Introduction

The Head Start Graduate Student Research Grants Program provides support for graduate students who form partnerships with Head Start or Early Head Start programs in their communities, as a way of encouraging the conduct of research with Head Start populations. This research contributes to the knowledge base about the best approaches for delivering services to low-income families and their children. The Head Start population offers a unique opportunity for research that will promote understanding of differences and how to effectively tailor services and interventions for children and families with different characteristics and needs. An emphasis is placed on the importance of developing true working partnerships with Head Start programs and other relevant entities within the community, thereby fostering skills necessary to build a student's trajectory of successful partnership-building and contributions to the scientific community.

The Head Start Graduate Student Research Grants Program also promotes the development of mentor-mentee relationships which support students’ graduate training and professional development as researchers engaged in policy-relevant research. An emphasis is placed on supporting the active communication, networking and collaboration among graduate students, their mentors and other prominent researchers in the field, both during their graduate training, and into the early stages of their independent research careers.

The program period is currently 2005-2008 and the point of contact is Wendy DeCourcey. Ask a Question.

Project Contacts

Wendy DeCourcey
Federal Project Officer
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE)
Administration for Children and Families
370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW
7th Floor West
Washington, DC 20447