Previous Conferences

Conference History

Summaries of the nine previous Head Start Research Conferences are provided below. Details of the conference Proceedings can be viewed by clicking the ‘View’ link in the Proceedings Content column.

Number	Title	Summary	Proceedings Content
Nine	Creating Connections: Linking Policy, Practice and Research across Early Childhood Development, Care and Education	HSRC9 emphasized ways that practitioners, researchers, administrators, and policy makers involved in Head Start, early childhood, childcare, and administration programs can work together to build research-to-practice connections that promote positive development in young children.  The conference also addressed competencies for early childhood educators, development of language and literacy in second-language learners, the influence of research on policies affecting children, and emotion regulation and learning.	View
Eight	Serving Children Through Partnership and Collaboration	HSRC8 reaffirmed the importance of partnerships and collaborations to serve children in an era of standards and accountability. Within this theme, the conference emphasized social and cultural context and the multiple competencies that children must master to succeed in school and later life. The conference emphasized research that leads to evidence-based practice, measurable outcomes, and innovative implementation strategies. In addition to student programming initiated in Conference 7, highlighted poster sessions of ACF graduate student grantees were presented.	View
Seven	Promoting Positive Development in Young Children	HSRC 7 emphasized research which provided converging evidence of strategies to enhance competencies and cross-developmental domains. Evidence-based programs and practices that reexamined traditional early childhood approaches were highlighted. Emphasis on the student-mentor relationship was provided through expanded student programming.	View
Six	The First Eight Years: Pathways to the Future	Identified and disseminated early childhood research conducted with young children in preschools and early grades of elementary school. Continued fostering partnerships among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. Focused on prenatal development through age 8, and examined how development during a child's early years affects a child's future success and well-being.	View
Five	Developmental and Contextual Transitions of Children and Families	Head Start's 35th year of promoting the growth and development of disadvantaged children. Focused on the continuity within and between the developmental and the contextual transitions affecting the health and well-being of young children. New initiatives encouraged students to submit research and participate in the conference.	View
Four	Children and Families in an Era of Rapid Change	Identified and disseminated research in early childhood and family issues, and continued to foster partnerships among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. Continued to address partnership-related problems and processes identified in Conference 3. Focused on creating and implementing research and programs for children and their families, especially within areas of rapid change such as education, health care, child care, social services, economics, and diversity of ethnic groups.	View
Three	Making a Difference for Children, Families, and Communities	Provided an opportunity for interaction among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. Translated the research knowledge base into practical applications and helped increase the number of program initiatives which are evaluated through research.	View
Two	Implications for Serving Families With Young Children	Continued to foster the relationship between academia and practitioners involved in early interventions. Those from psychology, education, sociology, anthropology, pediatrics, medicine, psychiatry, social work, nursing, public health, law, epidemiology, and economics were represented. Special emphasis was placed on the strength of families, and the need for increased cooperation among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.	View
One	New Directions in Child and Family Research: Shaping Head Start in the 90s	Initiated communication between academia and early childhood and family-support practitioners in an effort to exchange knowledge aimed at enhancing the well-being of low-income families with young children.	n/a

 

If you have questions about Proceedings for the conferences, please email wendy.decourcey@acf.hhs.gov.