Tag Archives: Designation Renewal System

Renewing Head Start’s Promise: Invest in What Works for Disadvantaged Preschoolers

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7/22/2014

As our nation’s largest preschool program—and the only one exclusively focused on the poorest children—Head Start plays a critical role in our nation’s early earning and development system, and it will continue to do so. As policymakers seek to extend the benefits of quality preschool to more children, improving Head Start must be part of these efforts.

The best available research suggests that Head Start programs improve children’s kindergarten readiness at school entry; that participating in Head Start has significant long-term benefits compared with no preschool at all; and that some Head Start programs are producing even greater results. At the same time, the results suggest that Head Start programs are, on average, not matching the results of the highest-performing pre-k programs. If all Head Start programs matched the results produced by the best pre-k programs, we could dramatically improve outcomes for our nation’s poorest youngsters.

Since Head Start’s last reauthorization, in 2007, the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start, has implemented significant reforms that are improving the program:

  • Head Start now uses the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, a research-based observation system, to measure the quality of teaching in Head Start classrooms and drive improvements in instruction.
  • Through the new “designation renewal” system, the Office of Head Start has required low-performing grantees to compete for their grants, terminated the grants of weak grantees, and replaced them with higher-quality providers.

These changes represent real progress, but additional change is still needed. Head Start continues to lack clear, comprehensive goals for program performance; to overemphasize compliance; to require programs to do too many different things; and to pay too little attention to curriculum. Head Start’s unique federal-to-local structure creates challenges in coordinating with state-run pre-k programs, efforts to improve child care quality, and the K-12 public school system. In addition, the designation renewal system can be improved to maximize its potential to drive quality improvement and attract high-quality new providers to Head Start.

In “Renewing Head Start’s Promise: Invest in What Works for Disadvantaged Preschoolers,” Sara Mead offers several recommendations to enable Head Start to better serve children and families:

Maximize the effectiveness of designation renewal:

  • Increase transparency in Head Start monitoring and designation renewal processes.
  • Prioritize performance and innovation in the designation renewal process.
  • Encourage new providers.
  • Improve planning for transition of Head Start grants.

Set clear goals and measure program performance:

  • Establish clear metrics of program performance at the grantee level.
  • Expand analysis of Head Start performance data.
  • Make monitoring reports transparent and easy to access.

Increase flexibility to innovate:

  • Revise the Head Start Performance Standards to focus less on compliance and more on improving outcomes for children and families.
  • Allow grantees to apply for waivers.
  • Rethink Head Start’s matching requirement.

Carefully explore options to expand the state role in Head Start while protecting federal investments and comprehensive services for Head Start children.

By strengthening Head Start we can improve both the school readiness and long-term life  outcomes for our nation’s most disadvantaged youngsters.

Source: Bellwether Education Partners

Available at: http://bellwethereducation.org/publication/RenewingHeadStartsPromise

Evaluation of the Head Start Designation Renewal System

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8/15/2013

In the fall of 2011, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) significantly expanded its accountability provisions with the implementation of the Head Start Designation Renewal System (DRS). The DRS is designed to identify which Head Start and Early Head Start grantees are providing high quality, comprehensive services to the children and families in their communities. Where they are not, grantees are denied automatic renewal of their grant and must apply for continuing funding through an open competition process. Determinations are based on seven conditions designed to measure service quality, program operational quality, and fiscal and internal integrity.

The ACF is proposing to conduct an evaluation of the DRS. The purpose of the evaluation is to understand if the DRS is working as intended, as a valid, reliable, and transparent method for identifying high-quality programs that can receive continuing five-year grants without competition and as a system that encourages overall program quality improvement. It also seeks to understand how the system is working, the circumstances in which it works more or less well, and the contextual, demographic, and program factors and program actions associated with how well the system is working. The study will employ a mixed-methods design that integrates and layers administrative and secondary data sources, observational measures, and interviews to develop a rich knowledge base about what the DRS accomplishes and how it does so.

Source: Federal Register Volume 78, Number 158

Available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-08-15/html/2013-19805.htm

IM 13-02 Five Year Head Start Project Periods – Head Start

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7/1/2013

The Office of Head Start (OHS) is moving from indefinite project periods to five year project periods for all Head Start grantees. This requires changes in OHS funding practices and oversight of Head Start programs. Changes in oversight will include improved communication between federal staff and grantees, as well as ongoing analysis of data to determine the type of support needed by grantees. The main purpose of improved oversight is to demonstrate the quality of program services, the effectiveness of management systems, and the achievement of outcomes for children, families, and communities.

Source: Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center

Available at: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/IMs/2013/resour_im_002_070113.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New%20Content%20E-blast%20for%20July&utm_content=New%20Content%20E-blast%20for%20July+CID_30ee5ad9937c9730611342af4be147d8&utm_source=CM%20Eblast&utm_term=IM%2013-02%20Five-Year%20Head%20Start%20Project%20Periods

Head Start and Early Head Start standards raised to increase quality and accountability

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7/2/2013

More than 150 agencies will receive grants to provide Head Start or Early Head Start services in their communities for the next five years according to an announcement made today by Office of Head Start (OHS) Director Yvette Sanchez Fuentes. The awardees were selected through a competition that compared existing Head Start grantees to other potential providers to determine which organizations could provide the best early education services to their communities.

“This competition raises the quality of Head Start programs across America,” said Director Sanchez Fuentes.  “We are holding every provider accountable to deliver high-quality comprehensive services to children and families, so we can continue to deliver on the promise Head Start makes to communities.”

As part of the Head Start reforms President Obama announced in 2011, 125 Head Start grantees that failed to meet a new set of rigorous benchmarks were required to compete for continued federal funding with other potential early childhood services providers in their communities.  Grantees that chose to compete for funding were required to demonstrate that they had corrected all deficiencies in a sustainable manner in order to be considered for funding for the next five years.  As part of this sweeping reform to the Head Start program, all grantees will be evaluated under transparent, research-based standards to ensure that programs are providing the highest quality services to children and families.

Source: Office of Head Start

Available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/press/head-start-and-early-head-start-standards-raised-to-increase-quality-and

Office of Head Start Policy

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7/1/2013

The Office of Head Start (OHS) is moving from indefinite project periods to five-year project periods for all Head Start grantees. This requires changes in OHS funding practices and oversight of Head Start programs. Changes in oversight will include improved communication between federal staff and grantees, as well as ongoing analysis of data to determine the type of support needed by grantees. The main purpose of improved oversight is to demonstrate the quality of program services, the effectiveness of management systems, and the achievement of outcomes for children, families, and communities.

Source: Office of Head Start

Available at: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/IMs/2013/resour_im_002_070113.html

Evaluation of the Head Start Designation Renewal System

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6/11/2013

In the fall of 2011, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) significantly expanded its accountability provisions with the implementation of the Head Start Designation Renewal System (DRS). The DRS is designed to identify which Head Start and Early HeadStart grantees are providing high quality, comprehensive services to the children and families in their communities. Where they are not, grantees are denied automatic renewal of their grant and must apply for continuing funding through an open competition process. Determinations are based on seven conditions designed to measure service quality, program operational quality, and fiscal and internal integrity.

The ACF is proposing to conduct an evaluation of the DRS. The purpose of the evaluation is to understand if the DRS is working as intended, as a valid, reliable, and transparent method for identifying high-quality programs that can receive continuing five-year grants without competition and as a system that encourages overall program quality improvement. It also seeks to understand how the system is working, the circumstances in which it works more or less well, and the contextual, demographic, and program factors and program actions associated with how well the system is working. The study will employ a mixed-methods design that integrates and layers administrative and secondary data sources, observational measures, and interviews to develop a rich knowledge base about what the DRS accomplishes and how it does so.

Source: Federal Register, Volume 78 Issue 112

Available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-06-11/html/2013-13716.htm