From threat to opportunity: a Head Start program's response to state-funded pre-K

Area of Science:

• Early Childhood Education
• Public Policy
• Interagency Collaboration

Background:

• Nonprofit and grant-funded agencies traditionally dominated early childhood education and childcare.
• Increasing public education agency involvement via state-funded pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) initiatives creates enrollment competition for programs like Head Start.
• Program funding tied to enrollment raises sustainability concerns for Head Start.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine a case study of a partnership between an urban school district and its local Head Start program.
• To evaluate the collaboration's use of best practices in response to the expansion of state-funded Pre-K.
• To measure the success of the collaboration through teacher and administrator perceptions.

Main Methods:

• Case study methodology.
• Examination of secondary data.
• Staff surveys to assess perceptions of collaboration success and best practices.

Main Results:

• The partnership aimed to enhance services for Head Start-eligible children within the school district's early childhood programs.
• Evaluation focused on the implementation of best practices within the collaborative framework.
• Teacher and administrator perceptions indicated success in the interagency collaboration.

Conclusions:

• Interagency collaboration can be an effective strategy for early childhood education providers to navigate challenges posed by public Pre-K expansion.
• Partnerships can lead to improved service delivery for vulnerable populations.
• Recommendations are offered for early education and childcare providers considering similar collaborations.