Head Start Program Improvement Efforts for Families to Show More Parental Engagement and Involvement with Children's Education.
Description of the local problem (The local problem that prompted the study is clearly defined and is discussed in terms of the local setting and the larger population or education situation):
According to the Head Start standards for family engagement and involvement, all Head Start programs must implement the Parent, Family and Community Engagement (PFCE) framework. This is a research-based approach to program change showing how the schools can work with families to improve and promote parent and family engagement and children's learning and development. If this important aspect of the program were omitted, student readiness for kindergarten and sustained development would be at risk. As a result, the Head Start preschool children would not be fully prepared for kindergarten.
The immediate issues, concerns or gaps in this program that need to be addressed include most especially securing additional parental involvement. There is a growing body of evidence that indicates parental involvement relates positively to academic achievement (Chang & Park, 2009). The concern is that children who do not get educational support from their families end up performing poorly in school and also continue to struggle academically throughout their lives. The research to date confirms that children learn and perform better at school with family, school and community support (Epstein, 2001). One of the major constraints concerning the families of interest in this study is that parents are mostly high school dropouts and require a great deal of support financially as well as educationally. The main contextual problem could therefore relate to the potential for poor study habits to be passed from one generation to the next. The lack of education, the lack of work skills and the strong negative effects of the symptoms of poverty all combine to further exacerbate the situation. In this regard, the Head Start organization's mission is to serve the children and their families and improve the lives of the low-income children by providing a quality and comprehensive child development preschool program. These are important issues because fully 90% of Head Start parents earn less than the federal poverty guideline for their families (Ceglowski, 2009). Moreover, there is a growing body of evidence that indicates low-income socioeconomic conditions during early childhood can have profound long-term consequences, reinforcing and sustaining disparities over the lifespan (Anderson, Foster & Frisvold, 2010).
Parental engagement and involvement are critical success factors for Head Start children. The newly implemented mandate for school readiness goals established by the state requires full parental engagement and family partnerships with the schools. If the effectiveness of parental engagement is not achieved, student readiness for school and a lack of academic progress for Head Start children will remain salient issues. This at-risk population will continue to fall behind their peers when they reach grade school, with even more risks and challenges awaiting them down the road academically and later in life.
By any measure, the children served by Head Start are at-risk for a number of reasons. These children have limited exposure to early literacy and many have already fallen behind their peers because their parents have not realized the importance of reading to their children and that early literacy will help prepare the students for kindergarten (McDermott, Rikoon & Waterman, 2012). This study will help bridge the gap for kindergarten readiness, give parents necessary parenting skills, support family well being, build strong relationships between parents and their children, encourage ongoing learning and development for parents and their children and instill a desire to improve their overall educational background and perhaps a desire to go back to school for self-improvement. The relationship of the problem to the larger educational setting as presented in the professional and scholarly literature shows that when the Head Start program was originally developed 1965, the initiative was designed to be a "comprehensive" program intended to assist young children from lower-income families (Gormley, Phillips, Adelstein & Shaw, 2010). The guidelines program objectives for Head Start were designed to include concept s from the fields of health, social services, and education (Gormley et al., 2010).
The learning and work environment for this needs assessment plan is Head Start Schools of Lake County in Illinois. This institution has a population of about 800 students with over 60 -- 70 teachers, 11 site...
Head Start, Social Control Theory For America's, nursery children in the ages of three years to five years and who belong to the low-income families, a complete services of progress including social services for their poor families is offered by a nationwide plan called Head Start. To meet particular requirements, about 1,400 community-based non-profit associations and school systems work out exclusive and novel programs. In 1965 the Head Start was started
Head Start preschool classrooms prominently emphasize performance standards as a way to assess educational programs for young children. However, this approach is often criticized as not appropriate for the assessment of young children (Hallam et al., 2007). Standards outlined in the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework were developed as an assessment system in response to the need for increased accountability in early childhood care and education. The Child Outcomes Framework
The Family and Public Policy - Harvard Edition World. Executive Summary of Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Head Start Accountability and Educational Performance Measures Final Report (2007) Sadowski, Michael (2006) the School Readiness Gap. Harvard Education Letter July/August 2006. Online available at http://www.edletter.org/past/issues/2006-ja/readinessgap.shtml. Bolson, M.; Garcia, VC; Steinhaus, KA (2006) Implementing the Pre-Kindergarten Act: Progress Report. Online available at http://www.ped.state.nm.us/prek/downloads/03036/PreK%20Progress%20Report_Jan2006final.doc. Quality Pre-Kindergarten: Summary of Research Findings (2006) Online available
Launched in the year 1965, the Head Start program cultivates preparedness for school among kids from poor backgrounds by providing them with social, nutritional, educational, health and other relevant services. Ever since its introduction, the program has catered to over 33 million early childhood-age kids (0-5 years of age) and their family members. Figures for 2015 revealed program funding to cater to almost a million expectant mothers and early childhood-age
Zigler, and Muenchow 4) The part of the program that most stuck with Shriver was the fact that the program proved that it could actually increase the IQs of mentally handicapped children, significantly with the proper implementation of programs, a concept that was not accepted in academics at this time. (Zigler, and Muenchow 11) The program used the same materials as a traditional nursery school, but in a manner designed to stimulate
benefit analysis of whether the state of Alabama should fully fund an expanded preschool program. Various arguments for and against this idea are discussed. Arguments for increased funding of the state's prekindergarten program include: improved educational success and achievement; significant reduction of the need for grade retention; improved economic status; better health; less need for welfare; and reduced crime rates. Arguments against are mainly based on the huge initial
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