![]() ![]() The new standards also call for better coordination between Head Start and other systems and initiatives, including special education, state pre-K programs, and elementary schools. Head Start has long enjoyed bi-partisan support, but the constraints of the Budget Control Act and its threat of sequester keeps budget expansion at a minimum. Congress appropriated $294 million in FY 2016 to and President Obama asked for an additional $292 million in 2017.īoth the House and Senate appropriations bills increased funding for Head Start, but not at the level required for moving to full-day programs. Of course, the expansion will cost money and Head Start is only able to meet the 5-year goal if funding is available. This lets programs design their schedules to meet children and community needs as well as align with local school calendars. The final standards now simply define full school day and full school year services as 1,020 annual hours. The draft standards had proposed requiring programs to serve three- to five-year-olds for at least 6 hours per day and 180 days per year. Under the new Head Start performance standards, centers are required to serve children for 1,020 hours per year. Today, Head Start centers are required to provide services for 3.5 hours per day and 128 days per year. A third of the one million-plus children enrolled in Head Start attend centers that offer only half day programs. ![]() The biggest change is the expansion of the amount of time children spend in Head Start. Those practices are in the areas of teaching and the learning environment, curriculum, assessment and parent engagement. Overall the new Head Start performance standards ask centers to focus more closely on the core practices. They also increase expectations around professional development for teachers, and ramp up the program’s efforts on behalf of children with disabilities, homeless students, and English language learners. The new Head Start performance standards further strengthen curriculum requirements for children. ![]() The program has placed more and more emphasis on expanding learning opportunities, with a resulting demand for better-prepared teachers. Department officials say that the new standards represent the biggest changes made since they established the standards in 1975.Įven without new regulations, Head Start has changed a lot since its 1965 inception. The Department of Health and Human Services has released the new Head Start Performance Standards. ![]()
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