NSBA's Issue Brief on Head Start Reauthorization
BACKGROUND
Head Start, the main federal early education program for disadvantaged children, provides educational and other comprehensive support services to close to 1 million low-income preschoolers to help prepare them for and increase their success in school. The program, which is funded through the Department of Health and Human Services, provides grants directly to local agencies–-about 16% of which are local school districts–-to deliver program services.
Research shows that, on average, Head Start helps to narrow the achievement gap between disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers as they enter kindergarten and progress through the elementary grades. Long-term positive outcomes and cost-savings also include more positive behavior, reduced special education placement, lower in-grade retention and dropout rates, and increased lifelong earning potential.
RECENT LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS In the 109th Congress, both the House and Senate education committees drafted bills to reauthorize Head Start to strengthen the educational component of the program while recognizing that other aspects of the child’s life must also be addressed. Both bills sought to improve academic, developmental, and educational outcomes, increase teacher certification, foster better coordination and collaboration in local public schools, and increase accountability for the financial management of Head Start programs. While the House passed, H.R. 2123, the School Readiness Act of 2005, in September 2005, the Senate bill never made it to the Senate floor for a vote. As a result, both bills were reintroduced in the 110th Congress.
In December 2007 after nearly five years of partisan wrangling, Congress passed and the President signed the Head Start Improvements for School Readiness Act. The bill authorizes additional funding for the program, aligns program standards and services with state early learning standards, increases collaboration between Head Start and other publicly funded pre-k programs at the local level, and establishes new goals for increasing the qualifications of Head Start teachers. The new law also abolishes high stakes testing through the National Reporting System and expands eligibility for additional low-income children and families up to 130% of the federal poverty guideline.
NSBA POSITION
Throughout the reauthorization process, NSBA has urged Congress to support developmentally appropriate early education standards for Head Start that are aligned with state academic content standards and reflective of the expectations of local schools. NSBA believes there should be an opportunity for local school districts to coordinate and consult with Head Start programs in their communities, to enhance the social, emotional, and cognitive development of children to ensure that they are ready to learn. In doing so, however, young children should not be pressured by high stake testing, and recognition should be given for expected variations in individual development among young children.
NSBA also supports strengthening the opportunity for coordination between Head Start programs and the schools, to ensure effective and efficient service delivery and to ease the transition between preschool, kindergarten, and the elementary grades. NSBA believes school districts should have a role in the design of Head Start programs to ensure that they are well articulated with kindergarten and early elementary school programs that students will be attending in their communities. Additionally, parents should be offered programs and activities aimed at strengthening their role to support the school readiness of their children.
Finally, NSBA encourages Congress to enhance, under state leadership, the preschool teaching skills, credentials, and professional development opportunities of Head Start workers responsible for providing educational services so that participating children will have a meaningful opportunity to come to school ready to learn. However, the federal government must ensure adequate federal resources are authorized to support educationally enriched Head Start programs without sacrificing the other vital services that children participating in the program need.
NSBA believes that the new law reflects many of these goals. As a result, prior to its consideration in the House, NSBA sent a letter to all members endorsing the legislation.
For additional information, please contact Chrisanne Gayl, director of federal programs at the National School Boards Association at 703-838-6763, or by e-mail, cgayl@nsba.org.
March 2008