Report to Congress on Head Start Monitoring, Fiscal Year 2021

The Head Start Act mandates that each Head Start recipient receive a monitoring review at least once every 3 years; each newly designated recipient be reviewed after the completion of its first year (and then at least once every 3 years thereafter); and all recipients that "fail to meet the standards" receive Follow-up reviews. Reviewers knowledgeable about Head Start conducted fiscal year (FY) 2021 reviews, with Review Leads (RLs) leading teams of reviewers, where appropriate. Each review was guided by the standardized methodology and the Monitoring Protocols, which guide reviewers' on-site activities in assessing program performance and compliance. This report presents a summary of the findings of fiscal year (FY) 2021 Head Start monitoring reviews, fulfilling the reporting requirement in section 641A(f) of the Head Start Act, as amended in 2007. It highlights the enhancements made to the FY 2021 monitoring review system, summarizes recipient review outcomes, and describes the types of findings most commonly identified in FY 2021. On September 24, 2020, OHS suspended on-site reviews due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and public health emergency, and the COVID-19-related travel and social distancing restrictions. Reviews that were scheduled to be conducted virtually (e.g., Focus Area 1 (FA1)) were minimally impacted. However, Focus Area 2 (FA2) reviews that are typically scheduled to be conducted onsite were scheduled to be conducted virtually in FY 2021. Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®) reviews were suspended for FY 2021. [For the 2020 report, see ED633470.]