success, we talked about how closely linked a child’s later success in life is tied to parent involvement in their educational process.

Equally important is the role of Head Start staff in promoting and sustaining supportive family partnerships. These partnerships, characterized by mutual respect and trust, acceptance, objectivity, flexibility, personalized attention, and cultural awareness make up the foundation of Head Start’s program success.

Head Start Staff refers to:

• Program Directors – include family partnership agreements as an integral part of their Head Start program’s mission, goals, and services
• Program Managers – work to professionally develop staff
• Educators and Staff – regularly interact with families to enhance their family-partnership skills

Developing family partnerships is an ongoing process, beginning with a child’s enrollment in a Head Start program and continuing until the family has made a successful transition from the program.

Staff development that includes skills needed to fully implement this partnership is a continuous process. Ways in which Head Start Staff contribute to its success:

• Develop a mutually respectful partnership with families to enhance the quality of their lives and their communities
• Give families support to reach their goals
• Offer opportunities for parents to engage in group activities, including policy groups and educational activities based on interest and need
• Encourage children and families to participate in family literacy activities and services
• Promote and support parent involvement and leadership throughout the program
• Raise family awareness of community resources
• Assist families in crisis
• Respect and respond competently to each family’s culture, traditions, lifestyle, language, and community
• Initiative effective program practices and maintain a commitment to professionalism

Head Start’s ongoing effectiveness training is enhanced through the Competency Goals and Indicators for Head Start Staff Working with Families. Head Start staff use these guidelines and indicators to review and update job descriptions and qualification standards. They can also use them to guide the selection, training, and supervision of family workers.

Additional resources to help staff — the heart of family partnerships — be the most effective they can be:

Head Start Staff Training and Credentialing
Professional Development
Parent, Family and Community Engagement
Developing a Head Start Training Plan
Training Guides for Head Start Learning Community

Are there additional resources you find beneficial in training Head Start Staff? If so, please include them in the comments below.

Imagine 27 million lives forever changed by Head Start.

Since 1965, more than 27 million Americans have participated in the Head Start program and benefited through “The Window of Opportunity,” offering success in school and life. With more children in need of services now, than at any time before, National Head Start Association (NHSA) has declared 2012 to be “The Year of Opportunity.”

A video released last October explores opportunities Head Start provides for children in poverty they might never get otherwise. Maria Shriver, narrator of the fanciful video “What is the Window of Opportunity?”  is a fitting choice. Her father, Sargent Shriver, first conceived the program in 1965 to help communities meet the needs of disadvantaged preschool children. As part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, he helped locate funds to implement the program and assembled a committee of experts.

There is no stronger testament to what Head Start can do than hear the story of how a hungry child carried through the doors of a center grew up to be a teacher, an artist, or a Member of Congress.  When listening to the many videos, stories and testimonials displayed on the National Head Start Association’s website, you can’t help but notice that not only have these alumni benefited from the program, but their family reaped the rewards as well.

Gathering alumni from centers across country, NHSA will invite 27 to Nashville, TN on April 18, to celebrate the 2012 Day of Opportunity. This sample of alumni will represent the 27 million success stories of Head Start since 1965.

Every Head Start and Early Head Start center has a critical role to play by identifying 27 Head Start success stories in its community – including alumni, parents, staff, and volunteers – anyone who has witnessed the transformative power of the program. Check out the program standings so far. NHSA will be accepting testimonials all year long and celebrate at other events. However, only those submitted before March 20, 2012, will be considered for the Day of Opportunity.

What can you do?

• Share your story on video or testimonial
• Tell your local Member of Congress how Head Start has shaped your life
• Other ways to get involved

Currently, more than 5 million infants and children in need are unable to access Head Start. The best argument we can make to protect and expand this program comes from you. I urge you to lend your voice and your stories to this project. Together we are more than just numbers; we are the legacy of Head Start.

Members of our group, comprised mostly of Head Start managers and officers, educators, youth advocates and others in the social services industry were asked, “What is a big concern you’re dealing with this week?” This informed group shared their insights and contributed some great comments. However, one specific comment caught my attention because her emphasis was on the important role parents play in early childhood cognitive development.

Introduced by Deborah McNelis, an early brain development specialist and owner of Brain Insights, was a concern with helping expectant parents of newborns understand the impact of the early years of a baby’s life. Even I was surprised to discover that “85% of a baby’s brain development happens before Kindergarten.” Her thoughts paralleled my own in that eligible parents need to get involved with an Early Head Start program (birth – 3 years) as soon as possible.

In an earlier post, Parental Involvement is key to children’s success, I talked about how research has shown the more that parents are involved in their children’s education, the better off their kids will be – emotionally and academically. However, what is not as well-known, is how critical a parent’s involvement is in a child’s early years and can determine if this later success happens. Early Head Start involves helping parents understand the importance of providing healthy foods for their child, introducing academics at the appropriate time, minimizing a child’s time in front of a screen, and best ways to cultivate the baby brain in our over-scheduled lives.

To learn more, I invite you to visit the Early Head Start Learning & Knowledge Center and find out how to get the most for you and your baby.

Some additional resources worth checking out:

• Child Care & Early Learning
• Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center
• Early Head Start Locator

I welcome your thoughts here, and ask that you join our LinkedIn group to help other Head Start parents, teachers and children benefit from your experience.

A little history about the new guidelines: In 2007 President Bush reauthorized the Head Start program by signing into law the Head Start Readiness Act of 2007. This amendment established that Head Start grantees would be awarded grants for a period of five years; but only those delivering high quality services would get their grants renewed for an additional five years.

The final ruling of the Administration for Children and Families  (ACF) established a renewal system to determine if Head Start agencies are meeting the educational, health, nutritional, and social needs of the children they are serving. The agencies must also meet program and financial management requirements and standards. These new guidelines recently went into effect on Dec. 8 and included several benchmarks. Those that don’t perform to the benchmarks will have to compete for their funding. President Obama stated in a recent speech that this is the first time in history that Head Start programs will be held accountable for their performance in the classroom.

Head Start Benchmarks 

All Head Start agencies receiving grants will be reviewed by Health & Human Services, based on their performance in the following areas:

• Family involvement
• Health
• Safety and nutrition
• Financial management
• Previous license suspensions
• Classroom management

I want to focus this discussion on classroom management, since that is my area of expertise. The Head Start Readiness Act of 2007 included a requirement that an evaluation instrument called CLASS: Pre-K be used in monitoring and observing teacher-child interactions in the classroom. This is important because now we have a tool that will measure progress and accountability.

From what I have read in the discussions in my LinkedIn group, as well as the comments about the changes on the Federal Register, it seems like many are reluctant to embrace these new changes.

These changes will require managers to become better and improve their classrooms! When classrooms are managed better, doesn’t it ultimately benefit the children; the reason why we are here? There’s always room for improvement — in our jobs, our classrooms, and in other areas of our lives as well.

I would like to know how you plan to embrace these new guidelines. Are you familiar with the CLASS: Pre-K tool? How will you hold your classroom accountable? Please feel free to post your comments below.

In other words, each program will now have to compete for funding. I think this is a good step in the right direction.

A report released last year found that Head Start, which receives more than $7 billion in federal funding, created no long-lasting academic gains. This is not good news, especially for the preschool children, for whom the program is intended to help.

As I travel to various Head Start agencies around the country, I see many differences from program to program. There are some teachers and managers doing great work in their classrooms. And I see others that could use some improvement. Obama’s new guidelines will now encourage every Head Start manager and teacher to be better. And isn’t that better for the children overall?

Healthy competition

I love these new standards. Competition is healthy; Head Start should not be an entitlement program for the schools. Just as in the private sector, where businesses have to keep improving their operations in order to stay competitive and keep customers, the federal government will reward those programs that are doing their best to improve children’s long-term academic gains.

In my next post, I will discuss each of Obama’s benchmarks and ask you what you think.

What do you think of Obama’s new guidelines for the Head Start program? Do you agree with them? Why or why not? I would love to hear your thoughts.

According to Child Trends Data Bank, children living in areas with a high concentration of child poverty are more likely to participate in a Head Start program than children who live in more affluent areas.

What are the top 3 Head Start issues for families?

One of the recent discussions in my LinkedIn group revolved around the issues that families with children in Head Start face. One of the group members posed the question, “What are the top three issues for families whose children are served by the Head Start program? There were a variety of responses to the question (in no particular order):

• Poverty
• Unemployment
• Spiritual home
• Finances
• Children’s future
• Time
• Fear
• Empowerment (of parents & children)
• Provisions (how to acquire & maintain)
• Education
• Language barriers

Someone brought up the point that the issues might be community-specific — that is, lack of transportation; maybe inadequate housing, or substance abuse.

I suggested that the top three might be poverty, fear, and unemployment. But after thinking about this it occurred to me that  Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs comes into play here. If the basic needs — water, food, sleep, etc. — aren’t met, it really doesn’t matter what the other issues are.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

For example if a child’s basic nutritional needs aren’t being met, fear or language barriers aren’t important issues. If the family is homeless and the security needs aren’t being met, the children’s future, for the moment, is not as important.

So in reality, the biggest issues facing families with children in the Head Start program vary by family, depending on where they fall in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Every family is different, and it’s up to Head Start managers and staff to identify where that family falls in the hierarchy.

I would like to hear your opinion. What do you think? What other critical issues do families with children in the Head Start program face? Is Maslow’s Hierarchy important in identifying family issues? Post your comments below.

We currently have lively discussions going on in my LinkedIn group, and I want to share some of the comments and insights of my fellow  members. In one of the discussions someone posed the question, “Is parent involvement worth the effort?”

Before we get into the discussion, you should know the makeup of the group members. Many of them are Head Start managers and officers; some are teachers, youth advocates, and social services specialists. We have several early childhood education college professors, a health & family community services manager, and a foster care expert. There are also some C-level executives, and authors of children’s books and educational materials, among others. It is a highly educated group of people, and I’m grateful to be associated with these individuals who are sharing their insights in various discussions.

Is parent involvement worth the effort?

The obvious (and unanimous) response was a resounding “yes.” Research has shown that the more that parents are involved in their children’s education, the better off their kids will be, emotionally and academically.

Here are some of the comments from the discussion:

• “Parent involvement is the magic bullet! How to engage them (children) is critical.” Rather then tell them “do this” or “do that,” give them tools, like educational DVDs, videos, and books.
• “Parent involvement is the key that can either block a child from finding school interesting, or can unlock a spark for school that will last throughout college. Parents can drive the train of excitement and interest in learning that builds a successful framework for children to continue to build upon each school year.”
• “We are doing children a disservice if parents are not involved in their education. Parents will gain satisfaction from knowing they helped their children learn, and children will gain the belief that their parents believe in them.”

One of the concerns that several of the group members expressed was how to get working parents more involved with their children. Many single parents, families with both parents working, and those parents with two jobs, are challenged to find the time to get involved with their children’s education.

What do you think? How do you think working parents can get more involved? I would love to hear your comments!

Other resources for parent involvement:

• Research paper, which includes Epstein’s Framework of Six Types of Involvement
• A dozen family fun rituals
• Some ways educators are involving parents
• Parent involvement checklist (for schools)
• Parent Involvement Matters website

Do you know of other related resources? Post the links here.

Did you know that the Head Start program has been around for nearly 50 years? The program was triggered by President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” speech, delivered in 1964 to bring awareness to the plight of families living in poverty. He and Sargent Shriver put together a panel of experts, including psychologists and pediatricians, to create a program to help local communities meet the needs of the children of these families living in poverty. From that, Project Head Start was born.

Head Start launches in summer 1965

Head Start was launched in 1965 as an 8-week summer school program for children of low-income families. Because it was determined that poverty was an obstacle to success in school, children from lower income families would get a “head start” when they entered public school for the first time. Child development experts suggested that early intervention programs could significantly impact the academic success of children who lived in poverty; thereby breaking the cycle of poverty.
Head Start was designed to meet the social, psychological, emotional, health and nutritional needs of the children. Staffed by volunteers, it initially served more than half a million children across the country. It eventually grew to become a 9-month, half-day program.

Changes to the Head Start program

Many changes ensued in the later years. Some highlights:

‘70s

• Education of all Handicapped Children Act required that 10% of enrollment include children with disabilities.
• Bi-lingual & bi-cultural programs initiated.

 ‘80s

• Comprehensive Child Development Program created to provide support services for low-income families with infants.
• Indian and Migrant branches of Head Start become separate regions.

 ‘90s

• Early Head Start program established for families with pregnant women, infants, and toddlers.
• T/TA – Training & Technical Assistance system established, resulting in a partnership between federal staff and providers.

2000s

• Head Start reauthorized to include full-day and year-round services.
• Services for homeless children were added.

Today Head Start serves urban and rural families and children in 50 states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories.

What questions can I answer for you about the Head Start program? Post your questions below!