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Pathways to Quality and Full Implementation in Early Head Start Programs

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TITLE PAGE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  1. THE FIRST FOUR YEARS OF EARLY HEAD START: ORIGINS AND CONTEXT

    1. THE EARLY HEAD START PROGRAM
      1. Origins of the Early Head Start Initiative
      2. Early Head Start’s Social and Political Context
      3. Context of the Evolving Infrastructure of Program Support

    2. EARLY HEAD START RESEARCH AND EVALUATION PROJECT

    3. FAMILIES IN THE RESEARCH PROGRAMS

      4.

    4. DATA SOURCES AND METHODS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION STUDY
      1. Data Sources
      2. Overview of Analytic Methods

     

  2. PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLVING PROGRAM APPROACHES

    3.

    1. THE CONTEXT FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

    2. SALIENT FEATURES OF EARLY HEAD START RESEARCH PROGRAMS IN 1999 AND THEIR KEY DEVELOPMENTS OVER TIME
      1. Center-Based Programs—that Remained Center-Based
      2. Home-Based Programs that Remained Home-Based
      3. Mixed-Approach Programs that Remained Mixed
      4. Home-Based Programs that Became Mixed-Approach Programs

    3. THEMES OF CHANGE

    4. SUMMARY

     

  3. PROGRAMS’ THEORIES OF CHANGE AND THEIR EVOLUTION OVER TIME

    1. INTRODUCTION

    2. EVOLUTION IN PROGRAMS’ EXPECTED OUTCOMES
      1. Specific Changes That Occurred in Programs’ Focus on Priority Outcomes in Particular Areas
      2. Changes Across All Expected Outcomes Between 1997 and 1999
      3. Summarizing Programs’ Expected Child and Family Outcomes
      4. The Relationship Among Expected Outcomes, Program Approaches, and Program Impacts

    3. PERSPECTIVES FROM THEORY-OF-CHANGE DISCUSSIONS AMONG RESEARCHERS AND PRACTITIONERS
      1. The Value of Research-Program Partnership in Developing Theories of Change
      2. Voices of the Staff: Home Visitors Describe Their “Theories of Change”
      3. Local Variations in the Development of Program Theories of Change

    4. SUMMARY

     

  4. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION: OVERALL LEVELS AND PATTERNS

    1. MEASURING PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION
      1. Data Sources
      2. Implementation
      3. Rating Scales

    2. PROGRESS IN OVERALL IMPLEMENTATION BETWEEN FALL 1997 AND FALL 1999

    3. PATTERNS IN THE TIMING BY WHICH PROGRAMS REACHED OVERALL IMPLEMENTATION

      4.

     

  5. PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTING KEY CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH SERVICES

    1. DEVELOPMENTAL ASSESSMENTS

    2. INDIVIDUALIZATION OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

      3.

    3. PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

    4. GROUP SOCIALIZATIONS

      5.

    5. CHILD CARE

    6. HEALTH SERVICES FOR CHILDREN

    7. FREQUENCY OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

    8. SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

      9.

    9. SUMMARY

     

  6. PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTING FAMILY AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

    1. FAMILY PARTNERSHIPS: CHANGES IN SERVICES AND IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS BETWEEN 1997 AND 1999
      1. Individualized Family Partnership Agreements
      2. Availability of Services
      3. Frequency of Services
      4. Parent Involvement

    2. COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS: CHANGES IN SERVICES AND IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS BETWEEN 1997 AND 1999
      1. Collaborative Relationships
      2. Advisory Committees
      3. Transition Planning

    3. SUMMARY

      4.

     

  7. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION: STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

    1. EARLY HEAD START STAFF CHARACTERISTICS

    2. STAFF DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES AND IMPLEMENTATION IN 1999 AND PROGRESS BETWEEN 1997 AND 1999
      1. Supervision
      2. Staff Retention
      3. Staff Training and Educational Attainment
      4. Compensation
      5. Staff Morale
      6. Staff Health and Mental Health
      7. Job Satisfaction and Commitment

    3. IMPLEMENTATION OF MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND CHANGES FROM 1997 TO 1999
      1. Policy Councils
      2. Goals, Objectives, and Plans
      3. Program Self-Assessment
      4. Community Needs Assessment
      5. Communications Systems

    4. SUMMARY

      

  8. THE QUALITY OF SELECTED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

    9.

    1. METHODS FOR ASSESSING QUALITY
      1. Rating Inputs to Quality
      2. Observations of Child Care Quality

    2. INPUTS TO CHILD CARE QUALITY

      3.

    3. OBSERVED CHILD CARE QUALITY
      1. Quality in Early Head Start Centers
      2. Observed Child Care Quality in Community Child Care Centers
      3. Observed Child Care Quality in Family Child Care Settings

    4. INPUTS TO THE QUALITY OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT HOME VISITS.

    5. SUMMARY

      

  9. PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AND FAMILIES’ SERVICE NEEDS AND USE

    1. DATA SOURCES

    2. INVOLVING FAMILIES IN SERVICES: LEVELS AND INTENSITY OF PROGRAM PARTICIPATION
      1. Overall Participation Levels
      2. Home Visits
      3. Case Management
      4. Parenting Information Services and Group Parenting Activities
      5. Child Care and Center-Based Child Development Services
      6. Services for Children with Disabilities
      7. Child Health Services
      8. Family Health Services
      9. Other Family Development Services

    3. ENGAGEMENT IN SERVICES
      1. Local Research on Program Engagement
      2. Family Risk Factors and Program Participation

    4. THE MATCH BETWEEN FAMILIES’ EARLY NEEDS AND SERVICE USE IN SPECIFIC AREAS
      1. Summary of Needs
      2. Match Between Needs and Services

    5. SUMMARY

      

  10. PATHWAYS TO IMPLEMENTATION AND QUALITY

    1. CHANGES IN APPROACH AND IMPLEMENTATION LEVELS OVER TIME
      1. Evolution in Program Approaches
      2. Progress in Overall Program Implementation Over Time

    2. THEMES CHARACTERIZING EARLY PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
      1. Increased Attention to the Revised Head Start Program Performance Standards
      2. Increased Service Intensity
      3. Increased Focus on Child Development
      4. Refocused Efforts to Improve Child Care Quality and Availability
      5. Enhanced Participation in Program Services/Activities
      6. Expansion of Services
      7. Evolution of Community Partnerships
      8. Leadership Changes
      9. Staff Changes
      10. Shift Toward Providing Training and Technical Assistance

    3. STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE
      1. Using New Curricula and Assessment Tools
      2. Creating Early Head Start Child Care Centers
      3. Developing New Approaches to Improving Quality in Community Child Care Settings
      4. Creating Systems for Tracking Services More Effectively
      5. Ending Partnerships
      6. Forming New Partnerships and Strengthening Existing Ones
      7. Reorganizing or Creating New Staff Positions
      8. Hiring New Staff into Existing Positions
      9. Providing Intensive Staff Training
      10. Strengthening Staff Supervision
      11. Increasing Staff Salaries
      12. Seeking Additional Funding

    4. PROGRAM EXPERIENCES INFLUENCING PATHWAYS
      1. Conversion from Comprehensive Child Development Programs
      2. Addition of Early Head Start to Head Start Programs
      3. Community Programs Becoming Early Head Start Programs

    5. CHANGES IN THE POLICY AND PROGRAM CONTEXT
      1. Revised Head Start Program Performance Standards
      2. Welfare Reform
      3. Changes in State Medicaid Programs
      4. Local Child Care Markets

    6. SOURCES OF GUIDANCE RECEIVED BY EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS

    7. CONCLUSIONS: MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND REMAINING CHALLENGES
      1. Noteworthy Accomplishments
      2. Looking Ahead: Noteworthy Challenges
      3. Summary

    REFERENCES

    APPENDIX A

    APPENDIX B

    APPENDIX C

    LIST OF TABLES

    LIST OF FIGURES



 

 

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