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Head Start’s focus

The primary aim of Head Start is to provide underprivileged children the educational foundation that will yield long-term benefits and set them up for success.

Read about Melvena Wilkerson and Bonificia R. Riedel's Head Start success stories.

In order to achieve long-term benefits to the students and financial returns to the government, a quality program must be established. Programs are striving to better their curriculum through

Low student-to-faculty ratios. Many believe that more personalized attention is essential to a Head Start program’s success. To ensure certain standards, the Office of Head Start has started accrediting programs like the National Association for the Education of Young Children to set specific adult-to-child ratios that preschools have to meet.
Impressive credentials of the Head Start teachers
Comprehensive programs that include a focus on health and family engagement, alongside getting academically ready for kindergarten

Many researchers are pushing the conversation further, and focusing on the quality of the interactions between teachers and students. New observation tools are now making it possible to determine whether a teacher is good at providing feedback to children, elaborating on concepts students are grappling with, fostering their vocabulary and ability to express themselves and think critically, and a host of other indicators of good teaching. The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), for example, is being used in Head Start programs across the country to help teachers elevate their teaching – and eventually will be part of the re-competition system to sort good programs from bad.

Information provided by the New America Foundation’s Early Ed Watch

Head Start Preschool Program

Head Start’s focus