Introduction
Head Start is a national program that helps young children from families with low incomes prepare to succeed in school. It does this by working to promote their early learning and health and their families’ well-being. Head Start connects families with medical, dental, and mental health services to be sure that children are receiving the services they need to develop well. Head Start also involves parents in their children’s learning and development and helps parents make progress on their own goals, such as housing stability, continuing education, and financial security (Administration for Children and Families 2020).
Head Start programs are organized into 12 regions. Regions I through X are geographically based, and Regions XI and XII are defined by the populations they serve. All Region XI Head Start programs are operated by federally recognized tribes; Region XII encompasses Head Start programs that serve migrant and seasonal workers’ children and their families. There are 155 Region XI Head Start programs across the U.S., serving around 17,000 children (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2023). Most of the children in these programs (85 percent) are American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2023). Understanding that communities have unique needs and priorities, Region XI programs also offer a variety of services related to children’s home language or Native language and culture.
In 2021, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, contracted with Mathematica to design and conduct the 2021—2022 Study of Family and Staff Experiences in American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey Programs (the 2021—2022 Study).
Fall 2021 data collection for the 2021-2022 Study occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and participation and response rates were low. The data in this report provide a window into the experiences of a small number of Region XI children, their families, and their teachers who were able to participate in fall 2021 data collection between November 2021 and January 2022. The data do not represent all Region XI Head Start children, their families, and their teachers nationally. They provide a snapshot of the experiences of children in Region XI Head Start children, their families, and their teachers during this difficult time.
Topics
The study focused on family and staff well-being, including:
- Children’s characteristics, family background, and home environment
- Children’s social-emotional and learning skills
- Children’s disability status and physical health
- Characteristics of children’s lead teachers
Purpose
The purpose of this report is to (1) provide information about the 2021—2022 Study, including the background, design, methodology (including the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on data collection), and analytic methods; and (2) report detailed descriptive statistics (averages, response ranges, and percentages) in a series of tables containing information on children, their families, and their lead teachers.
Key Findings and Highlights
For children’s characteristics, family background, and home environment, the Section A tables show the following information:
- Demographic characteristics (for example, age, race/ethnicity, language(s) spoken in the home, who lives in the household)
- Participation in an Early Head Start program serving infants and toddlers
- Parents’ education and employment status including changes in employment due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Household income as a percentage of the federal poverty threshold and changes in household income during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Parents’ depressive and anxiety symptoms scores
- Parent health status
- Parenting behaviors, stress, and experiences with COVID-19
- Sources of safety net programs the household participated in
- Activities families do with children, such as how often parents and children read books and tell stories together
For children’s social-emotional and learning skills (Section B) and disability status and physical health (Section C), the tables show the following information:
- Reliability of items that measure children’s social skills, problem behaviors (such as aggression and hyperactivity), and approaches to learning (such as concentration and eagerness to learn)
- Teachers’ reports of children’s social skills, problem behaviors, and approaches to learning
- Teachers’ reports of children’s literacy and math skills
- Teachers’ reports of children’s disability status and type and the child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP)/Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) status
- Parents’ reports of children’s health status
For children’s lead teacher characteristics, the Section D tables show the following information:
- Children’s lead teachers’ experience, credentials, education, and earnings
- Children’s lead teachers’ depressive symptoms, job satisfaction, and feelings about their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Children’s lead teachers’ parenting experiences
The tables provide the above information for Region XI Head Start children, regardless of whether they are American Indian or Alaska Native. Some tables also provide information for only those Region XI Head Start children who are American Indian or Alaska Native. All data included in this report are presented at the child level.
Methods
We invited the 22 programs that participated in AIAN FACES 2019 to participate in the 2021—2022 Study. Four programs declined to participate in fall 2021, resulting in 18 participating programs. In the 18 participating programs, we sampled 43 centers and 88 teachers and asked them to participate in the study in fall 2021. All sampled teachers were considered study participants. In fall 2021, 47 out of 88 teachers (53%) completed a teacher survey. We sampled 1,022 children who were enrolled in a sampled Head Start center at the time of data collection. Of the 1,022 sampled children, 118 children received parental consent to participate in the study in fall 2021. Out of these 118 children, 83 (70%) had a complete TCR, and 75 (64%) had a complete parent survey.
We report unweighted statistics for children’s characteristics, family backgrounds, and home environment; children’s social-emotional and learning skills; and children’s disability status and physical health. Parent consent rates were low in fall 2021, which resulted in very few completed parent surveys and TCRs. Therefore, we do not adjust for sampling, program nonparticipation, parental consent, or nonresponse to the surveys. Instead, we report unweighted statistics for the children in the study. Unweighted data represent only those who completed the instruments.
We reported weighted statistics at the child level for children’s lead teacher’s characteristics. The data are weighted to adjust for the probability of selection. They are also weighted, with limited success, to account for (1) programs that chose not to participate and (2) nonresponse to the teacher survey. Because participation and response rates were low, readers should not consider weighted statistics in this report to be nationally representative. Estimates are based on respondents who were willing and able to respond to the surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic. These respondents likely differ from the full Region XI population.
Citation
Laurent, Myley, Tatiana Santiago, Katie Gonzalez, Sara Bernstein, Judy Cannon, Jeff Harrington, Addison Larson, Nikki Aikens, and Lizabeth Malone (2024). The 2021—2022 Study of Family and Staff Experiences in AIAN Head Start FACES Programs: Fall 2021 Data Tables and Study Design, OPRE Report #2024-135, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Related Publications
The 2021—2022 Study of Family and Staff Experiences in American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start FACES Programs: Spring 2022 Data Tables and Study Design. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/2021-2022-study-family-and-staff-experiences-american-indian-and-alaska-native-head-0
2021—2022 Study of Family and Staff Experiences in AIAN Head Start FACES Programs (2021—2022 Study): User's Manual. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/2021-2022-study-family-and-staff-experiences-aian-head-start-faces-programs-2021-2022