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This report explores the dramatic increase in Head Start teacher turnover during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from the Head Start Program Information Report (PIR) from 2010 to 2022, the study investigates trends in teacher turnover across all Head Start program types and examines the reasons behind teacher departures. The report finds that teacher turnover surged significantly in both 2020-21 and 2021-22, with the 2021-22 year experiencing a particularly sharp increase exceeding 28% of teachers. Turnover rates varied by program type, with Early Head Start programs exhibiting higher turnover than traditional Head Start programs, and American Indian Alaska Native (AIAN) Early Head Start programs seeing the highest rate at 37.1%. The study reveals that compensation remains the most common reason cited for teachers' departures, both before and during the pandemic. However, COVID-19 related factors also emerged as prominent reasons for departure. This research underscores the urgent need to address the challenges of teacher turnover in the Head Start sector, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. The report advocates for policy initiatives aimed at improving teacher retention through enhanced compensation.

The Octavius V. Catto Scholarship launched in spring 2021 at Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) to help Philadelphians achieve college success. Inspired by 19th-century civil rights leader Octavius Catto's belief in education for all, the scholarship goes beyond tuition assistance, providing wraparound supports including academic coaching, monthly direct payments, bookstore credits, and referrals to community resources. This initiative, created by former Mayor Jim Kenney, aims to combat poverty by making college more accessible and affordable. RFA conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of the Catto Scholarship aimed at identifying early successes and recommending areas for improvement. The report highlights the role of Success Coaches and other staff in building meaningful connections with Scholars and supporting them in overcoming barriers to retention and completion. The evaluation also presents findings suggesting that persistence and completion are higher among Catto Scholars than non-Catto CCP peers. The report emphasizes the importance of dedicated resources and staff in sustaining the scholarship's success. Recommendations from the evaluation include enhancing support for staff to prevent burnout, creating more community-building opportunities for scholars, and building additional community partnerships to support housing, mental health, transportation, and childcare needs.

Apprenticeships are structured training programs that combine paid on-the-job learning with classroom instruction and provide a pathway to industry-recognized qualifications in in-demand occupations. The apprenticeship route can offer an alternative to traditional college (and college debt), yet traditionally, women have been much less likely to be apprentices than men. Since 2015, the US government has invested over $1 billion to expand apprenticeships. This report assesses whether apprenticeship expansion has improved gender diversity in apprenticeships and whether apprenticeships deliver the same earnings to women and men who completed an apprenticeship. It analyzes data by gender, race, and ethnicity from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics' Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Database System (RAPIDS) database.

In 2021-2022, Head Start served nearly 790,000 young children, primarily from low-income families. However, the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) estimates that far more children are eligible than can be served due to limited resources, heightening the importance of targeting services effectively. House Report 117-96 includes a provision for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the nationwide distribution of Head Start resources and what could help better align funding with need. This report examines the extent to which: (1) Head Start resources align geographically with child poverty; (2) statutory provisions support aligning resources with need; and (3) Office of Head Start (OHS), uses its grantmaking authority to align resources with need. GAO analyzed Head Start enrollment data from 2022 and Head Start funding and Census child poverty data from 2006 and 2021 (most recent available comparable data), interviewed OHS officials and stakeholder organizations, such as the National Head Start Association; and reviewed relevant federal laws and agency documents.

The Shaping Futures Together agenda highlights policies and investments that families and practitioners say will ensure all children thrive. This playbook provides recommended policy and research strategies that Start Early believes will help to realize those priorities. Each section includes legislative and administrative policy recommendations and research questions specific to each of the following priorities: (1) healthy births & thriving families; (2) positive early learning & development; (3) effective, valued & well-compensated workforce; and (4) strong, sustainable & equitable early childhood ecosystem.

Annually, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) prepares the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) and Head Start Saturation Study to analyze access to Washington's ECEAP and Head Start programs serving 3- and 4-yearolds. This study estimates the number of eligible children living within each school district boundary and calculates the percentage currently served. It assigns points for each district based on numbers and percentages of unserved children and child maltreatment rates. These data are used to sort districts into groups by priority for ECEAP slot expansion. This Saturation Study is part of the information DCYF uses to determine appropriate locations for ECEAP slots. Current or potential ECEAP contractors may also use this study to inform decisions to apply for ECEAP slots or move existing ECEAP slots to communities with high needs

Head Start programs engage parents to support children's growth from birth through age 5 through services that promote early learning and development, health, and family well-being. These programs specifically seek to assist families with low incomes and families facing a variety of other adversities. The Head Start REACH: Strengthening Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement Approaches with Families project is focused on understanding the eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, and attendance/ retention (ERSEA) approaches that Head Start programs use to engage Head Start--eligible families experiencing adversities. In this brief, the authors detail how programs develop and implement their criteria and processes for selecting families for enrollment. Selection refers to the procedures a program follows to assess their community's needs, update their selection criteria, and use those criteria to assign points to submitted applications. The authors highlight how programs use their selection processes to identify and select families with the greatest need. They also summarize approaches that programs perceive as successful and those that reflect opportunities for growth. The Methods section at the end of this brief details the sampling, data collection, and analysis methods.

Head Start uses a whole-family approach to support the well-being of children and families with low incomes. As a two-generation model, Head Start provides comprehensive services for families and children from birth through age 5, and family support services for parents. Intentional alignment and coordination across these services is expected to lead to positive outcomes for families and their children. This brief introduces a theory of change focused on one distinct and understudied aspect of the coordinated services provided by Head Start's model: family support services. Through family support services, Head Start programs aim to help families identify and reach "their goals and dreams" by directly providing them with or referring them to services that support those goals and build on individual strengths. These support services address needs regarding education and employment, financial capability, housing and food assistance, emergency and crisis intervention, substance use treatment, physical health, and mental health, among others. Determining families' strengths and needs, identifying relevant support services, communicating with service providers, and helping families access services--that is, the "coordination of family support services"--in combination with the child-focused services, is expected to promote families' safety, health, and economic security.

Coordinated School Health (CSH) is a framework for addressing health in schools, connects health with learning, and improves students' health and capacity to learn through the support of schools, families, and communities working together. This model encourages healthy lifestyles, provides needed support to students, and helps to reduce the prevalence of health problems that impair academic achievement. The involvement of parents, families, and the community is the glue that binds CSH. Full involvement of these entities as partners in the educational process provides valuable input, increases the commitment of all partners, and ensures positive educational and health outcomes. CSH is not a program but a systematic approach to promoting health that emphasizes needs assessment, planning based on data, and analysis of gaps and redundancies in school health programming. CSH consists of eight components that work together to improve the lives of students and their families. Although these components are listed separately, their composite allows CSH to have a significant impact. The eight components are health education, health services, counseling, psychological, and social services, nutrition, physical education and physical activity, school staff wellness, healthy school environment, and student, community, and family involvement. This report provides information on CSH programmatic outcomes and selected student health indicators data in Tennessee for the 2022-23 school year.

"Pre-K Mathematics" is a supplemental mathematics program focusing on a range of mathematical concepts to help develop children's informal mathematical knowledge. The "Pre-K Mathematics" program includes teacher-led, small-group mathematics activities that are engaging and hands-on, as well as caregiver-child activities that are linked to the classroom activities to support children's math learning at home. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) reviews existing research on educational interventions to identify evidence-based programs and practices. This WWC intervention report summarizes the available evidence on the effects of "Pre-K Mathematics" on student outcomes.

The Understanding Children's Transitions from Head Start to Kindergarten (HS2K) Project was a multi-year project funded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. The purpose of this project was to better understand how to improve children's transitions from Head Start programs to elementary schools. The transition to kindergarten occurs within and between two distinct systems (early care and education [ECE] and K-12 education) that each work under their own governance structures, philosophies, and accountability metrics. Specifically, this project aimed to explore the definition of "successful transitions" from a multi-level and systemic perspective. Within the context of this project, the focus is on one type of ECE program--Head Start. Head Start is embedded within a broader "ECE system" that includes many other types of programs, including state-funded pre-k, child care, home-based care, friend and family care, and privately-funded centers. This report details findings from one component of the HS2K Project -- a comparative multi-case study of five Head Start and Local Education Agency (LEA) partnerships, including their families, Head Start teachers and leaders, kindergarten teachers, elementary school leaders, LEA leaders, and community partners. The case-specific descriptions should be read as in-depth illustrations of the inner workings of kindergarten transition processes as they existed and were implemented in context at the time of data collection.

Center-based early care and education (ECE) is important for promoting positive early development and supporting families by providing child care so parents can work. However, the center-based supply varies substantially in terms of funding sources, indicators of quality, and services offered; and many families experience a lack of equitable access to providers that meet their needs. Using a nationally representative sample of the center-based supply from the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education, this study examined patterns in the services center-based providers offer that may facilitate or pose barriers to families' access from a multidimensional lens. Two research questions were investigated using latent class analysis: First, are there patterns of provider accessibility within the center-based supply, and second, are there covariates (i.e., funding, community poverty/ urban density, geographic region) that explain patterns of ECE access? Center-based features selected as indicators were informed by a definition of access comprised of multiple dimensions: availability, affordability, supports children's development, and meets parent's needs. Class enumeration suggested that a three-class model provided the best fit, indicating three patterns of program accessibility: providers that were: "flexible at cost" (25.9%), "free but inflexible" (29.2%), and "somewhat accessible" (44.9%). Additional covariate analyses revealed providers were significantly more or less likely to be classified into the latent classes of access according to community and funding characteristics. Notably, programs receiving Head Start and public preschool funding and those in communities with high poverty and urban density were more likely to be assigned to the "free but inflexible" class. A key component driving ECE utilization is the accessibility of providers, and these findings inform recommendations for future research and policy to better serve the needs of families with young children. [This paper will be published in "Children and Youth Services Review."]

To provide a landscape of mathematics activities children experience in U.S. preschool and kindergarten classrooms, we observed time children spent in mathematics activities (and -- as a contrast -- literacy) in 101 geographically diverse early childhood classrooms in seven U.S. states. We also observed what mathematics content, grouping strategies, and management formats teachers engaged during classroom mathematics activities. Each observation lasted approximately 2 hours; collectively these observations focused on 930 children observed one to three times during the 2018/2019 or 2019/2020 school year. Averaging across individuals' data within classrooms, we found that mathematics and literacy activities comprised 5% and 45% of time observed in preschool classrooms, respectively; and 26% and 42% of time observed in kindergarten classrooms, respectively. At both grades, when mathematics activities occurred, they were proportionally more often teacher-led rather than child-led. These findings raise concerns about the paucity of mathematics and over-reliance on developmentally inappropriate teacher-managed mathematics instruction in early childhood classrooms, especially preschools. Amount of time in math did not vary by preschool auspice, but time in literacy and the proportion of math time devoted to specific math content did: In Head Start classrooms we observed lowest percentage of time in literacy (and the highest percentage of time in non-instruction) compared to all other auspices. Across auspices, numeracy was the predominant math content area overall, but especially in Head Start classrooms. Thus, some aspects of early mathematics may differ with program auspice, suggesting that recommendations to increase and improve early mathematics activities may need to consider auspice characteristics. [This paper was published in "Early Childhood Research Quarterly" v69 p25-37 2024.]

Children who know fewer words in preschool typically continue to have lower levels of vocabulary knowledge in higher grades than their peers who know more words. In fact, this difference continues to be pronounced and even widens as these children reach higher grade levels. Interventions that support vocabulary development and reading comprehension in early childhood have the potential to improve student language development, narrowing this gap. "World of Words" is a supplementary curriculum used to help young children in prekindergarten develop vocabulary knowledge, concept knowledge, and content knowledge in science. The curriculum includes intentional conversations and shared book readings of texts focused on science topics. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) reviews existing research on educational interventions to identify evidence-based programs and practices. This WWC intervention report summarizes the available evidence on the effects of "World of Words" on student outcomes. [For the Intervention Brief, see ED630041.]

Children who know fewer words in preschool typically continue to have lower levels of vocabulary knowledge in higher grades than their peers who know more words. In fact, this difference continues to be pronounced and even widens as these children reach higher grade levels. Interventions that support vocabulary development and reading comprehension in early childhood have the potential to improve student language development, narrowing this gap. "World of Words" is a supplementary curriculum used to help young children in prekindergarten develop vocabulary knowledge, concept knowledge, and content knowledge in science. The curriculum includes intentional conversations and shared book readings of texts focused on science topics. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) reviews existing research on educational interventions to identify evidence-based programs and practices. This WWC intervention report summarizes the available evidence on the effects of "World of Words" on student outcomes. [For the Intervention Report, see ED630040.]

Earning a college degree has long been critical to unlocking many high-paying jobs -- and, as a result, to economic mobility and security. Increasingly, however, the traditional "norm" of a college student--one who enrolls straight out of high school, receives some support from their parents, lives on campus, and does not have substantial work or family responsibilities outside of school--does not fit the reality of much of the student population. Today, students who are themselves parents make up a significant percentage of those enrolled in college. While promoting student-parent success has mainly been left to institutions of higher education, several states have considered or adopted a range of policy initiatives to support student parents in postsecondary education. This paper provides state policy stakeholders, including governors, state agencies, and advocates, with a snapshot of the multitude of issues faced by student parents and with options to utilize state policy to address these issues.

The term "newcomers" is commonly used to describe students who have recently arrived in U.S. schools. Depending on usage, newcomers may mean students in their first 6 months in U.S. schools, in their first 4 years, or anywhere in between. A majority arrive speaking little to no English, most are from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, and a large but unknown proportion have experienced trauma. Unfortunately, reliable national data are not available on language proficiency or socioeconomic status. This report gives an overview of newcomer education in California and makes recommendations to support improved student outcomes. The report is informed by a special data request to the California Department of Education (CDE), interviews with staff from 12 California school districts, and a literature review. Sam Finn's perspective is further contextualized by Finn's experience as an elementary school teacher in three cities, a consultant for the California Newcomer Education and Well-Being (CalNEW) program, and a researcher and advocate for Oakland Unified School District. [For "Newcomer Education in California. Report Summary with Recommendations," see ED628245.]

There is clear evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic had significant negative effects on the learning and development of school-age children in the United States, with disproportionate impacts on children from racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically marginalized groups. There is less consistent evidence on the extent to which the pandemic affected younger, preschool-age children. Acelero Learning wanted a better understanding of whether children in their programs were exhibiting "resilience" during the pandemic recovery. That is, were their scores on assessments across a variety of domains similar to or perhaps better than those of similar populations of children attending Head Start and Acelero Learning programs in the years before the crisis? This report summarizes the initial results from a study led by MDRC that is examining post-pandemic language, literacy, math, and executive functioning skills for children enrolled in Acelero Learning programs. The study aims to answer two questions: (1) To what extent did 3- and 4-year-old children enrolled in Acelero Learning programs exhibit resilience two years after the start of the pandemic?; and (2) Did children's growth in academic and cognitive skills during this time vary by demographic group, including race and ethnicity, age, gender, and language background? [Funding for this report was provided by Acelero Learning.]

Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) conducted original research on an often-overlooked group of students--parents with children--as they struggle to make ends meet while pursuing academic degrees and certificates. Student parents often face enormous financial barriers to academic success. They report high financial insecurity including issues with food, housing and other basic needs. For students with children, borrowing for postsecondary education may mean accumulating debt without improved labor market outcomes or the financial ability to pay off loans. This is because the financial barriers and logistical challenges, such as inadequate access to reliable child care, student parents face may result in leaving college early without a credential, which has implications for future earnings.

Subtitle VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Act, reauthorized in 2015 by Title IX, Part A of the "Every Student Succeeds Act" guarantees a child or youth identified as homeless the right to attend either the school of origin or the local attendance area school in the area in which they are currently residing. This brief explains the provisions in the law related to school selection, offers strategies for linking students experiencing homelessness to services in their school of origin, provides practical suggestions for determining the school that is in the best interest of a student experiencing homelessness to attend, and provides practical suggestions for discussing school selection choices with youth experiencing homelessness, their parents, and their guardians, within the framework of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

To measure the outcomes of youth transitioning out of foster care, states are required to administer the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) survey to cohorts of youth at ages 17, 19, and 21. With this third cohort of young people having completed all three waves of data collection, researchers better understand the experiences of current and former foster care youth as they age. This brief presents findings from NYTD surveys completed by Cohort 3 youth at ages 17, 19, and 21 in Federal Fiscal Years 2017, 2019, and 2021. The baseline and follow-up survey information from Cohort 3 reveals that, generally, some young adults are faring well in many outcome areas but some youth are struggling. By age 21, young people reported positive gains in many protective factors, yet, in some cases there is evidence that current and former youth in foster care continue to face challenges that can be barriers to independence.

Systems navigators help local educational agencies (LEAs) meet the needs of students experiencing homelessness and decrease barriers to their education by connecting them--and often their families--to resources and community organizations that can provide wraparound services. This National Center for Homeless Education brief: (1) provides information on what systems navigators are and the role they play in supporting children and youth experiencing homelessness; (2) explores how LEAs leverage the systems navigator role as a helpful resource for meeting the needs of children and youth experiencing homelessness; and (3) provides examples from communities and LEAs that have expanded their services and coordination by hiring systems navigators.

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and as many as a third of Americans have some type of criminal record. Upon reentry, individuals with a justice history, whom referred as returning citizens, face significant barriers to economic security and reintegration into their communities. Among the most formidable barriers to reentry are a disadvantaged living environment, low levels of education, mental health challenges, and stigma that excludes them from job opportunities and other resources. All of these factors contribute to a high recidivism rate among returning citizens and make it harder for them to secure employment. Entrepreneurship presents a promising pathway to economic security and reintegration into communities as it requires minimal formal schooling, provides additional income and control over their livelihoods, and has the potential to uplift the often-low-income communities to which these individuals return. While entrepreneurship has great potential to reduce recidivism and promote economic stability, returning citizens have to overcome several hurdles in their entrepreneurship endeavors, ranging from a lack of access to capital, collateral consequences of having a criminal record, a digital skills gap, and limited access to wraparound support services. The paper will highlight two entrepreneurship training initiatives in Missouri and Washington, D.C. [This paper is a collaboration with the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO).]

This brief summarizes a study of five school districts that have been recognized for their efforts to provide high-quality services to students experiencing homelessness. The districts worked hard to identify students experiencing homelessness and supplemented modest federal funds with private funding, district funding, community-based resources, and other school services to provide transportation, essential items such as food and clothing, health services, academic supports, and housing supports, wherever possible. Districts identified inadequate, unreliable, and restrictive funding streams as particular challenges that limited their efforts. This brief outlines federal, state, and local policy changes to address these obstacles and ensure that students have access to a web of school- and district-based supports. The report [ED626558] on which this brief is based can be found at https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/ supporting-students-homelessness-report.

The "Annual Disability Statistics Supplement" is a companion report to the "Annual Disability Statistics Compendium" (ED628628). The "Supplement" presents statistics on the same topics as the Compendium with additional categorizations by demographic characteristics including age, gender and race/ethnicity. In addition to the Supplement, a companion "Annual Report" (ED628657) is available, providing graphic representations of key findings. [For the 2021 Supplement, see ED620436.]

The "Annual Disability Statistics Compendium" and its complement, the "Annual Disability Statistics Supplement" (ED628631), are summaries of statistics about people with disabilities and about the government programs which serve them. The Compendium, presents key overall statistics on topics including the prevalence of disability, employment among persons with disabilities, rates of participation in disability income and social insurance programs, and other statistics. It is a compilation of data from multiple sources, such as the Social Security Administration, Veterans Benefits Administration, and frequently, the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, among others. A companion "Annual Report" (ED628657) is available, providing graphic representations of key findings. [For the 2021 Compendium, see ED620434.]

Differences in children's mathematics knowledge are evident at kindergarten entry, favoring children who have greater access to economic resources. Fostering preschoolers' mathematics learning at home and in classroom settings, through games and other developmentally appropriate activities, is of great interest to educators, early childhood leaders, and policymakers. This cluster randomized trial examined the effects of a naturalistic, game-based mathematics intervention implemented in Head Start classrooms and examined whether including a family math component added value. A total of 573 children (64% Hispanic; 60% multilingual) were included from 66 classrooms which were randomly assigned to Classroom Math (CM), Classroom Math + Family Math (CM+FM), or business-as-usual (BAU). Results indicated that the family math component did add value to the classroom-based intervention as CM+FM resulted in a significant positive impact on children's mathematics knowledge relative to BAU, but CM did not. For preschoolers age 50+ months, both interventions had significant effects on children's mathematics knowledge relative to BAU, but CM+FM had a stronger effect (d = 0.36). The number of math games played was significantly associated with higher mathematics scores and the number of family math mini-books returned had a significant impact on children's spring scores, over and above the number of games played. The CM+FM intervention also had a significant effect on teachers' instructional practice (d = 0.79). Adding a family math component to a game-based classroom intervention resulted in positive impacts for preschoolers and seems to be an effective, ecologically valid intervention that fosters early mathematical competencies. [This paper was published in "Early Childhood Research Quarterly" v63 p43-58 2023.]