**GAO-08-221**                      Published: Feb 12, 2008. Publicly Released: Feb 12, 2008.                  

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## Highlights

In February 2005, GAO issued a report that raised concerns about the effectiveness of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children and Families' (ACF) oversight of about 1,600 local organizations that receive nearly $7 billion in Head Start grants. GAO was asked to report on (1) ACF's progress in conducting a risk assessment of the Head Start program and ensuring the accuracy and reliability of data from its annual Program Information Report (PIR) survey of grantees, (2) efforts to improve on-site monitoring of grantees, and (3) how data are used to improve oversight and help grantees meet program standards. For this report, GAO surveyed a nationally representative sample of Head Start program directors and interviewed ACF officials. GAO also reviewed ACF studies on the validity of PIR data and conducted tests of data from the 2006 PIR database.

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## Topics

Education

Data collectionData integrityEducational grantsEducational standardsFederal grantsGrant monitoringProgram managementRisk assessmentRisk managementStandards evaluationSystems analysisSystems evaluationEducation program evaluation