Staff Parents And Politics In Head Start

This book takes the reader inside the workings of Head Start, drawing attention to the inequalities in power, knowledge, and material resources that exist in the United States. It traces the dialectical relationship between the thoughts and actions of staff members and parents.

This book offers critical perspectives on the complex dynamics of politics, class, gender, power, race, and ethnicity in Project Head Start, past and present. Moving beyond the literature on Head Start's effects on children's achievement, this volume considers how the program has operated—sometimes effectively and comfortably, sometimes not—with families, in communities, and with other institutions. Contributors address historical background, parent involvement and governance, cultural diversity, and relationships with other institutions. The research reported is rich with the voices of parents, community members, and staff, and is complemented by first-person chapters written by participants themselves. Head Start's appeal and its reputation for success are both championed and critically questioned in this book, with an eye toward where Head Start might be going, where it should be going, and how we can better understand poverty, social programs, and education.

This guide has been developed to provide assistance to First Nation people involved in the development, design, planning, & delivery of Head Start services to children & their families living on reserve. It contains options to consider in developing Head Start program standards in the following areas: program services; education services; facilities such as play areas, food services, equipment, and safety measures; human resources, including organizational structure & staffing qualifications; administration, including policy development, enrollment, accounting, and parent involvement; and nutrition (diets, meals, food handling, drinking water). The final sections include a glossary and an outline of relevant provincial/territorial regulations.

The Hidden History of Head Start is the most complete chronicle ever written on one of the foremost social programs in US history.

Considers how Project Head Start, the federally funded preschool program, has operated (sometimes effectively and comfortably, sometimes not) with families, in communities, and with other institutions. An important look at the intersections of poverty, social programs, and education.

This guide will enable parents to support and advocate for their children during transitions. Contains training activities and hands-on action tools to help parents and staff work in partnership as children transition into and out of Early Head Start, Head Start, child care settings, and elementary schools. Transition addresses all the changes that occur as a child moves from one setting to another -- from home to a program, within a program, or between programs. This technical guide is designed to assist both parents and staff in developing skills that support the Head Start Program Performance Standards related to transitions. It encourages active learning interaction and partnering through guided hands-on activities and tools based upon real life transition situations. Ill.