A Portrait of Head Start Classrooms and Programs in Spring 2020: FACES 2019 Descriptive Data Tables and Study Design

Publication Date: March 29, 2022
cover image for FACES19 Class Pro Tables report

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  • Published: 2022

Introduction

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) provides national information about Head Start programs and participants. For more than two decades, FACES has been advancing the knowledge base about what matters in providing quality early care and education. Data from the study respond to current policy questions and support programs and practitioners working with Head Start families.

This report includes key information on the FACES 2019 study design and presents key findings from the study’s spring 2020 data collection. The tables in this report describe Head Start programs, centers, and classrooms in spring 2020, including their characteristics and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the study design, FACES would have observed Head Start classrooms in spring 2020. Data collection in spring 2020 began at around the same time that COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and a public health emergency by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. In response, most Head Start programs closed their physical buildings and changed their operations to continue to meet the needs of the families who participate. Therefore, FACES cancelled in-person data collection, including classroom observations, in spring 2020.


Topics

  • Program characteristics
  • Center characteristics
  • Classroom and teacher characteristics
  • Program and center response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose

The purpose of this report is to (1) provide information about the FACES 2019 study, including the background, design, methodology (including the impact of COVID-19 on data collection), and analytic methods; and (2) report detailed descriptive statistics (averages, response ranges, and percentages) and related standard errors (the estimate of the standard deviation of each statistic, found in the accompanying appendix) in a series of tables on programs, centers, and classrooms. The report provides a national picture of Head Start classrooms and programs in spring 2020.

Key Findings and Highlights

For programs, the tables show:

  • Organizational characteristics of Head Start programs (such as enrollment, agency type, and source of revenue)
  • Program directors’ education and experience
  • Professional development and coaching offered in programs
  • Substance use in program communities, and related staff supports
  • Data use in programs
  • Programs’ financial management and funding
  • Programs’ involvement in licensing and quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs)

For centers, the tables show:

  • Organizational characteristics of Head Start centers (such as financial management, funding sources, and staffing and turnover)
  • Center directors’ education and experience
  • Center curricula, instruction, and practices used to engage parents
  • Center licensing and quality

For classrooms and teachers, the tables show:

  • Teachers’ classroom practices
  • Curricula and assessment tools used in the classrooms
  • Mentoring and training teachers receive
  • Teachers’ background characteristics, depressive symptoms, beliefs about teaching, and job satisfaction

For programs’ and centers’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tables show:

  • Program and center closures and center reopenings
  • Services, referrals, and supports provided to families
  • Communication with staff, staffing changes, and staff supports
  • Supports director would like to have in place for future emergencies
  • Plans for operating a supplemental summer program funded through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act

The tables provide this information for all Head Start programs. For some characteristics, the tables also provide the information by agency type (community action agency, school system, other), program size (child enrollment), and metropolitan area.

Methods

The FACES 2019 sample provides information at the national level about Head Start programs, centers, classrooms, and the children and families who participate. We selected a sample of Head Start programs from the 2017—2018 Head Start Program Information Report. The sample included two centers per program and two classrooms per center.

In total, 165 programs, 318 centers, and 590 classrooms participated in the study in spring 2020. The tables provide information from separate surveys of program directors, center directors, and teachers. We weighted the data from the program and center director surveys to represent all Head Start programs or centers, respectively. We weighted teacher data on different teacher characteristics so the data would represent all teachers in Head Start, and we weighted data that teachers provided to describe Head Start classrooms so that it would represent all Head Start classrooms. We also include information in this report on response rates to the surveys.

Appendix

Appendix

A Portrait of Head Start Classrooms and Programs in Spring 2020: FACES 2019 Standard Error Tables Appendix

Doran, E., N. Reid, S. Bernstein, T. Nguyen, M. Dang, A. Li, A. Kopack Klein, S. Rakibullah, M. Scott, J. Cannon, J. Harrington, A. Larson, L. Tarullo, and L. Malone. “A Portrait of Head Start Classrooms and Programs in Spring 2020: FACES 2019 Standard Error Tables Appendix.” OPRE Report #2022-15. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2022.

File TypeFile NameFile Size
PDFA Portrait of Head Start Classrooms and Programs in Spring 2020: FACES 2019 Standard Error Tables Appendix2,985.20 KB

Citation

Doran, E., N. Reid, S. Bernstein, T. Nguyen, M. Dang, A. Li, A. Kopack Klein, S. Rakibullah, M. Scott, J. Cannon, J. Harrington, A. Larson, L. Tarullo, and L. Malone. “A Portrait of Head Start Classrooms and Programs in Spring 2020: FACES 2019 Descriptive Data Tables and Study Design.” OPRE Report #2022-15. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2022.

Glossary

FACES:
Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey
Head Start Program Information Report (PIR):
The PIR provides data on the services, staff, children, and families in Head Start programs. All grantees and delegates must submit a PIR annually for Head Start programs. (The PIR was not required in the 2019–2020 program year because of the COVID-19 pandemic).
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act:
An economic stimulus bill passed in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It included funding for Head Start supplemental programs in 2020. Programs were required to deliver in-person services to receive this funding.
COVID-19, or coronavirus disease 19:
An infectious disease that was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and a public health emergency by the U.S. in March 2020.