A Spotlight on Professional Development in Head Start: FACES Spring 2017

The purpose of this brief is to describe the PD experiences of Head Start staff, including coaching and assessment and curriculum supports. We also examine differences in selected PD supports by program agency type, program size, teacher experience, and teacher education. The findings provide insight into Head Start programs’ strengths in providing PD and potential areas that could be targets for additional support.

• Head Start directors and their staff have access to and use a range of PD activities and Office of Head Start training and technical assistance system resources. For example, more than half of program directors report they or other staff often use Office of Head Start training and technical assistance system resources, particularly the Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center website
• Program directors, more than center directors, commonly report participating in training or conferences related to their role as a manager or leader.
• Few differences exist in the specific PD activities available to staff relative to agency type and size.
  • Center directors in school districts are more likely to report providing paid substitutes and less likely to report providing tuition assistance than center directors in community action agencies and other types of agencies.
  • Center directors in smaller programs are more likely to report different types of PD than those in larger programs.
• In line with the emphasis of the Head Start Program Performance Standards on coaching, most teachers have a coach and receive in-person training on child assessments and curriculum implementation.
• The majority of programs hire coaches as staff instead of using consultants; in about half of programs, coaches also supervise the staff they coach.
• Most programs use classroom observations and classroom-level assessment data to determine who receives coaching.
• Teachers experience similar amounts of coaching and training regardless of their experience or education.

FACES provides information at the national level about Head Start programs, centers, and classrooms, and the children and families they serve. We selected a sample of Head Start programs from the 2012–2013 Head Start Program Information Report. In spring 2017, we updated the sample of programs to ensure it was nationally representative of all Head Start programs at that time. We visited two centers per program and selected two classrooms per center for participation. In spring 2017, 178 programs, 350 centers, and 647 classrooms participated in the study.

The sample used for this brief provides information on key characteristics of Head Start programs, centers, and teachers in spring 2017. Survey data from program or center directors are weighted to represent all Head Start programs or centers, respectively. Data on teacher characteristics are weighted to represent all teachers in Head Start.

A Spotlight on Professional Development in Head Start: FACES Spring 2017 - Appendix Tables.pdf (PDF)

A Portrait of Head Start Classrooms and Programs: FACES Spring 2017 Data Tables and Study Design

A Portrait of Head Start Classrooms and Programs in Spring 2015: FACES 2014-2015 Data Tables and Study Design

Child and Family Outcomes During the Head Start Year: FACES 2014-2015 Data Tables and Study Design

Descriptive Data on Head Start Children and Families from FACES 2014: Fall 2014 Data Tables and Study Design

A Year in Head Start: Findings from FACES 2014 on Children’s Progress Toward School Readiness During the 2014-2015 Program Year

Head Start Programs in Spring 2015: Structure, Staff, and Supports for Quality from FACES 2014

Harding, J.F., E. Moiduddin, L. Malone, J. Cannon, L. Tarullo, and N. Aikens. A Spotlight on Professional Development in Head Start: FACES Spring 2017. OPRE Report 2019-75. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019.