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. In "Renewing Head Start's Promise: Invest in What Works for Disadvantaged Preschoolers," Sara Mead offers several recommendations to enable…

Head Start has long focused on assessing and improving program quality to ensure that the children served receive the best possible preparation for school and life. Most research has been focused inside the classroom--the classroom environment, teacher qualifications, and teacher interactions. Of course, the classroom is important because that is…

Head Start is the largest federal investment in early childhood education, serving nearly one million of our nation's most vulnerable young children and their families. It is the federal government's responsibility to make sure that these children and families get the highest quality services possible. Section 641(c)(1) of the Head Start Act…

Since 1965, Head Start has provided comprehensive services to help prepare the nation's most disadvantaged three- to five-year-old children for school and to strengthen their families. In 1998 Congress instructed the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to conduct an evaluation of Head Start to determine its impact on child development…

Using concepts from the evaluation literature, this case study describes the instrumental, conceptual, and political influence of the Head Start National Reporting System (NRS) and on-going child assessments in a local Head Start program. This study found that a local program intentionally aimed to limit the influence of the NRS. The NRS validated…

The addition of new residential manpower and support centers has made the Job Corps more flexible, by keeping trainees in their home areas and preparing them to work there. (BH)

The restructuring of the Job Corps and its integration with other manpower programs is described. (BH)

To evaluate the effect of three Houston Neighborhood Youth Corps (NYC) out-of school programs on work attitudes and job futures of poverty youth as well as to provide recommendations for program improvement, statistical data were gathered from NYC sponsors' reports and from the trainees' personal folders. The accuracy of the data is limited…

This paper reviews the sections of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) that provide for using competencies gained by youth as evaluation tools. The paper discusses the types of competencies that youths should gain by such programs and how they should be measured, as an alternative to traditional program-based evaluation. The paper is organized…

This report points out that although Follow Through, an experimental program designed to find more effective approaches to teaching young children from low-income families, achieved differences in outcome between Follow Through and non-Follow Through children, problems in its initial design and implementation will limit reaching statistically…

THE OBJECTIVES OF THE 8-WEEK PROJECT WERE TO CLARIFY AND FURTHER DEFINE GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING NEEDS OF CORPSMEN IN RURAL JOB CORPS CENTERS, UNDERSTAND AND DESCRIBE ONGOING GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING PROCEDURES IN RURAL CENTERS, AND IDENTIFY WAYS IN WHICH GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING COULD BE IMPROVED. INFORMATION WAS OBTAINED THROUGH SITE VISITATIONS TO…

This document is the first annual report of the Advisory Council on the operation and administration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title I. Discussed are the implementation of the act, the projects which are enabled by grants under the act, and problem areas. An evaluation section notes that it was too soon to obtain evidence of…

This document reviews the range of findings contained in 10 recently commissioned reports on how Chapter 1 programs are implemented and how successful they are in increasing the achievement of disadvantaged students. Although the conclusions of the reports are not the same, there are some developing consensuses. Findings are discussed in the…

It was the contention of the Head Start/State Preschool Program of the Greater Los Angeles Community Action Agency (GLACAA) that a self-evaluation would not be workable or effective unless it was a joint process involving delegate agency staff, parents and central administration staff in all phases. The first phase of the self evaluation process…

This guide addresses many of the most common questions about case management asked by employment and training administrators and practitioners. Its table of contents is organized in a question-and-answer format. The content of the guide flows directly from program administrators, practitioners, case managers, and others in the field, gathered at…