How Head Start Agencies Review and Revise Education Plans

Each year, nationwide Head Start programs provide comprehensive early learning services to more than 1 million children from birth to age 5 through more than than 60,000 classes, abode visitors and family unit child care partners. In Nebraska, 21 grantees across the land provide services to more than five,783 young children ages birth to age five and meaning women. View grantee service areas in Nebraska

Since its inception in 1965, Head Start has been a leader in helping children from low-income families enter kindergarten ameliorate prepared to succeed in schoolhouse and in life.

Head Start and Early on Head Start are a fundamental part of the nation's effort to ensure young children take access to loftier-quality early on learning  opportunities and to eliminate the education achievement gap. Research shows that participation in loftier-quality early childhood programs accept both brusque- and long-term effects on children'southward social-emotional evolution every bit well as on math, literacy and linguistic communication school readiness skills. In add-on, participation in Caput Commencement and Early Head Start has been shown to reduce grade retention, the need for special pedagogy services for children, teen pregnancy and engagement in criminal activity after in life.

Last revisions to the Caput Offset Plan Standards, published in September 2016, had been most a decade in the making, fulfilling Congress's call for a review and revision of the Program Functioning Standards in the bipartisan Improving Caput Commencement for School Readiness Human activity of 2007.

The new standards were developed by incorporating the growing trunk of research on effective early care and education, consultation from subject field thing experts and representatives from grantees and Indian tribes, and thoughtful consideration of the 1,000 public comments. The effect is a new set of standards that reinforces Head Start's position as a leader in the field of comprehensive early on education, reflects best practices for didactics and local flexibility and reduces the number of federal requirements by approximately i-3rd. The standards utilise to all Caput Start and Early on Head Showtime grantees, Tribal and Migrant programs and the newly funded Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership grants.

Key Changes from Current Programme Performance Standards
These new Head Start Plan Performance Standards have been reorganized to make information technology easier for grantees to implement them and for the public to understand the broad range of Caput Start plan services. The new standards besides do the post-obit:

• Reduce regulatory burden and duplication by approximately 30%
• Increase regulatory transparency
• Shift focus from processes and plans to accomplishment of positive kid and family outcomes
• Requite individual programs more flexibility to pattern services effectually local community needs

Boosted important changes to the standards include:

• Strengthening education services and curriculum requirements to ensure effective education in Head Start, based on the all-time research well-nigh how children acquire and develop
• Clearly prohibiting expulsion of children and setting strict limitations on the utilize of temporary suspensions
• Implementation of coaching to build teacher skills and core competencies for home visitors

The majority of the standards went into consequence November 7, 2016, yet several key provisions have graduated implementation deadlines due to increased fiscal implications for programs—specifically the new standards focusing on increased program elapsing (increased classroom time), the add-on of fingerprinting to required criminal background checks for staff and increased competency and certification requirements for staff working direct with families.

Expanding Time for Learning and Healthy Development
The increased duration may represent the almost pregnant change to the standards. The increased duration is in direct response to recent inquiry that shows increased program elapsing in a high-quality programme is linked to better child outcomes. Currently, center-based Head Outset pre-school programs are required to provide services for at least iii.5 hours per day for a minimum of 128 days per year. Below is a fractional timeline for the changes relating to duration in the new standards:

• August 1, 2017, Early Caput Offset home-based programs must provide a minimum of 1 (1) habitation visit per week for at least 1.5 hours at a minimum of 46 visits per twelvemonth, and provide, at a minimum, 22 grouping socialization opportunities for enrolled families over the program twelvemonth
• August 1, 2018, Early Head Get-go centre-based programs must provide a minimum of i,380 annual hours of planned form operations for all enrolled children.
• August ane, 2019, Head Outset center-based programs must provide a minimum of one,020 annual hours of planned class operations for at least 50% of their funded enrollment.
• August 1, 2021, Head Start center-based programs must provide a minimum of 1,020 annual hours of planned class operations for 100% of their funded enrollment.

View the complete Performance Standard Timeline Compliance Tabular array

Estimates for the cost of full implementation of the new Head Kickoff Program Performance Standards by August 2021 are approximately $i billion. In 2016, programs were offered partial funding to increase program duration equally outlined to a higher place. If no boosted funding is appropriated by Congress to run into the graduated implementation dates for program duration requirements, the HHS Secretary has the authority to adapt or alter the requirements. More data about the new Head First Plan Operation Standards

Stephanie Knust
Midland University
Dodge County Caput Commencement Director
Fremont, Nebraska

Joan Luebbers
Head Start State Collaboration Function Director
Nebraska Section of Education
Lincoln, Nebraska

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Source: https://www.firstfivenebraska.org/blog/changes-in-head-start-program-standards/

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