Creating Effective Transitions: Lessons from Head Start-School Partnerships

8/20/2019 Creating Effective Transitions: Lessons from Head Start-School Partnerships

1/7

1 Center for American Progress | Creating Effective Transitions

Creating Effective Transitions

Lessons from Head Start-School Partnerships

By Yvette Sanchez Fuentes and Jessica Troe December 21, 2015

Expanding access o high-qualiy preschool programs is a growing ocus or policy-

makers across he Unied Saes. And i should be. Research shows ha high-qualiy

early educaion, such as Head Sar, can ensure ha children are prepared or kinder-

garen. Research also demonsraes ha early educaion suppors ongoing academic

achievemen, especially or children rom disadvanaged backgrounds.1

In recen years, many ciies and saes have implemened or expanded preschool programs,2 and

he issue gained naional racion afer Presiden Barack Obama announced a univer-

sal preschool proposal in his 2013 Sae o he Union address. 3 Members o Congress

coninued his momenum by subsequenly inroducing he Srong Sar or America’s

Children Ac o 2013.4

Sudies have also ound ha coordinaion beween early childhood programs and kin-

dergaren hrough hird grade programs is crucial o children’s developmen and long-

erm educaional success.5 As a resul, over he pas several years, policymakers have

considered ways o effecively suppor children’s ransiion rom preschool programs oelemenary school in order o maximize invesmens and susain gains in achievemen.

I can be helpul o examine Head Sar or ideas since local Head Sar programs are

already required o parner wih schools o implemen ransiions and alignmen or

children and heir amilies.

How did Head Start-school partnerships come about?

Te Improving Head Sar or School Readiness Ac o 20076 required several changes

o he program o ensure coordinaion wih local educaion agencies, or LEAs, and o

promoe increased school readiness. Te law included a provision requiring Head Sar

programsincluding Early Head Sar, Migran and Seasonal Head Sar, and American

Indian and Alaska Naive Head Saro ener ino a memorandum o undersanding,

or MOU, wih heir LEAypically he public elemenary school ha children atend

afer Head Sar. 7


2/7


Local Head Sar programs and LEAs mus creae an MOU ha oulines specific

processes and aciviies ha suppor children’s ransiion rom Head Sar programs o

public schools. Tey include:8

• ranserring Head Sar program records or each child

• Esablishing lines o communicaion beween Head Sar saff and heir LEA couner-pars o ensure coordinaion o programs and coninuiy o developmenally appropri-

ae curricular objecives

• Organizing and paricipaing in join rainings wih saff rom Head Sar and local

schools

• Esablishing comprehensive ransiion policies and procedures

• Conducing oureach o parens and elemenary school eachers o discuss he needs

o individual children

Te main purpose o he MOU is o encourage he coordinaion and alignmen o Head

Sar programs and LEAs and o ormalize exising relaionships. Tis provision in he

2007 legislaion led Head Sar programs o increase heir effors o build relaionships

wih heir respecive elemenary schools and implemen alignmen and ransiion pro-

cesses o maximize he posiive benefis o Head Sar programs.

What can policymakers learn from partnership implementation?

Eigh years afer he requiremen o implemen official legal relaionships, undersand-

ing o how Head Sar programs and local schools are developing and susaining ransi-

ion relaionships can help inorm he broader early educaion field. o ge a beter sense

o how he requiremen is being implemened in communiies, he Cener or American

Progress conduced inerviews wih muliple Head Sar direcors and ransiion manag-

ers, or wih depuies and heir counerpars, in local schools and school disrics across

he Midwes, he Souhwes, and Souhern Unied Saes.

Tese inerviews revealed a se o bes pracices and highlighed some barriers and

challenges ha programs coninue o ace in implemening hese ransiion processes.

As public preschool programs coninue o expand around he counry, ederal and sae

policymakers can learn rom he implemenaion o he Head Sar requiremen.


3/7


Best practices for successful transitions

Inerviews wih Head Sar direcors and heir public school counerpars revealed a

se o pracices ha hey idenified as being crucial o a successul ransiion rom Head

Sar o kindergaren.9 Many inerviewees highlighed he ollowing key componens

ha have helped aciliae successul ransiions rom Head Sar o kindergaren:

• Implemen school visis and inroduce kindergaren expecaions and policies in Head

Sar programs

• Creae a amily-o-school relaionship

• Build regular communicaion and records ranser beween programs

Implement school visits and introduce kindergarten expectations and policies in

Head Start programs

All program aciliaors inerviewed expressed he imporance o assimilaing Head Sar

children o kindergaren hrough sie visis. Many noed ha his process made children

more comorable in heir new environmen and promoed a more successul ransiion

rom Head Sar o kindergaren. All program aciliaors said ha hey hold a leas one

school visi or children in heir Head Sar program, i no more.

In addiion o having children visi he schools, several inerviewees expressed he impor-

ance o incorporaing kindergaren policies and pracices ino Head Sar classrooms.

Tey highlighed he differences beween he wo classrooms, such as amily-syle meals versus caeeria meals, ha make i difficul or children o eel comorable in heir new

space. Tereore, many Head Sar program aciliaors inerviewed ound i imporan

o know wha will be expeced o children afer hey leave Head Sar. When Head Sar

eachers and leadership are more aware o wha is expeced o kindergaren children,

Head Sar programs can develop pracices ha are more aligned wih hese expecaions.

Create a family-to-school relationship

A unique ocus o Head Sar is encouraging and supporing amilies o be acively

involved in heir children’s early learning experience and empowering hem o become

lielong advocaes or heir children’s educaion. CAP’s inerviews wih Head Sar and

public school saff highlighed he imporance o amily engagemen in he ransiion

process, including providing school visis and esablishing lines o communicaion

beween he parens and kindergaren and school saff. Srong ransiion pracices

beween Head Sar and public school programs have he poenial o empower Head


4/7


Sar parens o coninue heir involvemen in kindergaren and hroughou heir

children’s educaional careers. Many Head Sar saff discussed iniiaing school visis

and paren meeings o prepare parens or he ransiion o kindergaren. Addiionally,

schools prioriized kindergaren regisraion or Head Sar amilies.

Build program communication and student records transfers

ranserring suden records and esablishing lines o communicaion beween Head

Sar and kindergaren eachers o discuss children’s developmen and progress were

ofen noed as oher imporan aspecs o children’s ransiion. Tis process also pro-

moes educaional alignmen. Te Head Sar saff CAP inerviewed highlighed he

need o provide inormaion abou individual children o creae a “coninuiy o care”

wih he school disric. Tis helps ensure ha any services ha children receive in Head

Sarincluding menal healh, disabiliy, and oher healh servicesare carried over

o kindergaren. ranserring hese records ensures ha schools are aware o children’s

needs and relaed services are in place prior o children enering kindergaren.

Inerviewees also idenified program communicaion a every levelwih leadership,

eachers, and saffas an imporan componen o developing successul ransiions.

Among inerviewees who repored a srong relaionship, CAP ound ha implemen-

ing regular meeings beween Head Sar direcors and saff and public school super-

inendens, principals, and eachers ensured everyone was ocused on he same goals,

creaing a clear process or a successul ransiion. Many inerviewees also noed ha

having he suppor o senior saff in he school disric is imperaive or parnerships o

be successul.

Barriers to implementation

While he inerviewees discussed pracices ha made he ransiion rom Head Sar o

kindergaren more successul, CAP’s conversaions wih Head Sar and public school

programs also revealed barriers hey aced, or coninue o ace, in culivaing relaion-

ships and esablishing bes pracices or he ransiion process. Te inerviews idenified

wo main barriers:

• Relaionship building beween programs

• Difficulies wih esablishing pracices o ransiion parens


5/7


Relationship building and reciprocal agreements

Many inerviewees agreed ha creaing and implemening ransiion processes has been

difficul bu has improved since he implemenaion o he 2007 Head Sar reauhori-

zaion. Ye many Head Sar providers sill noed difficuly in geting ull buy-in rom

public schools because while he ederal governmen requires Head Sar o be collab-

oraive, here is no similar requiremen or schools. Inerviewees idenified his asym-mery as a key barrier in successully ransiioning children and amilies rom Head Sar

o kindergaren.

As menioned above, several Head Sar programs ound ha, in addiion o srong com-

municaion, he abiliy o ranser suden records could conribue o a more seamless

ransiion. Due o daa privacy concerns, however, his can be a difficul ask. A Head

Sar direcor rom he Souh noed hese privacy issues as a barrier in he ransiion pro-

cess bu has atemped o ackle his hrough individual session wih parens, eachers,

and healh consulans.

Difficulties with transitioning parents

Alhough many inerviewees discussed implemening aciviies o engage parens in he

ransiion process, ohers ound ha esablishing hese aciviies was difficul in pracice,

despie he imporan role hey play in children’s uure academic success. 10 Te Head

Sar saff inerviewed undersood he imporan role o parens in he ransiion

reflecing sudies ha show ha paren and amily involvemen in kindergaren is associ-

aed wih gains in reading and mah achievemen.11

However, some Head Sar saff CAP inerviewed el ha amily engagemen is no as

robus when children ransiion o kindergaren and ha his coninues o be a barrier

or some programs in esablishing coninuiy or amilies. Te lack o amily suppor

and inclusion during he ransiion was echoed hroughou he inerviews. Similarly,

public school saff poin o he limied capaciy o schools as a barrier o iniiaing more

in-deph amily involvemen, observing ha school disrics are sreched hin due o

esing, grading, and evaluaion requiremens.


6/7


How Head Start-school partnerships can inform the policy discussion

As he need or program alignmen beween preschool programs and kindergaren

becomes more o a policy prioriy, ederal, sae, and local policymakers can look o he

curren ransiion parnerships being implemened by Head Sar programs o guide

hem. In developing policies or ransiioning children rom preschool o kindergar-

en, i is imporan o recognize he need or school visis, amily suppors, recordsranser, and program alignmen and communicaion o creae a successul ransiion.

Implemening hese alignmen and ransiion processes on a broader scale would ensure

ha he invesmens in preschool are maximized and he gains ha children make dur-

ing preschool are coninued hroughou heir ime in schooland he res o heir lives.

Yvete Sanchez Fuenes is a Senior Fellow a he Cener for American Progress. Jessica Troe is

a Research Assisan for he Early Childhood Policy eam a he Cener.


7/7


Endnotes

1 Hirokazu Yoshikawa and others, “Investing in Our Future: The Evidence Base on Preschool Education” (Ann Arbor, MI:Society for Research in Child Development, 2013), availableat http://www.srcd.org/sites/default/files/documents/wash-ington/mb_2013_10_16_investing_in_children.pdf.

2 Invest in Us, “Commitments: Early Learning Communities,”available at https://investinus.org/all-commitments/ (last

accessed December 2015).

3 The White House, “Remarks by the President in the Stateof the Union Address,” Press release, February 12, 2013,available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/12/remarks-president-state-union-address.

4 Strong Start for America’s Children Act , S. 1697, 113 Cong. 1sess. (Government Printing Office, 2013), available at https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/1697.

5 Bill Graves, “PK-3: What Is It and How Do We Know It Works”(New York: Foundation for Child Development, 2006), avail-able at http://fcd-us.org/sites/default/files/PK-3WhatIsItand-HowDoWeKnow.pdf .

6 Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 , P.L.110-134, 110th Cong., 1st sess. (December 12, 2007), avail-able at http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/law.

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid.

9 Unless otherwise noted, these statements came fromCenter for American Progress interviews with Head Startdirectors and their transition managers or deputies andtheir counterparts in school districts across the Midwest, theSouthwest, and Southern United States.

10 Sung won Kim and Nancy E. Hill, “Including Fathers inthe Picture: A Meta-Analysis of Parental Involvement andStudents’ Academic Achievement,” Journal of EducationalPsychology (107) (2015): 919–934.

11 Carey E. Cooper and others, “Poverty, Race, and ParentalInvolvement During the Transition to Elementary School,”

Journal of Family Issues (31) (2010): 859–883; Jaime Puccioni,“Parents’ Conceptions of School Readiness, Transition Prac-tices, and Children’s Academic Achievement Trajectories,”The Journal of Educational Research (108) (2015): 130–147.

http://www.srcd.org/sites/default/files/documents/washington/mb_2013_10_16_investing_in_children.pdfhttp://www.srcd.org/sites/default/files/documents/washington/mb_2013_10_16_investing_in_children.pdfhttps://investinus.org/all-commitments/https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/12/remarks-president-state-union-addresshttps://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/12/remarks-president-state-union-addresshttps://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/1697https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/1697http://fcd-us.org/sites/default/files/PK-3WhatIsItandHowDoWeKnow.pdfhttp://fcd-us.org/sites/default/files/PK-3WhatIsItandHowDoWeKnow.pdfhttp://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/lawhttp://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/lawhttp://fcd-us.org/sites/default/files/PK-3WhatIsItandHowDoWeKnow.pdfhttp://fcd-us.org/sites/default/files/PK-3WhatIsItandHowDoWeKnow.pdfhttps://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/1697https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/1697https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/12/remarks-president-state-union-addresshttps://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/12/remarks-president-state-union-addresshttps://investinus.org/all-commitments/http://www.srcd.org/sites/default/files/documents/washington/mb_2013_10_16_investing_in_children.pdfhttp://www.srcd.org/sites/default/files/documents/washington/mb_2013_10_16_investing_in_children.pdf

Documents

Creating Effective Transitions: Lessons from Head Start-School Partnerships