II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1107 

To reauthorize the Head Start Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23, 2005 

Mr. ENZI (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the Head Start Act, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Head Start Improve5 ments for School Readiness Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

7 Section 636 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831) 

8 is amended by inserting ‘‘educational instruction in 

9 prereading skills, premathematics skills, and language and 

10 through’’ after ‘‘low-income children through’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Section 637 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9832) 

3 is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘(including a 

5 community-based organization)’’ after ‘‘nonprofit’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (3)(C), by inserting ‘‘, includ7 ing financial literacy,’’ after ‘‘Parent literacy’’; 

8 (3) in paragraph (17), by striking ‘‘Mariana Is9 lands,’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘Mariana 

10 Islands.’’; and 

11 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(18) The term ‘homeless child’ means a child 

13 described in section 725(2) of the McKinney-Vento 

14 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)). 

15 ‘‘(19) The term ‘limited English proficient’, 

16 used with respect to a child, means a child— 

17 ‘‘(A) who is enrolled or preparing to enroll 

18 in a Head Start program, Early Head Start 

19 program, or other early care and education pro20 gram; 

21 ‘‘(B)(i) who was not born in the United 

22 States or whose native language is a language 

23 other than English; 

24 ‘‘(ii)(I) who is a Native American, Alaska 

25 Native, or a native resident of a United States 

26 territory; and 
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1 ‘‘(II) who comes from an environment 

2 where a language other than English has had 

3 a significant impact on the child’s level of 

4 English language proficiency; or 

5 ‘‘(iii) who is migratory, whose native lan6 guage is a language other than English, and 

7 who comes from an environment where a lan8 guage other than English is dominant; and 

9 ‘‘(C) whose difficulty in speaking or under10 standing the English language may be sufficient 

11 to deny such child— 

12 ‘‘(i) the ability to successfully achieve 

13 in a classroom in which the language of in14 struction is English; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) the opportunity to participate 

16 fully in society. 

17 ‘‘(20) The term ‘deficiency’ means— 

18 ‘‘(A) a systemic or substantial failure of an 

19 agency in an area of performance that the Sec20 retary determines involves— 

21 ‘‘(i) a threat to the health, safety, or 

22 civil rights of children or staff; 

23 ‘‘(ii) a denial to parents of the exer24 cise of their full roles and responsibilities 

25 related to program operations; 
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1 ‘‘(iii) a failure to comply with stand2 ards related to early childhood development 

3 and health services, family and community 

4 partnerships, or program design and man5 agement; 

6 ‘‘(iv) the misuse of funds under this 

7 subchapter; 

8 ‘‘(v) loss of legal status or financial 

9 viability, loss of permits, debarment from 

10 receiving Federal grants or contracts, or 

11 the improper use of Federal funds; or 

12 ‘‘(vi) failure to meet any other Fed13 eral or State requirement that the agency 

14 has shown an unwillingness or inability to 

15 correct, after notice from the Secretary, 

16 within the period specified; 

17 ‘‘(B) systemic failure of the board of direc18 tors of an agency to fully exercise its legal and 

19 fiduciary responsibilities; 

20 ‘‘(C) substantial failure of an agency to 

21 meet the administrative requirements of section 

22 644(b); 

23 ‘‘(D) failure of an agency to demonstrate 

24 that the agency attempted to meet the coordi-
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1 nation and collaboration requirements with enti2 ties described in section 640(a)(5)(D)(iii)(I); or 

3 ‘‘(E) having an unresolved area of non4 compliance. 

5 ‘‘(21) The term ‘unresolved area of noncompli6 ance’ means failure to correct a noncompliance item 

7 within 120 days, or within such additional time (if 

8 any) authorized by the Secretary, after receiving 

9 from the Secretary notice of such noncompliance 

10 item, pursuant to section 641A(d).’’. 

11 SEC. 4. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR HEAD START PRO12 GRAMS. 

13 Section 638 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9833) 

14 is amended by inserting ‘‘for a period of 5 years’’ after 

15 ‘‘provide financial assistance to such agency’’. 

16 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 Section 639 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9834) 

18 is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 639. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap21 propriated for carrying out the provisions of this sub22 chapter $7,215,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, 

23 $7,515,000,000 for fiscal year 2007, $7,815,000,000 for 

24 fiscal year 2008, and such sums as may be necessary for 

25 each of fiscal years 2009 and 2010. 
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1 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIC PROGRAMS.—From the amount ap2 propriated under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make 

3 available to carry out research, demonstration, and evalua4 tion activities, including longitudinal studies under section 

5 649, not more than $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and 

6 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

7 2007 through 2010, of which not more than $7,000,000 

8 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010 shall be avail9 able to carry out impact studies under section 649(g).’’. 

10 SEC. 6. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS. 

11 (a) ALLOTMENT.—Section 640(a) of the Head Start 

12 Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(a)) is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

14 (A) by striking subparagraph (A) and in15 serting the following: 

16 ‘‘(A) Indian Head Start programs, services for 

17 children with disabilities, and migrant and seasonal 

18 Head Start programs, except that— 

19 ‘‘(i) subject to the availability of appropria20 tions, the Secretary shall reserve for each fiscal 

21 year for use by Indian Head Start and migrant 

22 and seasonal Head Start programs (referred to 

23 in this subparagraph as ‘covered programs’), on 

24 a nationwide basis, a sum that is the total of 

25 not less than 4 percent of the amount appro-
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1 priated under section 639 for that fiscal year 

2 (for Indian Head Start programs), and not less 

3 than 5 percent of that appropriated amount 

4 (for migrant and seasonal Head Start pro5 grams), except that— 

6 ‘‘(I) if reserving the specified percent7 ages for Indian Head Start programs and 

8 migrant and seasonal Head Start pro9 grams would reduce the number of chil10 dren served by Head Start programs, rel11 ative to the number of children served on 

12 the date of enactment of the Head Start 

13 Improvements for School Readiness Act, 

14 taking into consideration an appropriate 

15 adjustment for inflation, the Secretary 

16 shall reserve percentages that approach, as 

17 closely as practicable, the specified percent18 ages and that do not cause such a reduc19 tion; and 

20 ‘‘(II) notwithstanding any other provi21 sion of this subparagraph, the Secretary 

22 shall reserve for each fiscal year for use by 

23 Indian Head Start programs and by mi24 grant and seasonal Head Start programs, 

25 on a nationwide basis, not less than the 
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1 amount that was obligated for use by In2 dian Head Start programs and by migrant 

3 and seasonal Head Start programs for the 

4 previous fiscal year; 

5 ‘‘(ii) after ensuring that each grant recipi6 ent for a covered program has received an 

7 amount sufficient to enable the grant recipient 

8 to serve the same number of children in Head 

9 Start programs as were served by such grant 

10 recipient on the date of enactment of the Head 

11 Start Improvements for School Readiness Act, 

12 taking into consideration an appropriate adjust13 ment for inflation, and after allotting the funds 

14 reserved under paragraph (3)(A) as specified in 

15 paragraph (3)(D), the Secretary shall distribute 

16 the remaining funds available under this sub17 paragraph for covered programs, by— 

18 ‘‘(I) distributing 65 percent of the re19 mainder by giving priority to grant recipi20 ents in the States serving the smallest per21 centages of eligible children (as determined 

22 by the Secretary); and 

23 ‘‘(II) distributing 35 percent of the 

24 remainder on a competitive basis;’’; 
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1 (B) by striking subparagraph (C) and in2 serting the following: 

3 ‘‘(C) training and technical assistance activities 

4 that are sufficient to meet the needs associated with 

5 program expansion and to foster program and man6 agement improvement activities as described in sec7 tion 648, in an amount for each fiscal year that is 

8 equal to 2 percent of the amount appropriated under 

9 section 639 for such fiscal year, of which— 

10 ‘‘(i) 50 percent shall be made available to 

11 Head Start agencies to use directly, or by es12 tablishing local or regional agreements with 

13 community experts, colleges and universities, or 

14 private consultants, for any of the following 

15 training and technical assistance activities, in16 cluding— 

17 ‘‘(I) activities that ensure that Head 

18 Start programs meet or exceed the pro19 gram performance standards described in 

20 section 641A(a)(1); 

21 ‘‘(II) activities that ensure that Head 

22 Start programs have adequate numbers of 

23 trained, qualified staff who have skills in 

24 working with children and families, includ25 ing children and families who are limited 
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1 English proficient and children with dis2 abilities; 

3 ‘‘(III) activities to pay expenses, in4 cluding direct training for expert consult5 ants working with any staff, to improve the 

6 management and implementation of Head 

7 Start services and systems; 

8 ‘‘(IV) activities that help ensure that 

9 Head Start programs have qualified staff 

10 who can promote language skills and lit11 eracy growth of children and who can pro12 vide children with a variety of skills that 

13 have been identified as predictive of later 

14 reading achievement, school success, and 

15 other educational skills described in section 

16 641A; 

17 ‘‘(V) activities to improve staff quali18 fications and to assist with the implemen19 tation of career development programs and 

20 to encourage the staff to continually im21 prove their skills and expertise, including 

22 developing partnerships with programs 

23 that recruit, train, place, and support col24 lege students in Head Start centers to de-
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1 liver an innovative early learning program 

2 to preschool children; 

3 ‘‘(VI) activities that help local pro4 grams ensure that the arrangement, condi5 tion, and implementation of the learning 

6 environments in Head Start programs are 

7 conducive to providing effective program 

8 services to children and families; 

9 ‘‘(VII) activities to provide training 

10 necessary to improve the qualifications of 

11 Head Start staff and to support staff 

12 training, child counseling, health services, 

13 and other services necessary to address the 

14 needs of children enrolled in Head Start 

15 programs, including children from families 

16 in crises, children who experience chronic 

17 violence or homelessness, and children who 

18 experience substance abuse in their fami19 lies, and children under 3 years of age, 

20 where applicable; 

21 ‘‘(VIII) activities to provide classes or 

22 in-service-type programs to improve or en23 hance parenting skills, job skills, adult and 

24 family literacy, including financial literacy, 
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1 or training to become a classroom aide or 

2 bus driver in a Head Start program; 

3 ‘‘(IX) additional activities deemed ap4 propriate to the improvement of Head 

5 Start agencies’ programs, as determined by 

6 the agencies’ technical assistance and 

7 training plans; or 

8 ‘‘(X) any other activities regarding 

9 the use of funds as determined by the Sec10 retary; 

11 ‘‘(ii) 50 percent shall be made available to 

12 the Secretary to support a regional or State 

13 system of early childhood education training 

14 and technical assistance, and to assist local pro15 grams (including Indian Head Start programs 

16 and migrant and seasonal Head Start pro17 grams) in meeting the standards described in 

18 section 641A(a)(1); and 

19 ‘‘(iii) not less than $3,000,000 of the 

20 amount in clause (ii) appropriated for such fis21 cal year shall be made available to carry out ac22 tivities described in section 648(d)(4);’’; 

23 (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

24 ‘‘agencies;’’ and inserting ‘‘agencies);’’; and 
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1 (D) by adding at the end of the flush mat2 ter at the end the following: ‘‘The Secretary 

3 shall require each Head Start agency to report 

4 at the end of each budget year on how funds 

5 provided to carry out subparagraph (C)(i) were 

6 used.’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (A)(i)(I)— 

9 (i) by striking ‘‘60 percent of such ex10 cess amount for fiscal year 1999’’ and all 

11 that follows through ‘‘2002, and’’; and 

12 (ii) by inserting before the semicolon 

13 the following: ‘‘, 30 percent of such excess 

14 amount for fiscal year 2006, and 40 per15 cent of such excess amount for each of fis16 cal years 2007 through 2010’’; 

17 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

18 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘perform19 ance standards’’ and all that follows and 

20 inserting ‘‘standards and measures pursu21 ant to section 641A.’’; 

22 (ii) by striking clause (ii) and insert23 ing the following: 

24 ‘‘(ii) Ensuring that such programs have ade25 quate numbers of qualified staff, and that such staff 
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1 is furnished adequate training, including training to 

2 promote the development of language skills, 

3 premathematics skills, and prereading in young chil4 dren and in working with limited English proficient 

5 children, children in foster care, children referred by 

6 child welfare services, and children with disabilities, 

7 when appropriate.’’; 

8 (iii) by striking clause (iii) and insert9 ing the following: 

10 ‘‘(iii) Developing and financing the salary scales 

11 and benefits standards under section 644(a) and 

12 section 653, in order to ensure that salary levels and 

13 benefits are adequate to attract and retain qualified 

14 staff for such programs.’’; 

15 (iv) by striking clause (iv) and insert16 ing the following: 

17 ‘‘(iv) Using salary increases to— 

18 ‘‘(I) assist with the implementation of 

19 quality programs and improve staff qualifica20 tions; 

21 ‘‘(II) ensure that staff can promote the 

22 language skills and literacy growth of children 

23 and can provide children with a variety of skills 

24 that have been identified, through scientifically 

25 based early reading research, as predictive of 
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1 later reading achievement, as well as additional 

2 skills identified in section 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii); 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(III) encourage the staff to continually 

5 improve their skills and expertise by informing 

6 the staff of the availability of Federal and State 

7 incentive and loan forgiveness programs for 

8 professional development.’’; 

9 (v) in clause (v), by inserting ‘‘, in10 cluding collaborations to increase program 

11 participation by underserved populations of 

12 eligible children’’ before the period; and 

13 (vi) by striking clauses (vii) and (viii) 

14 and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(vii) Providing assistance to complete postsec16 ondary coursework including scholarships or other fi17 nancial incentives, such as differential and merit 

18 pay, to enable Head Start teachers to improve com19 petencies and the resulting child outcomes. 

20 ‘‘(viii) Promoting the regular attendance and 

21 stability of all Head Start children with particular 

22 attention to highly mobile children, including chil23 dren from migrant and seasonal farmworking fami24 lies (where appropriate), homeless children, and chil25 dren in foster care. 
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1 ‘‘(ix) Making such other improvements in the 

2 quality of such programs as the Secretary may des3 ignate.’’; and 

4 (C) in subparagraph (C)— 

5 (i) in clause (i)(I), by striking the last 

6 sentence and inserting ‘‘Salary increases, 

7 in excess of cost-of-living allowances, pro8 vided with such funds shall be subject to 

9 the specific standards governing salaries 

10 and salary increases established pursuant 

11 to section 644(a).’’; 

12 (ii) in clause (ii)— 

13 (I) in the matter preceding sub14 clause (I), by striking ‘‘education per15 formance’’ and inserting ‘‘additional 

16 educational’’; 

17 (II) in subclause (I), by inserting 

18 ‘‘, prereading,’’ after ‘‘language’’; 

19 (III) by striking subclause (II) 

20 and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(II) to help limited English proficient 

22 children attain the knowledge, skills, and devel23 opment specified in section 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii) 

24 and to promote the acquisition of the English 

25 language by such children and families;’’; and 
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1 (IV) by striking subclause (IV) 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(IV) to provide education and training 

4 necessary to improve the qualifications of Head 

5 Start staff, particularly assistance to enable 

6 more instructors to be fully competent and to 

7 meet the degree requirements under section 

8 648A(a)(2)(A), and to support staff training, 

9 child counseling, and other services necessary to 

10 address the challenges of children participating 

11 in Head Start programs, including children 

12 from immigrant, refugee, and asylee families, 

13 children from families in crisis, homeless chil14 dren, children in foster care, children referred 

15 to Head Start programs by child welfare agen16 cies, and children who are exposed to chronic 

17 violence or substance abuse.’’; 

18 (iii) in clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘, edu19 cational staff who have the qualifications 

20 described in section 648A(a),’’ after 

21 ‘‘ratio’’; 

22 (iv) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘pro23 grams, including’’ and all that follows and 

24 inserting ‘‘programs.’’; 
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1 (v) by redesignating clause (vi) as 

2 clause (x); and 

3 (vi) by inserting after clause (v) the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(vi) To conduct outreach to homeless families 

6 in an effort to increase the program participation of 

7 eligible homeless children. 

8 ‘‘(vii) To conduct outreach to migrant and sea9 sonal farmworking families and families with limited 

10 English proficient children. 

11 ‘‘(viii) To partner with institutions of higher 

12 education and nonprofit organizations, including 

13 community-based organizations, that recruit, train, 

14 place, and support college students to serve as men15 tors and reading coaches to preschool children in 

16 Head Start programs. 

17 ‘‘(ix) To upgrade the qualifications and skills of 

18 educational personnel to meet the professional 

19 standards described in section 648A(a)(1), including 

20 certification and licensure as bilingual education 

21 teachers and for other educational personnel who 

22 serve limited English proficient students.’’; 

23 (3) in paragraph (4)— 

24 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

25 ‘‘1998’’ and inserting ‘‘2005’’; and 
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1 (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in2 serting the following: 

3 ‘‘(B) any amount available after all allotments 

4 are made under subparagraph (A) for such fiscal 

5 year shall be distributed as follows: 

6 ‘‘(i) Each State shall receive an amount 

7 sufficient to serve the same number of children 

8 in Head Start programs in each State as were 

9 served on the date of enactment of the Head 

10 Start Improvements for School Readiness Act, 

11 taking into consideration an appropriate adjust12 ment for inflation. 

13 ‘‘(ii) After ensuring that each State has re14 ceived the amount described in clause (i) and 

15 after allotting the funds reserved under para16 graph (3)(A) as specified in paragraph (3)(D), 

17 the Secretary shall distribute the remaining bal18 ance, by— 

19 ‘‘(I) distributing 65 percent of the 

20 balance by giving priority to States serving 

21 the smallest percentages of eligible children 

22 (as determined by the Secretary); and 

23 ‘‘(II) distributing 35 percent of the 

24 balance on a competitive basis.’’; 

25 (4) in paragraph (5)— 
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1 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) 

2 and (F) as subparagraphs (F) and (G), respec3 tively; and 

4 (B) by striking subparagraphs (B), (C), 

5 and (D) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(B)(i) From the reserved sums, the Secretary shall 

7 award a collaboration grant to each State to facilitate col8 laboration between Head Start agencies and entities (in9 cluding the State) that carry out other activities designed 

10 to benefit low-income families and children from birth to 

11 school entry. 

12 ‘‘(ii) Grants described in clause (i) shall be used to— 

13 ‘‘(I) encourage Head Start agencies to collabo14 rate with entities involved in State and local plan15 ning processes to better meet the needs of low-in16 come families and children from birth to school 

17 entry; 

18 ‘‘(II) encourage Head Start agencies to coordi19 nate activities with the State agency responsible for 

20 administering the State program carried out under 

21 the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 

22 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) and entities providing 

23 resources and referral services in the State to make 

24 full-working-day and full calendar year services 

25 available to children; 
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1 ‘‘(III) promote alignment of Head Start serv2 ices with State early learning and school readiness 

3 goals and standards, including the Head Start child 

4 outcome framework; 

5 ‘‘(IV) promote better linkages between Head 

6 Start agencies and other child and family agencies, 

7 including agencies that provide health, mental 

8 health, or family services, or other child or family 

9 supportive services; and 

10 ‘‘(V) carry out the activities of the State Direc11 tor of Head Start Collaboration authorized in sub12 paragraph (D). 

13 ‘‘(C) In order to improve coordination and delivery 

14 of early education services to children in the State, a State 

15 that receives a grant under subparagraph (B) shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) appoint an individual to serve as the State 

17 Director of Head Start Collaboration; 

18 ‘‘(ii) ensure that the State Director of Head 

19 Start Collaboration holds a position with sufficient 

20 authority and access to ensure that the collaboration 

21 described in subparagraph (B) is effective and in22 volves a range of State agencies; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) involve the State Head Start Association 

24 in the selection of the Director and involve the Asso-
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1 ciation in determinations relating to the ongoing di2 rection of the collaboration office. 

3 ‘‘(D) The State Director of Head Start Collaboration, 

4 after consultation with the State Advisory Council de5 scribed in subparagraph (E), shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) not later than 1 year after the date of en7 actment of the Head Start Improvements for School 

8 Readiness Act, conduct an assessment that— 

9 ‘‘(I) addresses the needs of Head Start 

10 agencies in the State with respect to collabo11 rating, coordinating services, and implementing 

12 State early learning and school readiness goals 

13 and standards to better serve children enrolled 

14 in Head Start programs in the State; 

15 ‘‘(II) shall be updated on an annual basis; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(III) shall be made available to the gen18 eral public within the State; 

19 ‘‘(ii) assess the availability of high quality pre20 kindergarten services for low-income children in the 

21 State; 

22 ‘‘(iii) develop a strategic plan that is based on 

23 the assessment described in clause (i) that will— 

24 ‘‘(I) enhance collaboration and coordina25 tion of Head Start services with other entities 
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1 providing early childhood programs and services 

2 (such as child care and services offered by mu3 seums), health care, mental health care, wel4 fare, child protective services, education and 

5 community service activities, family literacy 

6 services, reading readiness programs (including 

7 such programs offered by public and school li8 braries), services relating to children with dis9 abilities, other early childhood programs and 

10 services for limited English proficient children 

11 and homeless children, and services provided for 

12 children in foster care and children referred to 

13 Head Start programs by child welfare agencies, 

14 including agencies and State officials respon15 sible for such services; 

16 ‘‘(II) assist Head Start agencies to develop 

17 a plan for the provision of full-working-day, full 

18 calendar year services for children enrolled in 

19 Head Start programs who need such care; 

20 ‘‘(III) assist Head Start agencies to align 

21 services with State early learning and school 

22 readiness goals and standards and to facilitate 

23 collaborative efforts to develop local school 

24 readiness standards; and 
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1 ‘‘(IV) enable agencies in the State to bet2 ter coordinate professional development oppor3 tunities for Head Start staff, such as by— 

4 ‘‘(aa) assisting 2- and 4-year public 

5 and private institutions of higher education 

6 to develop articulation agreements; 

7 ‘‘(bb) awarding grants to institutions 

8 of higher education to develop model early 

9 childhood education programs, including 

10 practica or internships for students to 

11 spend time in a Head Start or prekinder12 garten program; 

13 ‘‘(cc) working with local Head Start 

14 agencies to meet the degree requirements 

15 described in section 648A(a)(2)(A), includ16 ing providing distance learning opportuni17 ties for Head Start staff, where needed to 

18 make higher education more accessible to 

19 Head Start staff; and 

20 ‘‘(dd) enabling the State Head Start 

21 agencies to better coordinate outreach to 

22 eligible families; 

23 ‘‘(iv) promote partnerships between Head Start 

24 agencies, State governments, and the private sector 

25 to help ensure that preschool children from low-in-
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1 come families are receiving comprehensive services to 

2 prepare the children to enter school ready to learn; 

3 ‘‘(v) consult with the chief State school officer, 

4 local educational agencies, and providers of early 

5 childhood education and care to conduct unified 

6 planning regarding early care and education services 

7 at both the State and local levels, including under8 taking collaborative efforts to develop and make im9 provements in school readiness standards; 

10 ‘‘(vi) promote partnerships (such as the part11 nerships involved with the Free to Grow initiative) 

12 between Head Start agencies, schools, law enforce13 ment, and substance abuse and mental health treat14 ment agencies to strengthen family and community 

15 environments and to reduce the impact on child de16 velopment of substance abuse, child abuse, domestic 

17 violence, and other high risk behaviors that com18 promise healthy development; 

19 ‘‘(vii) promote partnerships between Head Start 

20 agencies and other organizations in order to enhance 

21 the Head Start curriculum, including partnerships 

22 to promote inclusion of more books in Head Start 

23 classrooms and partnerships to promote coordination 

24 of activities with the Ready-to-Learn Television pro25 gram carried out under subpart 3 of part D of title 
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1 II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

2 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6775 et seq.); and 

3 ‘‘(viii) identify other resources and organiza4 tions (both public and private) for the provision of 

5 in-kind services to Head Start agencies in the State. 

6 ‘‘(E)(i) The Governor of the State shall designate or 

7 establish a council to serve as the State advisory council 

8 on collaboration on early care and education activities for 

9 children from birth to school entry (in this subchapter re10 ferred to as the ‘State Advisory Council’). 

11 ‘‘(ii) The Governor may designate an existing entity 

12 to serve as the State Advisory Council, if the entity in13 cludes representatives described in subclauses (I) through 

14 (XXIV) of clause (iii). 

15 ‘‘(iii) Members of the State Advisory Council shall in16 clude, to the maximum extent possible— 

17 ‘‘(I) the State Director of Head Start Collabo18 ration; 

19 ‘‘(II) a representative of the appropriate re20 gional office of the Administration for Children and 

21 Families; 

22 ‘‘(III) a representative of the State educational 

23 agency and local educational agencies; 

24 ‘‘(IV) a representative of institutions of higher 

25 education; 
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1 ‘‘(V) a representative (or representatives) of the 

2 State agency (or agencies) responsible for health or 

3 mental health care; 

4 ‘‘(VI) a representative of the State agency re5 sponsible for teacher professional standards, certifi6 cation, and licensing, including prekindergarten 

7 teacher professional standards, certification stand8 ards, certification, and licensing, where applicable; 

9 ‘‘(VII) a representative of the State agency re10 sponsible for child care; 

11 ‘‘(VIII) early childhood education professionals, 

12 including professionals with expertise in second lan13 guage acquisition and instructional strategies in 

14 teaching limited English proficient children; 

15 ‘‘(IX) kindergarten teachers and teachers in 

16 grades 1 through 3; 

17 ‘‘(X) health care professionals; 

18 ‘‘(XI) child development specialists, including 

19 specialists in prenatal, infant, and toddler develop20 ment; 

21 ‘‘(XII) a representative of the State agency re22 sponsible for assisting children with developmental 

23 disabilities; 

24 ‘‘(XIII) a representative of the State agency re25 sponsible for programs under part C of the Individ-
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1 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

2 1431 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(XIV) a representative of the State inter4 agency coordinating councils established under sec5 tion 641 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu6 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1441); 

7 ‘‘(XV) a representative of the State Head Start 

8 Association (where appropriate), and other rep9 resentatives of Head Start programs in the State; 

10 ‘‘(XVI) a representative of the State network of 

11 child care resource and referral agencies; 

12 ‘‘(XVII) a representative of community-based 

13 organizations; 

14 ‘‘(XVIII) a representative of State and local 

15 providers of early childhood education and child 

16 care; 

17 ‘‘(XIX) a representative of migrant and sea18 sonal Head Start programs and Indian Head Start 

19 programs (where appropriate); 

20 ‘‘(XX) parents; 

21 ‘‘(XXI) religious and business leaders; 

22 ‘‘(XXII) the head of the State library adminis23 trative agency; 

24 ‘‘(XXIII) representatives of State and local or25 ganizations and other entities providing professional 
29 

•S 1107 IS

1 development to early care and education providers; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(XXIV) a representative of other entities de4 termined to be relevant by the chief executive officer 

5 of the State. 

6 ‘‘(iv)(I) The State Advisory Council shall be respon7 sible for, in addition to responsibilities assigned to the 

8 council by the chief executive officer of the State— 

9 ‘‘(aa) conducting a periodic statewide needs as10 sessment concerning early care and education pro11 grams for children from birth to school entry; 

12 ‘‘(bb) identifying barriers to, and opportunities 

13 for, collaboration and coordination between entities 

14 carrying out Federal and State child development, 

15 child care, and early childhood education programs; 

16 ‘‘(cc) developing recommendations regarding 

17 means of establishing a unified data collection sys18 tem for early care and education programs through19 out the State; 

20 ‘‘(dd) developing a statewide professional devel21 opment and career ladder plan for early care and 

22 education in the State; and 

23 ‘‘(ee) reviewing and approving the strategic 

24 plan, regarding collaborating and coordinating serv25 ices to better serve children enrolled in Head Start 
30 

•S 1107 IS

1 programs, developed by the State Director of Head 

2 Start Collaboration under subparagraph (D)(iii). 

3 ‘‘(II) The State Advisory Council shall hold public 

4 hearings and provide an opportunity for public comment 

5 on the needs assessment and recommendations described 

6 in subclause (I). The State Advisory Council shall submit 

7 a statewide strategic report containing the needs assess8 ment and recommendations described in subclause (I) to 

9 the State Director of Head Start Collaboration and the 

10 chief executive officer of the State. 

11 ‘‘(III) After submission of a statewide strategic re12 port under subclause (II), the State Advisory Council shall 

13 meet periodically to review any implementation of the rec14 ommendations in such report and any changes in State 

15 and local needs.’’; and 

16 (5) in paragraph (6)— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘7.5 

18 percent’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘11 

19 percent for fiscal year 2006, 13 percent for fis20 cal year 2007, 15 percent for fiscal year 2008, 

21 17 percent for fiscal year 2009, and 18 percent 

22 for fiscal year 2010, of the amount appro23 priated pursuant to section 639(a).’’; 

24 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); 
31 

•S 1107 IS

1 (C) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking 

2 ‘‘required to be’’; and 

3 (D) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 

4 subparagraph (B). 

5 (b) SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS.—Section 640(f) of 

6 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(f)) is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘needs.’’ and inserting ‘‘needs, including— 

8 ‘‘(1) models that leverage the capacity and ca9 pabilities of the delivery system of early childhood 

10 education and child care; and 

11 ‘‘(2) procedures to provide for the conversion of 

12 part-day programs to full-day programs or part-day 

13 slots to full-day slots.’’. 

14 (c) ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—Section 640(g)(2) of the 

15 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(g)(2)) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(C) the extent to which the applicant has un19 dertaken communitywide strategic planning and 

20 needs assessments involving other community orga21 nizations and Federal, State, and local public agen22 cies serving children and families (including organi23 zations and agencies providing family support serv24 ices and protective services to children and families 

25 and organizations serving families in whose homes 
32 

•S 1107 IS

1 English is not the language customarily spoken), 

2 and individuals, organizations, and public entities 

3 serving children with disabilities, children in foster 

4 care, and homeless children including the local edu5 cational agency liaison designated under section 

6 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

7 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii));’’; 

8 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘other 

9 local’’ and inserting ‘‘the State and local’’; 

10 (3) in subparagraph (E), by inserting ‘‘would 

11 like to participate but’’ after ‘‘community who’’; 

12 (4) in subparagraph (G), by inserting ‘‘leverage 

13 the existing delivery systems of such services and’’ 

14 after ‘‘manner that will’’; and 

15 (5) in subparagraph (H), by inserting ‘‘, includ16 ing the local educational agency liaison designated 

17 under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney18 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)),’’ after ‘‘community involved’’. 

20 (d) REGULATIONS.—Section 640(i) of the Head Start 

21 Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(i)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and re22 quirements to ensure the appropriate supervision and 

23 background checks of individuals with whom the agencies 

24 contract to transport those children’’ before the period. 
33 

•S 1107 IS

1 (e) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START PRO2 GRAMS.—Section 640(l) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 9835(l)) is amended by striking paragraph (3) and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(3) In carrying out this subchapter, the Secretary 

6 shall continue the administrative arrangement at the na7 tional or regional level for meeting the needs of Indian 

8 children and children of migrant and seasonal farm9 workers and shall ensure that appropriate funding is pro10 vided to meet such needs, including training and technical 

11 assistance and the appointment of a national migrant and 

12 seasonal Head Start collaboration director and a national 

13 Indian Head Start collaboration director. 

14 ‘‘(4)(A) For the purposes of paragraph (3), the Sec15 retary shall conduct an annual consultation in each af16 fected Head Start region, with tribal governments oper17 ating Head Start and Early Head Start programs. 

18 ‘‘(B) The consultations shall be for the purpose of 

19 better meeting the needs of American Indian and Alaska 

20 Native children and families pertinent to subsections (a), 

21 (b), and (c) of section 641, taking into consideration fund22 ing allocations, distribution formulas, and other issues af23 fecting the delivery of Head Start services within tribal 

24 communities. 
34 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall publish a notification of the 

2 consultations in the Federal Register prior to conducting 

3 the consultations. 

4 ‘‘(D) A detailed report of each consultation shall be 

5 prepared and made available, on a timely basis, to all trib6 al governments receiving funds under this subchapter.’’. 

7 (f) HOMELESS CHILDREN.—Section 640 of the Head 

8 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835) is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following: 

10 ‘‘(m) ENROLLMENT OF HOMELESS CHILDREN.—The 

11 Secretary shall issue regulations to remove barriers to the 

12 enrollment and participation of homeless children in Head 

13 Start programs. Such regulations shall require Head Start 

14 agencies to— 

15 ‘‘(1) implement policies and procedures to en16 sure that homeless children are identified and re17 ceive appropriate priority for enrollment; 

18 ‘‘(2) allow homeless children to apply to, enroll 

19 in, and attend Head Start programs while required 

20 documents, such as proof of residency, proof of im21 munization, and other medical records, birth certifi22 cates, and other documents, are obtained within a 

23 reasonable timeframe (consistent with State law); 

24 and 
35 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(3) coordinate individual Head Start programs 

2 with efforts to implement subtitle B of title VII of 

3 the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.). 

5 ‘‘(n) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub6 chapter shall be construed to require a State to establish 

7 a program of early education for children in the State, 

8 to require any child to participate in a program of early 

9 education in order to attend preschool, or to participate 

10 in any initial screening prior to participation in such pro11 gram, except as provided under section 612(a)(3) of the 

12 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

13 1412(a)(3)) and consistent with section 614(a)(1)(C) of 

14 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(a)(1)(C)). 

15 ‘‘(o) MATERIALS.—All curricula funded under this 

16 subchapter shall be scientifically based and age appro17 priate. Parents shall have the opportunity to examine any 

18 such curricula or instructional materials funded under this 

19 subchapter.’’. 

20 SEC. 7. DESIGNATION OF HEAD START AGENCIES. 

21 Section 641 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9836) 

22 is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 641. DESIGNATION OF HEAD START AGENCIES. 

24 ‘‘(a) DESIGNATION.— 
36 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

2 to designate as a Head Start agency any local public 

3 or private nonprofit or for-profit agency, within a 

4 community, including a community-based organiza5 tion that— 

6 ‘‘(A) has power and authority to carry out 

7 the purpose of this subchapter and perform the 

8 functions set forth in section 642 within a com9 munity; and 

10 ‘‘(B) is determined to be capable of plan11 ning, conducting, administering, and evaluating, 

12 either directly or by other arrangements, a 

13 Head Start program. 

14 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED GOALS FOR DESIGNATION.—In 

15 order to be designated as a Head Start agency, an 

16 entity described in paragraph (1) shall establish pro17 gram goals for improving the school readiness of 

18 children participating in a program under this sub19 chapter, including goals for meeting the performance 

20 standards and additional educational standards de21 scribed in section 641A and shall establish results22 based school readiness goals that are aligned with 

23 State early learning standards, if applicable, and re24 quirements and expectations for local public schools. 
37 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY FOR SUBSEQUENT GRANTS.— 

2 In order to receive a grant under this subchapter 

3 subsequent to the initial grant provided following the 

4 date of enactment of the Head Start Improvements 

5 for School Readiness Act, an entity described in 

6 paragraph (1) shall demonstrate that the entity has 

7 met or is making progress toward meeting the goals 

8 described in paragraph (2). 

9 ‘‘(4) GOVERNING BODY.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

11 ‘‘(i) ENSURING HIGH QUALITY PRO12 GRAMS.—In order to be designated as a 

13 Head Start agency, an entity described in 

14 paragraph (1) shall have a governing 

15 body— 

16 ‘‘(I) with legal and fiscal respon17 sibility for administering and over18 seeing programs under this sub19 chapter; and 

20 ‘‘(II) that fully participates in 

21 the development, planning, implemen22 tation, and evaluation of the programs 

23 to ensure the operation of programs 

24 of high quality. 
38 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) ENSURING COMPLIANCE WITH

2 LAWS.—The governing body shall be re3 sponsible for ensuring compliance with 

4 Federal laws and regulations, including the 

5 performance standards described in section 

6 641A, as well as applicable State, Tribal, 

7 and local laws and regulations, including 

8 laws defining the nature and operations of 

9 the governing body. 

10 ‘‘(B) COMPOSITION OF GOVERNING

11 BODY.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The governing 

13 body shall be composed as follows: 

14 ‘‘(I) Not less than 1 member of 

15 the governing body shall have a back16 ground in fiscal management. 

17 ‘‘(II) Not less than 1 member of 

18 the governing body shall have a back19 ground in early childhood develop20 ment. 

21 ‘‘(III) Not less than 1 member of 

22 the governing body shall live in the 

23 local community to be served by the 

24 entity. 
39 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—Mem2 bers of the governing body shall— 

3 ‘‘(I) not have a conflict of inter4 est with the Head Start agency or del5 egate agencies; and 

6 ‘‘(II) not receive compensation 

7 for service to the Head Start agency. 

8 ‘‘(C) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The governing 

10 body shall be responsible, in consultation 

11 with the policy council or the policy com12 mittee of the Head Start agency, for— 

13 ‘‘(I) the selection of delegate 

14 agencies and such agencies’ service 

15 areas; 

16 ‘‘(II) establishing criteria for de17 fining recruitment, selection, and en18 rollment priorities; 

19 ‘‘(III) all funding applications 

20 and amendments to funding applica21 tions for programs under this sub22 chapter; 

23 ‘‘(IV) the annual self-assessment 

24 of the Head Start agency or delegate 

25 agency’s progress in carrying out the 
40 

•S 1107 IS

1 programmatic and fiscal intent of 

2 such agency’s grant application, in3 cluding planning or other actions that 

4 may result from the review of the an5 nual audit, self-assessment, and find6 ings from the Federal monitoring re7 view; 

8 ‘‘(V) the composition of the pol9 icy council or the policy committee of 

10 the Head Start agency and the proce11 dures by which group members are 

12 chosen; 

13 ‘‘(VI) audits, accounting, and re14 porting; 

15 ‘‘(VII) personnel policies and 

16 procedures including decisions with 

17 regard to salary scales (and changes 

18 made to the scale), salaries of the Ex19 ecutive Director, Head Start Director, 

20 the Director of Human Resources, 

21 and the Chief Fiscal Officer, and deci22 sions to hire and terminate program 

23 staff; and 
41 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(VIII) the community assess2 ment, including any updates to such 

3 assessment. 

4 ‘‘(ii) CONDUCT OF RESPONSIBIL5 ITIES.—The governing body shall develop 

6 an internal control structure to facilitate 

7 these responsibilities in order to— 

8 ‘‘(I) safeguard Federal funds; 

9 ‘‘(II) comply with laws and regu10 lations that have an impact on finan11 cial statements; 

12 ‘‘(III) detect or prevent non13 compliance with this subchapter; and 

14 ‘‘(IV) receive audit reports and 

15 direct and monitor staff implementa16 tion of corrective actions. 

17 ‘‘(D) RECEIPT OF INFORMATION.—To fa18 cilitate oversight and Head Start agency ac19 countability, the governing body shall receive 

20 regular and accurate information about pro21 gram planning, policies, and Head Start agency 

22 operations, including— 

23 ‘‘(i) monthly financial statements (in24 cluding detailed credit card account ex25 penditures for any employee with a Head 
42 

•S 1107 IS

1 Start agency credit card or who seeks re2 imbursement for charged expenses); 

3 ‘‘(ii) monthly program information 

4 summaries; 

5 ‘‘(iii) program enrollment reports, in6 cluding attendance reports for children 

7 whose care is partially subsidized by an8 other public agency; 

9 ‘‘(iv) monthly report of meals and 

10 snacks through programs of the Depart11 ment of Agriculture; 

12 ‘‘(v) the annual financial audit; 

13 ‘‘(vi) the annual self-assessment, in14 cluding any findings related to the annual 

15 self-assessment; 

16 ‘‘(vii) the community assessment of 

17 the Head Start agency’s service area and 

18 any applicable updates; and 

19 ‘‘(viii) the program information re20 ports. 

21 ‘‘(E) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSIST22 ANCE.—Appropriate training and technical as23 sistance shall be provided to the members of the 

24 governing body to ensure that the members un25 derstand the information the members receive 
43 

•S 1107 IS

1 and can effectively oversee and participate in 

2 the programs of the Head Start agency. 

3 ‘‘(b) COMMUNITIES.—For purposes of this sub4 chapter, a community may be a city, county, or multicity 

5 or multicounty unit within a State, an Indian reservation 

6 (including Indians in any off-reservation area designated 

7 by an appropriate tribal government in consultation with 

8 the Secretary), or a neighborhood or other area (irrespec9 tive of boundaries or political subdivisions) that provides 

10 a suitable organizational base and possesses the com11 monality of interest needed to operate a Head Start pro12 gram. 

13 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY IN DESIGNATION.—In administering 

14 the provisions of this section, the Secretary shall, in con15 sultation with the chief executive officer of the State in16 volved, give priority in the designation (including redesig17 nation) of Head Start agencies to any high-performing 

18 Head Start agency or delegate agency that— 

19 ‘‘(1) is receiving assistance under this sub20 chapter; 

21 ‘‘(2) meets or exceeds program and financial 

22 management requirements or standards described in 

23 section 641A(a)(1); 
44 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(3) has no unresolved deficiencies and has not 

2 had findings of deficiencies during the last triennial 

3 review under section 641A(c); and 

4 ‘‘(4) can demonstrate, through agreements such 

5 as memoranda of understanding, active collaboration 

6 with the State or local community in the provision 

7 of services for children (such as the provision of ex8 tended day services, education, professional develop9 ment and training for staff, and other types of coop10 erative endeavors). 

11 ‘‘(d) DESIGNATION WHEN ENTITY HAS PRIORITY.— 

12 If no entity in a community is entitled to the priority spec13 ified in subsection (c), the Secretary shall, after con14 ducting an open competition, designate a Head Start 

15 agency from among qualified applicants in such commu16 nity. 

17 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Notwithstanding 

18 any other provision of law, under no condition may a non19 Indian Head Start agency receive a grant to carry out an 

20 Indian Head Start program. 

21 ‘‘(f) EFFECTIVENESS.—In selecting from among 

22 qualified applicants for designation as a Head Start agen23 cy, the Secretary shall consider the effectiveness of each 

24 such applicant to provide Head Start services, based on— 
45 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(1) any past performance of such applicant in 

2 providing services comparable to Head Start serv3 ices, including how effectively such applicant pro4 vided such comparable services; 

5 ‘‘(2) the plan of such applicant to provide com6 prehensive health, educational, nutritional, social, 

7 and other services needed to aid participating chil8 dren in attaining their full potential, and to prepare 

9 children to succeed in school; 

10 ‘‘(3) the capacity of such applicant to serve eli11 gible children with programs that use scientifically 

12 based research that promote school readiness of chil13 dren participating in the program; 

14 ‘‘(4) the plan of such applicant to meet stand15 ards set forth in section 641A(a)(1), with particular 

16 attention to the standards set forth in subpara17 graphs (A) and (B) of such section; 

18 ‘‘(5) the plan of such applicant to coordinate 

19 the Head Start program the applicant proposes to 

20 carry out with other preschool programs, includ21 ing— 

22 ‘‘(A) the Early Reading First and Even 

23 Start programs under subparts 2 and 3 of part 

24 B of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 
46 

•S 1107 IS

1 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6371 et seq., 

2 6381 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(B) programs under section 619 and part 

4 C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

5 Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.); 

6 ‘‘(C) State prekindergarten programs; 

7 ‘‘(D) child care programs; 

8 ‘‘(E) the educational programs that the 

9 children in the Head Start program involved 

10 will enter at the age of compulsory school at11 tendance; and 

12 ‘‘(F) reading readiness programs such as 

13 those conducted by public and school libraries; 

14 ‘‘(6) the plan of such applicant to coordinate 

15 the Head Start program that the applicant proposes 

16 to carry out with public and private entities who are 

17 willing to commit resources to assist the Head Start 

18 program in meeting its program needs; 

19 ‘‘(7) the plan of such applicant to collaborate 

20 with a local library, where available, that is inter21 ested in that collaboration, to— 

22 ‘‘(A) develop innovative programs to excite 

23 children about the world of books, such as pro24 grams that involve— 
47 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(i) taking children to the library for 

2 a story hour; 

3 ‘‘(ii) promoting the use of library 

4 cards; 

5 ‘‘(iii) developing a lending library or 

6 using a mobile library van; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) providing fresh books in the 

8 Head Start classroom on a regular basis; 

9 ‘‘(B) assist in literacy training for Head 

10 Start teachers; and 

11 ‘‘(C) support parents and other caregivers 

12 in literacy efforts; 

13 ‘‘(8) the plan of such applicant— 

14 ‘‘(A) to seek the involvement of parents of 

15 participating children in activities (at home and 

16 in the center involved where practicable) de17 signed to help such parents become full part18 ners in the education of their children; 

19 ‘‘(B) to afford such parents the oppor20 tunity to participate in the development and 

21 overall conduct of the program at the local 

22 level, including through providing transpor23 tation costs; 

24 ‘‘(C) to offer (directly or through referral 

25 to local entities, such as entities carrying out 
48 

•S 1107 IS

1 Even Start programs under subpart 3 of part 

2 B of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

3 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6381 et 

4 seq.), public and school libraries, and entities 

5 carrying out family support programs) to such 

6 parents— 

7 ‘‘(i) family literacy services; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) parenting skills training; 

9 ‘‘(D) to offer to parents of participating 

10 children substance abuse counseling (either di11 rectly or through referral to local entities), in12 cluding information on the effect of drug expo13 sure on infants and fetal alcohol syndrome; 

14 ‘‘(E) at the option of such applicant, to 

15 offer (directly or through referral to local enti16 ties) to such parents— 

17 ‘‘(i) training in basic child develop18 ment (including cognitive development); 

19 ‘‘(ii) assistance in developing literacy 

20 and communication skills; 

21 ‘‘(iii) opportunities to share experi22 ences with other parents (including parent 

23 mentor relationships); 

24 ‘‘(iv) regular in-home visitation; or 
49 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(v) any other activity designed to 

2 help such parents become full partners in 

3 the education of their children; 

4 ‘‘(F) to provide, with respect to each par5 ticipating family, a family needs assessment 

6 that includes consultation with such parents 

7 about the benefits of parent involvement and 

8 about the activities described in subparagraphs 

9 (C), (D), and (E) in which such parents may 

10 choose to become involved (taking into consider11 ation their specific family needs, work sched12 ules, and other responsibilities); and 

13 ‘‘(G) to extend outreach to fathers, in ap14 propriate cases, in order to strengthen the role 

15 of fathers in families, in the education of their 

16 young children, and in the Head Start program, 

17 by working directly with fathers and father fig18 ures through activities such as— 

19 ‘‘(i) in appropriate cases, including fa20 thers in home visits and providing opportu21 nities for direct father-child interactions; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) targeting increased male partici24 pation in the conduct of the program; 
50 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(9) the ability of such applicant to carry out 

2 the plans described in paragraphs (2), (4), and (5); 

3 ‘‘(10) other factors related to the requirements 

4 of this subchapter; 

5 ‘‘(11) the plan of such applicant to meet the 

6 needs of limited English proficient children and their 

7 families, including procedures to identify such chil8 dren, plans to provide trained personnel, and plans 

9 to provide services to assist the children in making 

10 progress toward the acquisition of the English lan11 guage; 

12 ‘‘(12) the plan of such applicant to meet the 

13 needs of children with disabilities; 

14 ‘‘(13) the plan of such applicant who chooses to 

15 assist younger siblings of children who will partici16 pate in the Head Start program, to obtain health 

17 services from other sources; 

18 ‘‘(14) the plan of such applicant to collaborate 

19 with other entities carrying out early childhood edu20 cation and child care programs in the community; 

21 ‘‘(15) the plan of such applicant to meet the 

22 needs of homeless children and children in foster 

23 care, including the transportation needs of such chil24 dren; and 
51 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(16) the plan of such applicant to recruit and 

2 retain qualified staff. 

3 ‘‘(g) INTERIM BASIS.—If there is not a qualified ap4 plicant in a community for designation as a Head Start 

5 agency, the Secretary shall designate a qualified agency 

6 to carry out the Head Start program in the community 

7 on an interim basis until a qualified applicant from the 

8 community is so designated. 

9 ‘‘(h) INVOLVEMENT OF PARENTS AND AREA RESI10 DENTS.—The Secretary shall continue the practice of in11 volving parents and area residents who are affected by 

12 programs under this subchapter in the selection of quali13 fied applicants for designation as Head Start agencies. 

14 ‘‘(i) PRIORITY.—In selecting from among qualified 

15 applicants for designation as a Head Start agency, the 

16 Secretary shall give priority to applicants that have dem17 onstrated capacity in providing effective, comprehensive, 

18 and well-coordinated early childhood services to children 

19 and their families.’’. 

20 SEC. 8. QUALITY STANDARDS; MONITORING OF HEAD 

21 START AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS. 

22 Section 641A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 9836a) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a)— 
52 

•S 1107 IS

1 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking 

2 ‘‘642(d)’’ and inserting ‘‘642(c)’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (1)(B)— 

4 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘edu5 cation performance standards’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘educational performance standards’’; 

7 and 

8 (ii) by striking clause (ii) and insert9 ing the following: 

10 ‘‘(ii) additional educational standards 

11 based on the recommendations of the National 

12 Academy of Sciences panel described in section 

13 649(h) and other experts in the field, to ensure 

14 that the curriculum involved addresses, and 

15 that the children participating in the program 

16 show appropriate progress toward developing 

17 and applying, the recommended educational 

18 outcomes, after the panel considers the appro19 priateness of additional educational standards 

20 relating to— 

21 ‘‘(I) language skills related to listen22 ing, understanding, speaking, and commu23 nicating, including— 

24 ‘‘(aa) understanding and use of a 

25 diverse vocabulary (including knowing 
53 

•S 1107 IS

1 the names of colors) and knowledge of 

2 how to use oral language to commu3 nicate for various purposes; 

4 ‘‘(bb) narrative abilities used, for 

5 example, to comprehend, tell, and re6 spond to a story, or to comprehend in7 structions; 

8 ‘‘(cc) ability to detect and 

9 produce sounds of the language the 

10 child speaks or is learning; and 

11 ‘‘(dd) clarity of pronunciation 

12 and speaking in syntactically and 

13 grammatically correct sentences; 

14 ‘‘(II) prereading knowledge and skills, 

15 including— 

16 ‘‘(aa) alphabet knowledge includ17 ing knowing the letter names and as18 sociating letters with their shapes and 

19 sounds in the language the child 

20 speaks or is learning; 

21 ‘‘(bb) phonological awareness and 

22 processes that support reading, for ex23 ample, rhyming, recognizing speech 

24 sounds and separate syllables in spo-
54 

•S 1107 IS

1 ken words, and putting speech sounds 

2 together to make words; 

3 ‘‘(cc) knowledge, interest in, and 

4 appreciation of books, reading, and 

5 writing (either alone or with others), 

6 and knowledge that books have parts 

7 such as the front, back, and title 

8 page; 

9 ‘‘(dd) early writing, including the 

10 ability to write one’s own name and 

11 other words and phrases; and 

12 ‘‘(ee) print awareness and con13 cepts, including recognizing different 

14 forms of print and understanding the 

15 association between spoken and writ16 ten words; 

17 ‘‘(III) premathematics knowledge and 

18 skills, including— 

19 ‘‘(aa) number recognition; 

20 ‘‘(bb) use of early number con21 cepts and operations, including count22 ing, simple adding and subtracting, 

23 and knowledge of quantitative rela24 tionships, such as part versus whole 

25 and comparison of numbers of objects; 
55 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(cc) use of early space and loca2 tion concepts, including recognizing 

3 shapes, classification, striation, and 

4 understanding directionality; and 

5 ‘‘(dd) early pattern skills and 

6 measurement, including recognizing 

7 and extending simple patterns and 

8 measuring length, weight, and time; 

9 ‘‘(IV) scientific abilities, including— 

10 ‘‘(aa) building awareness about 

11 scientific skills and methods, such as 

12 gathering, describing, and recording 

13 information, making observations, and 

14 making explanations and predictions; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(bb) expanding scientific knowl17 edge of the environment, time, tem18 perature, and cause-and-effect rela19 tionships; 

20 ‘‘(V) general cognitive abilities related 

21 to academic achievement and child develop22 ment, including— 

23 ‘‘(aa) reasoning, planning, and 

24 problem-solving skills; 
56 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(bb) ability to engage, sustain 

2 attention, and persist on challenging 

3 tasks; 

4 ‘‘(cc) intellectual curiosity, initia5 tive, and task engagement; and 

6 ‘‘(dd) motivation to achieve and 

7 master concepts and skills; 

8 ‘‘(VI) social and emotional develop9 ment related to early learning and school 

10 success, including developing— 

11 ‘‘(aa) the ability to develop social 

12 relationships, demonstrate cooperative 

13 behaviors, and relate to teachers and 

14 peers in positive and respectful ways; 

15 ‘‘(bb) an understanding of the 

16 consequences of actions, following 

17 rules, and appropriately expressing 

18 feelings; 

19 ‘‘(cc) a sense of self, such as self20 awareness, independence, and con21 fidence; 

22 ‘‘(dd) the ability to control nega23 tive behaviors with teachers and peers 

24 that include impulsiveness, aggression, 

25 and noncompliance; and 
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1 ‘‘(ee) knowledge of civic society 

2 and surrounding communities; 

3 ‘‘(VII) physical development, including 

4 developing— 

5 ‘‘(aa) fine motor skills, such as 

6 strength, manual dexterity, and hand7 eye coordination; and 

8 ‘‘(bb) gross motor skills, such as 

9 balance and coordinated movements; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(VIII) in the case of limited English 

12 proficient children, progress toward acqui13 sition of the English language while mak14 ing meaningful progress in attaining the 

15 knowledge, skills, abilities, and develop16 ment described in subclauses (I) through 

17 (VII);’’; 

18 (C) in paragraph (1)(D), by striking 

19 ‘‘projects; and’’ and inserting ‘‘projects, includ20 ing regulations that require that the facilities 

21 used by Head Start agencies (including Early 

22 Head Start agencies) and delegate agencies for 

23 regularly scheduled center-based and combina24 tion program option classroom activities— 
58 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(i) shall be in compliance with State 

2 and local requirements concerning licensing 

3 for such facilities; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) shall be accessible by State and 

5 local authorities for purposes of monitoring 

6 and ensuring compliance.’’; 

7 (D) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) in subparagraph (B)— 

9 (I) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘the 

10 date of enactment of this section’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘the date of enactment of 

12 the Head Start Improvements for 

13 School Readiness Act’’; 

14 (II) in clause (ii), by striking 

15 ‘‘the date of enactment of this Act’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘the date of enactment 

17 of the Head Start Improvements for 

18 School Readiness Act’’; 

19 (III) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘; 

20 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

21 (IV) in clause (vii), by striking 

22 ‘‘public schools’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

23 schools that the children will be at24 tending’’; and 
59 

•S 1107 IS

1 (V) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(viii) the unique challenges faced by 

4 individual programs, including those pro5 grams that are seasonal or short term and 

6 those programs that serve rural popu7 lations; and’’; 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by strik9 ing ‘‘the date of enactment of the Coats 

10 Human Services Reauthorization Act of 

11 1998’’ and inserting ‘‘the date of enact12 ment of the Head Start Improvements for 

13 School Readiness Act’’; and 

14 (iii) by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(D) consult with Indian tribes, American 

17 Indian and Alaska Native experts in early child18 hood development, linguists, and the National 

19 Indian Head Start Directors Association on the 

20 review and promulgation of program standards 

21 and measures (including standards and meas22 ures for language acquisition and school readi23 ness).’’; 

24 (E) by adding at the end the following: 
60 

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1 ‘‘(4) EVALUATIONS AND CORRECTIVE ACTIONS

2 FOR DELEGATE AGENCIES.— 

3 ‘‘(A) PROCEDURES.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

5 (ii), the Head Start agency shall establish 

6 procedures relating to its delegate agen7 cies, including— 

8 ‘‘(I) procedures for evaluating 

9 delegate agencies; 

10 ‘‘(II) procedures for defunding 

11 delegate agencies; and 

12 ‘‘(III) procedures for appealing a 

13 defunding decision relating to a dele14 gate agency. 

15 ‘‘(ii) TERMINATION.—The Head Start 

16 agency may not terminate a delegate agen17 cy’s contract or reduce a delegate agency’s 

18 service area without showing cause or dem19 onstrating the cost-effectiveness of such a 

20 decision. 

21 ‘‘(B) EVALUATIONS.—Each Head Start 

22 agency— 

23 ‘‘(i) shall evaluate its delegate agen24 cies using the procedures established pur-
61 

•S 1107 IS

1 suant to this section, including subpara2 graph (A); and 

3 ‘‘(ii) shall inform the delegate agen4 cies of the deficiencies identified through 

5 the evaluation that shall be corrected. 

6 ‘‘(C) REMEDIES TO ENSURE CORRECTIVE

7 ACTIONS.—In the event that the Head Start 

8 agency identifies a deficiency for a delegate 

9 agency through the evaluation, the Head Start 

10 agency may— 

11 ‘‘(i) initiate procedures to terminate 

12 the designation of the agency unless the 

13 agency corrects the deficiency; 

14 ‘‘(ii) conduct monthly monitoring vis15 its to such delegate agency until all defi16 ciencies are corrected or the Head Start 

17 agency decides to defund such delegate 

18 agency; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) release funds to such delegate 

20 agency only as reimbursements until all de21 ficiencies are corrected or the Head Start 

22 agency decides to defund such delegate 

23 agency. 

24 ‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

25 in this paragraph shall be construed to impact 
62 

•S 1107 IS

1 or obviate the responsibilities of the Secretary 

2 with respect to Head Start agencies or delegate 

3 agencies receiving funding under this sub4 chapter.’’; 

5 (2) in subsection (b)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (i) by striking the paragraph heading 

8 and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(2) CHARACTERISTICS AND USE OF MEAS10 URES.—’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

12 ‘‘, not later than July 1, 1999; and’’ and 

13 inserting a semicolon; 

14 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

15 the period and inserting a semicolon; 

16 (iv) by striking the flush matter fol17 lowing subparagraph (C); and 

18 (v) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(D) measure characteristics that are 

20 strongly predictive (as determined on a sci21 entific basis) of a child’s school readiness and 

22 later performance in school; 

23 ‘‘(E) be appropriate for the population 

24 served; and 
63 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(F) be reviewed not less than every 4 

2 years, based on advances in the science of early 

3 childhood development. 

4 The performance measures shall include the per5 formance standards and additional educational 

6 standards described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) 

7 of subsection (a)(1).’’; 

8 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

9 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; 

10 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

12 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (iii) by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(C) to enable Head Start agencies to indi16 vidualize programs of instruction to better meet 

17 the needs of the child involved.’’; 

18 (C) by striking paragraph (4) and insert19 ing the following: 

20 ‘‘(4) RESULTS-BASED OUTCOME MEASURES.— 

21 Results-based outcome measures shall be designed 

22 for the purpose of promoting the knowledge, skills, 

23 abilities, and development, described in subsection 

24 (a)(1)(B)(ii), of children participating in Head Start 

25 programs that are strongly predictive (as determined 
64 

•S 1107 IS

1 on a scientific basis) of a child’s school readiness 

2 and later performance in school.’’; and 

3 (D) by striking paragraph (5) and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(5) ADDITIONAL LOCAL RESULTS-BASED EDU6 CATIONAL MEASURES AND GOALS.—Head Start 

7 agencies may establish and implement additional 

8 local results-based educational measures and goals.’’; 

9 (3) in subsection (c)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

11 (i) in the matter preceding subpara12 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘and Head Start 

13 centers’’ after ‘‘Head Start programs’’; 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

15 ‘‘such agency’’ and inserting ‘‘Head Start 

16 center’’; 

17 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C) and 

18 inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(C) Unannounced site inspections of 

20 Head Start centers for health and safety rea21 sons, as appropriate.’’; 

22 (iv) by redesignating subparagraph 

23 (D) as subparagraph (E); and 

24 (v) by inserting after subparagraph 

25 (C) the following: 
65 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(D) Notwithstanding subparagraph (C), 

2 followup reviews, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) prompt return visits to agencies, 

4 programs, and centers that fail to meet 1 

5 or more of the performance measures de6 veloped by the Secretary under subsection 

7 (b); and 

8 ‘‘(ii) a review of programs with cita9 tions that include findings of deficiencies 

10 not later than 6 months after the date of 

11 such citation.’’; and 

12 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert13 ing the following: 

14 ‘‘(2) CONDUCT OF REVIEWS.—The Secretary 

15 shall ensure that reviews described in paragraph 

16 (1)— 

17 ‘‘(A) that incorporate a monitoring visit, 

18 may incorporate the visit without prior notice of 

19 the visit to the agency involved or with such 

20 limited prior notice as is necessary to ensure 

21 the participation of parents and key staff mem22 bers; 

23 ‘‘(B) are conducted by review teams that 

24 shall include individuals who are knowledgeable 

25 about Head Start and other early childhood 
66 

•S 1107 IS

1 education programs and, to the maximum ex2 tent practicable, the diverse (including linguistic 

3 and cultural) needs of eligible children (includ4 ing children with disabilities, homeless children, 

5 and children in foster care) and limited English 

6 proficient children and their families; 

7 ‘‘(C) include as part of the reviews of the 

8 programs, a review and assessment of program 

9 effectiveness, as measured in accordance with 

10 the results-based performance measures devel11 oped by the Secretary pursuant to subsection 

12 (b) and with the standards established pursuant 

13 to subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection 

14 (a)(1); 

15 ‘‘(D) seek information from the commu16 nities and States where Head Start programs 

17 exist about innovative or effective collaborative 

18 efforts, barriers to collaboration, and the efforts 

19 of the Head Start agencies to collaborate with 

20 the entities carrying out early childhood edu21 cation and child care programs in the commu22 nity; 

23 ‘‘(E) include as part of the reviews of the 

24 programs, a review and assessment of whether 

25 the programs are in conformity with the income 
67 

•S 1107 IS

1 eligibility requirements under section 645 and 

2 regulations promulgated under such section; 

3 ‘‘(F) include as part of the reviews of the 

4 programs, a review and assessment of whether 

5 programs have adequately addressed the popu6 lation and community needs (including needs of 

7 populations of limited English proficient chil8 dren and children of migrant and seasonal 

9 farmworking families); and 

10 ‘‘(G) include as part of the reviews of the 

11 programs, data from the results of periodic 

12 child assessments, and a review and assessment 

13 of child outcomes and performance as they re14 late to State, local, and agency-determined 

15 school readiness goals.’’; 

16 (4) in subsection (d)(1)— 

17 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

18 (A), by inserting ‘‘or fails to address the com19 munity needs and strategic plan identified in 

20 section 640(g)(2)(C),’’ after ‘‘subsection (b),’’; 

21 and 

22 (B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

23 ‘‘and identify the technical assistance to be pro24 vided consistent with paragraph (3)’’ after ‘‘cor25 rected’’; 
68 

•S 1107 IS

1 (5) in subsection (e), by striking the last sen2 tence and inserting ‘‘The information contained in 

3 such report shall be made available to all parents 

4 with children receiving assistance under this sub5 chapter in an understandable and uniform format, 

6 and to the extent practicable, provided in a language 

7 that the parents can understand. Such information 

8 shall be made widely available through public means 

9 such as distribution through public agencies, and, at 

10 a minimum, by posting such information on the 

11 Internet immediately upon publication.’’; and 

12 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(f) SELF-ASSESSMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 

15 once each program year, with the consultation and 

16 participation of policy groups and, as appropriate, 

17 other community members, each agency receiving 

18 funds under this subchapter shall conduct a self-as19 sessment of the effectiveness and progress in meet20 ing programs goals and objectives and in imple21 menting and complying with Head Start program 

22 performance standards. 

23 ‘‘(2) REPORT AND IMPROVEMENT PLANS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) REPORT.—An agency conducting a 

25 self-assessment shall report the findings of the 
69 

•S 1107 IS

1 self-assessment to the relevant policy council, 

2 policy committee, governing body, and regional 

3 office of the Department of Health and Human 

4 Services. Each self-assessment shall identify 

5 areas of strength and weakness. 

6 ‘‘(B) IMPROVEMENT PLAN.—The agency 

7 shall develop an improvement plan approved by 

8 the governing body of the agency to strengthen 

9 any areas identified in the self-assessment as 

10 weaknesses or in need of improvement. 

11 ‘‘(3) ONGOING MONITORING.—Each Head Start 

12 agency, Early Head Start agency, and delegate 

13 agency shall establish and implement procedures for 

14 the ongoing monitoring of their Head Start and 

15 Early Head Start programs, to ensure that the oper16 ations of the programs work toward meeting pro17 gram goals and objectives and Head Start perform18 ance standards. 

19 ‘‘(4) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

20 Funds may be made available, through section 

21 648(d)(13), for training and technical assistance to 

22 assist agencies in conducting self-assessments. 

23 ‘‘(g) REDUCTION OF GRANTS AND REDISTRIBUTION

24 OF FUNDS IN CASES OF UNDER-ENROLLMENT.— 

25 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
70 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(A) ACTUAL ENROLLMENT.—The term 

2 ‘actual enrollment’ means, with respect to the 

3 program of a Head Start agency, the actual 

4 number of children enrolled in such program 

5 and reported by the agency (as required in 

6 paragraph (2)) in a given month. 

7 ‘‘(B) BASE GRANT.—The term ‘base grant’ 

8 means, with respect to a Head Start agency for 

9 a fiscal year, that portion of the grant de10 rived— 

11 ‘‘(i) from amounts reserved for use in 

12 accordance with section 640(a)(2)(A), for a 

13 Head Start agency administering an In14 dian Head Start program or migrant and 

15 seasonal Head Start program; 

16 ‘‘(ii) from amounts reserved for pay17 ments under section 640(a)(2)(B); or 

18 ‘‘(iii) from amounts available under 

19 section 640(a)(2)(D) or allotted among 

20 States under section 640(a)(4). 

21 ‘‘(C) FUNDED ENROLLMENT.—The term 

22 ‘funded enrollment’ means, with respect to the 

23 program of a Head Start agency in a fiscal 

24 year, the number of children that the agency is 

25 funded to serve through a grant for the pro-
71 

•S 1107 IS

1 gram during such fiscal year, as indicated in 

2 the grant agreement. 

3 ‘‘(2) ENROLLMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENT

4 FOR CURRENT FISCAL YEAR.—Each entity carrying 

5 out a Head Start program shall report on a monthly 

6 basis to the Secretary and the relevant Head Start 

7 agency— 

8 ‘‘(A) the actual enrollment in such pro9 gram; and 

10 ‘‘(B) if such actual enrollment is less than 

11 the funded enrollment, any apparent reason for 

12 such enrollment shortfall. 

13 ‘‘(3) SECRETARIAL REVIEW AND PLAN.—The 

14 Secretary shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) on a semiannual basis, determine 

16 which Head Start agencies are operating with 

17 an actual enrollment that is less than the fund18 ed enrollment based on not less than 4 consecu19 tive months of data; 

20 ‘‘(B) for each such Head Start agency op21 erating a program with an actual enrollment 

22 that is less than 95 percent of its funded enroll23 ment, as determined under subparagraph (A), 

24 develop, in collaboration with such agency, a 
72 

•S 1107 IS

1 plan and timetable for reducing or eliminating 

2 under-enrollment taking into consideration— 

3 ‘‘(i) the quality and extent of the out4 reach, recruitment, and community needs 

5 assessment conducted by such agency; 

6 ‘‘(ii) changing demographics, mobility 

7 of populations, and the identification of 

8 new underserved low-income populations; 

9 ‘‘(iii) facilities-related issues that may 

10 impact enrollment; 

11 ‘‘(iv) the ability to provide full-day 

12 programs, where needed, through Head 

13 Start funds or through collaboration with 

14 entities carrying out other preschool or 

15 child care programs, or programs with 

16 other funding sources (where available); 

17 ‘‘(v) the availability and use by fami18 lies of other preschool and child care op19 tions (including parental care) in the local 

20 catchment area; and 

21 ‘‘(vi) agency management procedures 

22 that may impact enrollment; and 

23 ‘‘(C) provide timely and ongoing technical 

24 assistance to each agency described in subpara-
73 

•S 1107 IS

1 graph (B) for the purpose of implementing the 

2 plan described in such subparagraph. 

3 ‘‘(4) IMPLEMENTATION.—Upon receipt of the 

4 technical assistance described in paragraph (3)(C), a 

5 Head Start agency shall immediately implement the 

6 plan described in paragraph (3)(B). 

7 ‘‘(5) SECRETARIAL ACTION FOR CONTINUED

8 UNDER-ENROLLMENT.—If, 1 year after the date of 

9 implementation of the plan described in paragraph 

10 (3)(B), the Head Start agency continues to operate 

11 a program at less than full enrollment, the Secretary 

12 shall, where determined appropriate, continue to 

13 provide technical assistance to such agency. 

14 ‘‘(6) SECRETARIAL REVIEW AND ADJUSTMENT

15 FOR CHRONIC UNDER-ENROLLMENT.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, after receiving 

17 technical assistance and developing and imple18 menting a plan to the extent described in para19 graphs (3), (4), and (5) for 9 months, a Head 

20 Start agency is still operating a program with 

21 an actual enrollment that is less than 95 per22 cent of its funded enrollment, the Secretary 

23 may— 

24 ‘‘(i) designate such agency as chron25 ically under-enrolled; and 
74 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) recapture, withhold, or reduce 

2 the base grant for the program by a per3 centage equal to the percentage difference 

4 between funded enrollment and actual en5 rollment for the program for the most re6 cent year in which the agency is deter7 mined to be under-enrolled under para8 graph (2)(B). 

9 ‘‘(B) WAIVER OR LIMITATION OF REDUC10 TIONS.—If the Secretary, after the implementa11 tion of the plan described in paragraph (3)(B), 

12 finds that— 

13 ‘‘(i) the causes of the enrollment 

14 shortfall, or a portion of the shortfall, are 

15 beyond the agency’s control (such as serv16 ing significant numbers of migrant or sea17 sonal farmworker, homeless, foster, or 

18 other highly mobile children); 

19 ‘‘(ii) the shortfall can reasonably be 

20 expected to be temporary; or 

21 ‘‘(iii) the number of slots allotted to 

22 the agency is small enough that under-en23 rollment does not constitute a significant 

24 shortfall, the Secretary may, as appro25 priate, waive or reduce the percentage re-
75 

•S 1107 IS

1 capturing, withholding, or reduction other2 wise required by subparagraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS; EF4 FECTIVE DATE.—The actions taken by the Sec5 retary under this paragraph with respect to a 

6 Head Start agency shall take effect 1 day after 

7 the date on which— 

8 ‘‘(i) the time allowed for appeal under 

9 section 646(a) expires without an appeal 

10 by the agency; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) the action is upheld in an admin12 istrative hearing under section 646. 

13 ‘‘(7) REDISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

15 use amounts recovered from a Head Start agen16 cy through recapturing, withholding, or reduc17 tion under paragraph (6) in a fiscal year— 

18 ‘‘(i) in the case of a Head Start agen19 cy administering an Indian Head Start 

20 program or a migrant and seasonal Head 

21 Start program, whose base grant is derived 

22 from amounts specified in paragraph 

23 (1)(C)(i), to redirect funds to 1 or more 

24 agencies that— 
76 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(I) are administering Head 

2 Start programs serving the same spe3 cial population; and 

4 ‘‘(II) demonstrate that the agen5 cies will use such redirected funds to 

6 increase enrollment in their Head 

7 Start programs in such fiscal year; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a Head Start agen9 cy in a State, whose base grant is derived 

10 from amounts specified in clause (ii) or 

11 (iii) of paragraph (1)(C), to redirect funds 

12 to 1 or more agencies that— 

13 ‘‘(I) are administering Head 

14 Start programs in the same State; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(II) make the demonstration de17 scribed in clause (i)(II). 

18 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—If there is no agen19 cy located in a State that meets the require20 ments of subclauses (I) and (II) of subpara21 graph (A)(ii), the Secretary shall use amounts 

22 described in subparagraph (A) to redirect funds 

23 to Head Start agencies located in other States 

24 that make the demonstration described in sub25 paragraph (A)(i)(II). 
77 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(C) ADJUSTMENT TO FUNDED ENROLL2 MENT.—The Secretary shall adjust as necessary 

3 the requirements relating to funded enrollment 

4 indicated in the grant agreement of a Head 

5 Start agency receiving redistributed amounts 

6 under this paragraph.’’. 

7 SEC. 9. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD. 

8 The Head Start Act is amended by inserting after 

9 section 641A (42 U.S.C. 9836a) the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 641B. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN EARLY CHILD11 HOOD. 

12 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘center 

13 of excellence’ means a Center of Excellence in Early Child14 hood designated under subsection (b). 

15 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATION AND BONUS GRANTS.—The Sec16 retary shall, subject to the availability of funds under this 

17 subchapter, including under subsection (f), establish a 

18 program under which the Secretary shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) designate not more than 200 exemplary 

20 Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start 

21 agencies, Indian Head Start agencies, and migrant 

22 and seasonal Head Start agencies) as Centers of Ex23 cellence in Early Childhood; and 
78 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(2) make bonus grants to the centers of excel2 lence to carry out the activities described in sub3 section (d). 

4 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION AND DESIGNATION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.— 

6 ‘‘(A) NOMINATION AND SUBMISSION.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to 

8 receive a designation as a center of excel9 lence under subsection (b), except as pro10 vided in clause (ii), a Head Start agency in 

11 a State shall be nominated by the Gov12 ernor of the State and shall submit an ap13 plication to the Secretary at such time, in 

14 such manner, and containing such infor15 mation as the Secretary may require. 

16 ‘‘(ii) INDIAN AND MIGRANT AND SEA17 SONAL HEAD START PROGRAMS.—In the 

18 case of an Indian Head Start agency or a 

19 migrant or seasonal Head Start agency, to 

20 be eligible to receive a designation as a 

21 center of excellence under subsection (b), 

22 such an agency shall be nominated by the 

23 head of the appropriate regional office of 

24 the Department and Health and Human 
79 

•S 1107 IS

1 Services and shall submit an application to 

2 the Secretary in accordance with clause (i). 

3 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—At a minimum, the ap4 plication shall include— 

5 ‘‘(i) evidence that the Head Start pro6 gram carried out by the agency has signifi7 cantly improved the school readiness of, 

8 and enhanced academic outcomes for, chil9 dren who have participated in the program; 

10 ‘‘(ii) evidence that the program meets 

11 or exceeds standards and performance 

12 measures described in subsections (a) and 

13 (b) of section 641A, as evidenced by suc14 cessful completion of programmatic and 

15 monitoring reviews, and has no findings of 

16 deficiencies with respect to the standards 

17 and measures; 

18 ‘‘(iii) evidence that the program is 

19 making progress toward meeting the re20 quirements described in section 648A; 

21 ‘‘(iv) evidence demonstrating the ex22 istence of a collaborative partnership 

23 among the Head Start agency, the State 

24 (or a State agency), and other early care 
80 

•S 1107 IS

1 and education providers in the local com2 munity involved; 

3 ‘‘(v) a nomination letter from the 

4 Governor, or appropriate regional office, 

5 demonstrating the agency’s ability to carry 

6 out the coordination, transition, and train7 ing services of the program to be carried 

8 out under the bonus grant involved, includ9 ing coordination of activities with State 

10 and local agencies that provide early child11 hood services to children and families in 

12 the community served by the agency; 

13 ‘‘(vi) information demonstrating the 

14 existence of a local council for excellence in 

15 early childhood, which shall include rep16 resentatives of all the institutions, agen17 cies, and groups involved in the work of 

18 the center for, and the local provision of 

19 services to, eligible children and other at20 risk children, and their families; and 

21 ‘‘(vii) a description of how the Center, 

22 in order to expand accessibility and con23 tinuity of quality early care and education, 

24 will coordinate the early care and edu-
81 

•S 1107 IS

1 cation activities assisted under this section 

2 with— 

3 ‘‘(I) programs carried out under 

4 the Child Care and Development 

5 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

6 9858 et seq.); 

7 ‘‘(II) other programs carried out 

8 under this subchapter, including the 

9 Early Head Start programs carried 

10 out under section 645A; 

11 ‘‘(III)(aa) Early Reading First 

12 and Even Start programs carried out 

13 under subparts 2 and 3 of part B of 

14 title I of the Elementary and Sec15 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

16 U.S.C. 6371 et seq., 6381 et seq.); 

17 ‘‘(bb) other preschool programs 

18 carried out under title I of that Act 

19 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.); and 

20 ‘‘(cc) the Ready-to-Learn Tele21 vision program carried out under sub22 part 3 of part D of title II of that Act 

23 (20 U.S.C. 6775 et seq.); 

24 ‘‘(IV) programs carried out 

25 under part C of the Individuals with 
82 

•S 1107 IS

1 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

2 1431 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(V) State prekindergarten pro4 grams; and 

5 ‘‘(VI) other early care and edu6 cation programs. 

7 ‘‘(2) SELECTION.—In selecting agencies to des8 ignate as centers of excellence under subsection (b), 

9 the Secretary shall designate not less than 1 from 

10 each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, an 

11 Indian Head Start program, a migrant and seasonal 

12 Head Start program, and the Commonwealth of 

13 Puerto Rico. 

14 ‘‘(3) TERM OF DESIGNATION.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara16 graph (B), the Secretary shall designate a Head 

17 Start agency as a center of excellence for a 5- 

18 year term. During the period of that designa19 tion, subject to the availability of appropria20 tions, the agency shall be eligible to receive a 

21 bonus grant under subsection (b). 

22 ‘‘(B) REVOCATION.—The Secretary may 

23 revoke an agency’s designation under subsection 

24 (b) if the Secretary determines that the agency 

25 is not demonstrating adequate performance or 
83 

•S 1107 IS

1 has had findings of deficiencies described in 

2 paragraph (1)(B)(ii). 

3 ‘‘(4) AMOUNT OF BONUS GRANT.—The Sec4 retary shall base the amount of funding provided 

5 through a bonus grant made under subsection (b) to 

6 a center of excellence on the number of children eli7 gible for Head Start services in the community in8 volved. The Secretary shall, subject to the avail9 ability of funding, make such a bonus grant in an 

10 amount of not less than $200,000 per year. 

11 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) ACTIVITIES.—A center of excellence that 

13 receives a bonus grant under subsection (b) may use 

14 the funds made available through the bonus grant— 

15 ‘‘(A) to provide Head Start services to ad16 ditional eligible children; 

17 ‘‘(B) to better meet the needs of working 

18 families in the community served by the center 

19 by serving more children in existing Early Head 

20 Start programs (existing as of the date the cen21 ter is designated under this section) or in full22 working-day, full calendar year Head Start pro23 grams; 

24 ‘‘(C) to model and disseminate best prac25 tices for achieving early academic success, in-
84 

•S 1107 IS

1 cluding achieving school readiness and devel2 oping prereading and premathematics skills for 

3 at-risk children and achieving the acquisition of 

4 the English language for limited English pro5 ficient children, and to provide seamless service 

6 delivery for eligible children and their families; 

7 ‘‘(D) to further coordinate early childhood 

8 and social services available in the community 

9 served by the center for at-risk children (birth 

10 through age 8), their families, and pregnant 

11 women; 

12 ‘‘(E) to provide training and cross training 

13 for Head Start teachers and staff, child care 

14 providers, public and private preschool and ele15 mentary school teachers, and other providers of 

16 early childhood services, and training and cross 

17 training to develop agency leaders; 

18 ‘‘(F) to provide effective transitions be19 tween Head Start programs and elementary 

20 school, to facilitate ongoing communication be21 tween Head Start and elementary school teach22 ers concerning children receiving Head Start 

23 services, and to provide training and technical 

24 assistance to providers who are public elemen25 tary school teachers and other staff of local 
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1 educational agencies, child care providers, fam2 ily service providers, and other providers of 

3 early childhood services, to help the providers 

4 described in this subparagraph increase their 

5 ability to work with low-income, at-risk children 

6 and their families; 

7 ‘‘(G) to develop or maintain partnerships 

8 with institutions of higher education and non9 profit organizations, including community-based 

10 organizations, that recruit, train, place, and 

11 support college students to serve as mentors 

12 and reading coaches to preschool children in 

13 Head Start programs; and 

14 ‘‘(H) to carry out other activities deter15 mined by the center to improve the overall qual16 ity of the Head Start program carried out by 

17 the agency and the program carried out under 

18 the bonus grant involved. 

19 ‘‘(2) INVOLVEMENT OF OTHER HEAD START

20 AGENCIES AND PROVIDERS.—A center that receives 

21 a bonus grant under subsection (b), in carrying out 

22 activities under this subsection, shall work with the 

23 center’s delegate agencies, several additional Head 

24 Start agencies, and other providers of early child25 hood services in the community involved, to encour-
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1 age the agencies and providers described in this sen2 tence to carry out model programs. 

3 ‘‘(e) RESEARCH AND REPORTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) RESEARCH.—The Secretary shall, subject 

5 to the availability of funds to carry out this sub6 section, make a grant to an independent organiza7 tion to conduct research on the ability of the centers 

8 of excellence to improve the school readiness of chil9 dren receiving Head Start services, and to positively 

10 impact school results in the earliest grades. The or11 ganization shall also conduct research to measure 

12 the success of the centers of excellence at encour13 aging the center’s delegate agencies, additional Head 

14 Start agencies, and other providers of early child15 hood services in the communities involved to meet 

16 measurable improvement goals, particularly in the 

17 area of school readiness. 

18 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 48 months after 

19 the date of enactment of the Head Start Improve20 ments for School Readiness Act, the organization 

21 shall prepare and submit to the Secretary and Con22 gress a report containing the results of the research 

23 described in paragraph (1). 
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1 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2006 and 

3 each subsequent fiscal year— 

4 ‘‘(1) $90,000,000 to make bonus grants to cen5 ters of excellence under subsection (b) to carry out 

6 activities described in subsection (d); 

7 ‘‘(2) $2,500,000 to pay for the administrative 

8 costs of the Secretary in carrying out this section, 

9 including the cost of a conference of centers of excel10 lence; and 

11 ‘‘(3) $2,000,000 for research activities de12 scribed in subsection (e).’’. 

13 SEC. 10. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGEN14 CIES. 

15 Section 642 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837) 

16 is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 642. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGEN18 CIES. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to be designated as a 

20 Head Start agency under this subchapter, an agency shall 

21 have authority under its charter or applicable law to re22 ceive and administer funds provided under this sub23 chapter, funds and contributions from private or local 

24 public sources that may be used in support of a Head 

25 Start program, and funds provided under any Federal or 
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1 State assistance program pursuant to which a public or 

2 private nonprofit or for-profit agency (as the case may be) 

3 organized in accordance with this subchapter, could act 

4 as a grantee, contractor, or sponsor of projects appro5 priate for inclusion in a Head Start program. Such an 

6 agency shall also be empowered to transfer funds so re7 ceived, and to delegate powers to other agencies, subject 

8 to the powers of its governing board and its overall pro9 gram responsibilities. The power to transfer funds and del10 egate powers shall include the power to make transfers 

11 and delegations covering component projects in all cases 

12 in which that power will contribute to efficiency and effec13 tiveness or otherwise further program objectives. 

14 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In order to be 

15 designated as a Head Start agency under this subchapter, 

16 a Head Start agency shall also— 

17 ‘‘(1) establish a program with all standards set 

18 forth in section 641A(a)(1), with particular atten19 tion to the standards set forth in subparagraphs (A) 

20 and (B) of such section; 

21 ‘‘(2) demonstrate the capacity to serve eligible 

22 children with scientifically based curricula and other 

23 interventions and support services that help promote 

24 the school readiness of children participating in the 

25 program; 
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1 ‘‘(3) establish effective procedures and provide 

2 for the regular assessment of Head Start children, 

3 including observational and direct formal assess4 ment, where appropriate; 

5 ‘‘(4) seek the involvement of parents, area resi6 dents, and local business in the design and imple7 mentation of the program; 

8 ‘‘(5) provide for the regular participation of 

9 parents and area residents in the implementation of 

10 the program; 

11 ‘‘(6) provide technical and other support needed 

12 to enable such parents and area residents to secure, 

13 on their own behalf, available assistance from public 

14 and private sources; 

15 ‘‘(7) establish effective procedures to facilitate 

16 the involvement of parents of participating children 

17 in activities designed to help such parents become 

18 full partners in the education of their children, and 

19 to afford such parents the opportunity to participate 

20 in the development and overall conduct of the pro21 gram at the local level; 

22 ‘‘(8) conduct outreach to schools in which Head 

23 Start children will enroll, local educational agencies, 

24 the local business community, community-based or25 ganizations, faith-based organizations, museums, 
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1 and libraries to generate support and leverage the 

2 resources of the entire local community in order to 

3 improve school readiness; 

4 ‘‘(9) offer (directly or through referral to local 

5 entities, such as entities carrying out Even Start 

6 programs under subpart 3 of part B of title I of the 

7 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

8 (20 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.)), to parents of partici9 pating children, family literacy services, and par10 enting skills training; 

11 ‘‘(10) offer to parents of participating children 

12 substance abuse and other counseling (either directly 

13 or through referral to local entities), if needed, in14 cluding information on the effect of drug exposure 

15 on infants and fetal alcohol syndrome; 

16 ‘‘(11) at the option of such agency, offer (di17 rectly or through referral to local entities), to such 

18 parents— 

19 ‘‘(A) training in basic child development 

20 (including cognitive development); 

21 ‘‘(B) assistance in developing literacy and 

22 communication skills; 

23 ‘‘(C) opportunities to share experiences 

24 with other parents (including parent mentor re25 lationships); 
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1 ‘‘(D) regular in-home visitation; or 

2 ‘‘(E) any other activity designed to help 

3 such parents become full partners in the edu4 cation of their children; 

5 ‘‘(12) provide, with respect to each partici6 pating family, a family needs assessment that in7 cludes consultation with such parents (including fos8 ter parents and grandparents, where applicable) 

9 about the benefits of parent involvement and about 

10 the activities described in this subsection in which 

11 such parents may choose to be involved (taking into 

12 consideration their specific family needs, work sched13 ules, and other responsibilities); 

14 ‘‘(13) consider providing services to assist 

15 younger siblings of children participating in its Head 

16 Start program, to obtain health services from other 

17 sources; 

18 ‘‘(14) perform community outreach to encour19 age individuals previously unaffiliated with Head 

20 Start programs to participate in its Head Start pro21 gram as volunteers; 

22 ‘‘(15)(A) inform custodial parents in single-par23 ent families that participate in programs, activities, 

24 or services carried out or provided under this sub25 chapter about the availability of child support serv-
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1 ices for purposes of establishing paternity and ac2 quiring child support; and 

3 ‘‘(B) refer eligible parents to the child support 

4 offices of State and local governments; 

5 ‘‘(16) provide parents of limited English pro6 ficient children outreach and information in an un7 derstandable and uniform format and, to the extent 

8 practicable, in a language that the parents can un9 derstand; and 

10 ‘‘(17) at the option of such agency, partner 

11 with an institution of higher education and a non12 profit organization to provide college students with 

13 the opportunity to serve as mentors or reading 

14 coaches to Head Start participants. 

15 ‘‘(c) PROGRESS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each Head Start agency 

17 shall take steps to ensure, to the maximum extent 

18 possible, that children maintain the developmental 

19 and educational gains achieved in Head Start pro20 grams and build upon such gains in further school21 ing. 

22 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—In 

24 communities where both public prekindergarten 

25 programs and Head Start programs operate, a 
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1 Head Start agency shall collaborate and coordi2 nate activities with the local educational agency 

3 or other public agency responsible for the oper4 ation of the prekindergarten program and pro5 viders of prekindergarten, including outreach 

6 activities to identify eligible children. 

7 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.—Head Start 

8 staff shall, with the permission of the parents 

9 of children enrolled in Head Start programs, 

10 regularly communicate with the elementary 

11 schools such children will be attending to— 

12 ‘‘(i) share information about such 

13 children; 

14 ‘‘(ii) get advice and support from the 

15 teachers in such elementary schools re16 garding teaching strategies and options; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(iii) ensure a smooth transition to el19 ementary school for such children. 

20 ‘‘(C) OTHER PROGRAMS.—The head of 

21 each Head Start agency shall coordinate activi22 ties and collaborate with the State agency re23 sponsible for administering the State program 

24 carried out under the Child Care and Develop25 ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 
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1 et seq.), other entities carrying out early child2 hood education and development programs, and 

3 the agencies responsible for administering sec4 tion 106 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 

5 Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a), parts B and 

6 E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 620 et seq. and 670 et seq.), programs 

8 under subtitle B of title VII of the McKinney9 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 11431 et seq.), Even Start programs under 

11 subpart 3 of part B of title I of the Elementary 

12 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

13 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.), and programs under sec14 tion 619 and part C of the Individuals with 

15 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 

16 1431 et seq.), serving the children and families 

17 served by the Head Start agency. 

18 ‘‘(3) COLLABORATION.—A Head Start agency 

19 shall take steps to coordinate activities with the local 

20 educational agency serving the community involved 

21 and with schools in which children participating in 

22 a Head Start program operated by such agency will 

23 enroll following such program, including— 

24 ‘‘(A) collaborating on the shared use of 

25 transportation and facilities; 
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1 ‘‘(B) collaborating to reduce the duplica2 tion of services while increasing the program 

3 participation of underserved populations of eli4 gible children; and 

5 ‘‘(C) exchanging information on the provi6 sion of noneducational services to such children. 

7 ‘‘(4) PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.—In order to 

8 promote the continued involvement of the parents of 

9 children that participate in Head Start programs in 

10 the education of their children upon transition to 

11 school, the Head Start agency shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) provide training to the parents— 

13 ‘‘(i) to inform the parents about their 

14 rights and responsibilities concerning the 

15 education of their children; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) to enable the parents— 

17 ‘‘(I) to understand and work with 

18 schools in order to communicate with 

19 teachers and other school personnel; 

20 ‘‘(II) to support the schoolwork 

21 of their children; and 

22 ‘‘(III) to participate as appro23 priate in decisions relating to the edu24 cation of their children; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) take other actions, as appropriate 

2 and feasible, to support the active involvement 

3 of the parents with schools, school personnel, 

4 and school-related organizations. 

5 ‘‘(d) ASSESSMENT.—Each Head Start agency shall 

6 adopt, in consultation with experts in child development 

7 and with classroom teachers, an assessment to be used 

8 when hiring or evaluating any classroom teacher in a cen9 ter-based Head Start program. Such assessment shall 

10 measure whether such teacher has mastered the functions 

11 described in section 648A(a)(1) and attained a level of lit12 eracy appropriate to implement Head Start curricula. 

13 ‘‘(e) FUNDED ENROLLMENT; WAITING LIST.—Each 

14 Head Start agency shall enroll 100 percent of its funded 

15 enrollment and maintain an active waiting list at all times 

16 with ongoing outreach to the community and activities to 

17 identify underserved populations. 

18 ‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING

19 PLAN.—In order to receive funds under this subchapter, 

20 a Head Start agency shall develop an annual technical as21 sistance and training plan. Such plan shall be based on 

22 the agency’s self-assessment, the community needs assess23 ment, and the needs of parents to be served by such agen24 cy.’’. 
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1 SEC. 11. HEAD START TRANSITION. 

2 Section 642A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 9837a) is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 642A. HEAD START TRANSITION AND ALIGNMENT 

5 WITH K–12 EDUCATION. 

6 ‘‘Each Head Start agency shall take steps to coordi7 nate activities with the local educational agency serving 

8 the community involved and with schools in which children 

9 participating in a Head Start program operated by such 

10 agency will enroll following such program, including— 

11 ‘‘(1) developing and implementing a systematic 

12 procedure for transferring, with parental consent, 

13 Head Start program records for each participating 

14 child to the school in which such child will enroll; 

15 ‘‘(2) establishing ongoing channels of commu16 nication between Head Start staff and their counter17 parts in the schools (including teachers, social work18 ers, health staff, and local educational agency liai19 sons designated under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the 

20 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

21 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii))) to facilitate coordination 

22 of programs; 

23 ‘‘(3) developing continuity of developmentally 

24 appropriate curricula and practice between the Head 

25 Start agency and local educational agency to ensure 

26 an effective transition and appropriate shared expec-
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1 tations for children’s learning and development as 

2 the children make the transition to school; 

3 ‘‘(4) conducting meetings involving parents, 

4 kindergarten or elementary school teachers, and 

5 Head Start teachers to discuss the educational, de6 velopmental, and other needs of individual children; 

7 ‘‘(5) organizing and participating in joint train8 ing, including transition-related training of school 

9 staff and Head Start staff; 

10 ‘‘(6) developing and implementing a family out11 reach and support program, in cooperation with en12 tities carrying out parental involvement efforts 

13 under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu14 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), and 

15 family outreach and support efforts under subtitle B 

16 of title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist17 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), taking into con18 sideration the language needs of limited English pro19 ficient parents; 

20 ‘‘(7) assisting families, administrators, and 

21 teachers in enhancing educational and developmental 

22 continuity and continuity of parental involvement in 

23 activities between Head Start services and elemen24 tary school classes; 
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1 ‘‘(8) linking the services provided in such Head 

2 Start program with the education services, including 

3 services relating to language, literacy, and 

4 numeracy, provided by such local educational agen5 cy; 

6 ‘‘(9) helping parents understand the importance 

7 of parental involvement in a child’s academic success 

8 while teaching the parents strategies for maintaining 

9 parental involvement as their child moves from the 

10 Head Start program to elementary school; 

11 ‘‘(10) developing and implementing a system to 

12 increase program participation of underserved popu13 lations of eligible children, including children with 

14 disabilities, homeless children, children in foster 

15 care, and limited English proficient children; and 

16 ‘‘(11) coordinating activities and collaborating 

17 to ensure that curricula used in the Head Start pro18 gram is aligned with State early learning standards 

19 with regard to cognitive, social, emotional, and phys20 ical competencies that children entering kinder21 garten are expected to demonstrate.’’. 

22 SEC. 12. SUBMISSION OF PLANS TO GOVERNORS. 

23 Section 643 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9838) 

24 is amended— 

25 (1) in the first sentence— 
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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘for approval’’ after ‘‘sub2 mitted to the chief executive officer of the 

3 State’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘45’’ and inserting ‘‘30’’; 

5 and 

6 (2) in the last sentence, by inserting ‘‘to Indian 

7 and migrant and seasonal Head Start programs in 

8 existence on the date of enactment of the Head 

9 Start Improvements for School Readiness Act, or’’ 

10 after ‘‘other assistance’’. 

11 SEC. 13. PARTICIPATION IN HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

12 Section 645(a) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 9840(a)) is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘130 per15 cent of’’ after ‘‘below’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(3)(A) In this paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(i) The term ‘dependent’ has the meaning 

19 given the term in paragraphs (2)(A) and (4)(A)(i) of 

20 section 401(a) of title 37, United States Code. 

21 ‘‘(ii) The terms ‘member’ and ‘uniformed serv22 ices’ have the meanings given the terms in para23 graphs (23) and (3), respectively, of section 101 of 

24 title 37, United States Code. 
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1 ‘‘(B) The following amounts of pay and allowance of 

2 a member of the uniformed services shall not be consid3 ered to be income for purposes of determining the eligi4 bility of a dependent of such member for programs funded 

5 under this subchapter: 

6 ‘‘(i) The amount of any special pay payable 

7 under section 310 if title 37, United States Code, re8 lating to duty subject to hostile fire or imminent 

9 danger. 

10 ‘‘(ii) The amount of basic allowance payable 

11 under section 403 of such title, including any such 

12 amount that is provided on behalf of the member for 

13 housing that is acquired or constructed under the al14 ternative authority for the acquisition and improve15 ment of military housing under subchapter IV of 

16 chapter 169 of title 10, United States Code, or any 

17 other related provision of law. 

18 ‘‘(4) After demonstrating a need through a commu19 nity needs assessment, a Head Start agency may apply 

20 to the Secretary to convert part-day sessions, particularly 

21 consecutive part-day sessions, into full-day sessions.’’. 

22 SEC. 14. EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

23 Section 645A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 9840a) is amended— 
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1 (1) by striking the section heading and insert2 ing the following: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 645A. EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS.’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (b)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘provide 

6 services to parents to support their role as par7 ents’’ and inserting ‘‘provide additional services 

8 to parents to support their role as parents (in9 cluding parenting skills training and training in 

10 basic child development)’’; 

11 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), 

12 (7), (8), and (9) as paragraphs (6), (7), (10), 

13 (11), and (12), respectively; 

14 (C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(5) where appropriate and in conjunction with 

17 services provided under this section to the children’s 

18 immediate families (or as approved by the Sec19 retary), provide home-based services to family child 

20 care homes and kin caregivers caring for infants and 

21 toddlers who also participate in Early Head Start 

22 programs, to provide continuity in supporting the 

23 children’s physical, social, emotional, and intellectual 

24 development;’’; 
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1 (D) in paragraph (6), as redesignated by 

2 subparagraph (B)— 

3 (i) by inserting ‘‘(including home4 based services)’’ after ‘‘with services’’; and 

5 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, and family support 

6 services’’ after ‘‘health services’’; 

7 (E) by inserting after paragraph (7), as re8 designated by subparagraph (B), the following: 

9 ‘‘(8) develop and implement a systematic proce10 dure for transitioning children and parents from an 

11 Early Head Start program into a Head Start pro12 gram or another local early childhood education pro13 gram; 

14 ‘‘(9) establish channels of communication be15 tween staff of Early Head Start programs and staff 

16 of Head Start programs or other local early child17 hood education programs, to facilitate the coordina18 tion of programs;’’; and 

19 (F) in paragraph (11), as redesignated by 

20 subparagraph (B)— 

21 (i) by striking ‘‘and providers’’ and in22 serting ‘‘, providers’’; and 

23 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, and the agencies 

24 responsible for administering section 106 

25 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treat-
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1 ment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a) and parts B 

2 and E of title IV of the Social Security Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 620 et seq. and 670 et seq.)’’ 

4 after ‘‘(20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.)’’; 

5 (3) in subsection (d)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in7 cluding tribal governments and entities oper8 ating migrant and seasonal Head Start pro9 grams’’ after ‘‘subchapter’’; and 

10 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, in11 cluding community-based organizations’’ after 

12 ‘‘private entities’’; 

13 (4) in subsection (g)(2)(B), by striking clause 

14 (iv) and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(iv) providing professional develop16 ment and personnel enhancement activi17 ties, including the provision of funds to re18 cipients of grants under subsection (a), re19 lating to— 

20 ‘‘(I) effective methods of con21 ducting parent education, home vis22 iting, and promoting quality early 

23 childhood development; 

24 ‘‘(II) recruiting and retaining 

25 qualified staff; and 
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1 ‘‘(III) increasing program partici2 pation for underserved populations of 

3 eligible children.’’; 

4 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(h) STAFF QUALIFICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) CENTER-BASED STAFF.—The Secretary 

7 shall ensure that, not later than September 30, 

8 2010, all teachers providing direct services to Early 

9 Head Start children and families in Early Head 

10 Start centers have a minimum of a child develop11 ment associate credential or an associate degree, and 

12 have been trained (or have equivalent course work) 

13 in early childhood development. 

14 ‘‘(2) HOME VISITOR STAFF.— 

15 ‘‘(A) STANDARDS.—In order to further en16 hance the quality of home visiting services pro17 vided to families of children participating in 

18 home-based, center-based, or combination pro19 gram options under this subchapter, the Sec20 retary shall establish standards for training, 

21 qualifications, and the conduct of home visits 

22 for home visitor staff in Early Head Start pro23 grams. 
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1 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The standards for 

2 training, qualifications, and the conduct of 

3 home visits shall include content related to— 

4 ‘‘(i) structured child-focused home vis5 iting that promotes parents’ ability to sup6 port the child’s cognitive, social, emotional, 

7 and physical development; 

8 ‘‘(ii) effective strengths-based parent 

9 education, including methods to encourage 

10 parents as their child’s first teachers; 

11 ‘‘(iii) early childhood development 

12 with respect to children from birth through 

13 age 3; 

14 ‘‘(iv) methods to help parents promote 

15 emergent literacy in their children from 

16 birth through age 3, including use of re17 search-based strategies to support the de18 velopment of literacy and language skills 

19 for children who are limited English pro20 ficient; 

21 ‘‘(v) health, vision, hearing, and devel22 opmental screenings; 

23 ‘‘(vi) strategies for helping families 

24 coping with crisis; and 
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1 ‘‘(vii) the relationship of health and 

2 well-being of pregnant women to prenatal 

3 and early child development.’’. 

4 SEC. 15. APPEALS, NOTICE, AND HEARING AND RECORDS 

5 AND AUDITS. 

6 (a) APPEALS.—Section 646(a) of the Head Start Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 9841(a)) is amended by striking paragraphs 

8 (3) and (4) and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(3) financial assistance under this subchapter 

10 may be terminated or reduced, and an application 

11 for funding may be denied, after the recipient has 

12 been afforded reasonable notice and opportunity for 

13 a full and fair hearing, including— 

14 ‘‘(A) a right to file a notice of appeal of a 

15 decision within 30 days of notice of the decision 

16 from the Secretary; and 

17 ‘‘(B) access to a full and fair hearing of 

18 the appeal, not later than 120 days from receipt 

19 by the Secretary of the notice of appeal; 

20 ‘‘(4) the Secretary shall develop and publish 

21 procedures (including mediation procedures) to be 

22 used in order to— 

23 ‘‘(A) resolve in a timely manner conflicts 

24 potentially leading to an adverse action be25 tween— 
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1 ‘‘(i) recipients of financial assistance 

2 under this subchapter; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) delegate agencies or Head Start 

4 Parent Policy Councils; 

5 ‘‘(B) avoid the need for an administrative 

6 hearing on an adverse action; and 

7 ‘‘(C) prohibit a Head Start agency from 

8 expending financial assistance awarded under 

9 this subchapter for the purpose of paying legal 

10 fees pursuant to an appeal under paragraph 

11 (3), except that such fees shall be reimbursed 

12 by the Secretary if the agency prevails in such 

13 decision; and 

14 ‘‘(5) the Secretary may suspend funds to a 

15 grantee for not more than 30 days.’’. 

16 (b) RECIPIENTS.—Section 647(a) of the Head Start 

17 Act (42 U.S.C. 9842(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘Each 

18 recipient of’’ and inserting ‘‘Each Head Start agency, 

19 Head Start center, or Early Head Start center receiving’’. 

20 (c) ACCOUNTING.—Section 647 of the Head Start 

21 Act (42 U.S.C. 9842) is amended by adding at the end 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(c) Each Head Start agency, Head Start center, or 

24 Early Head Start center receiving financial assistance 

25 under this subchapter shall maintain, and annually submit 
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1 to the Secretary, a complete accounting of its administra2 tive expenses, including expenses for salaries and com3 pensation funded under this subchapter and provide such 

4 additional documentation as the Secretary may require.’’. 

5 SEC. 16. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. 

6 Section 648 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843) 

7 is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘(b) and 

9 (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘(b), (c), and (d)’’; 

10 (2) by redesignating subsections (b) through (e) 

11 as subsections (c) through (f), respectively; 

12 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(b) The Secretary shall make available funds set 

15 aside in section 640(a)(2)(C)(ii) to support a regional or 

16 State system of early childhood education training and 

17 technical assistance that improves the capacity of Head 

18 Start programs to deliver services in accordance with the 

19 standards described in section 641A(a)(1), with particular 

20 attention to the standards described in subparagraphs (A) 

21 and (B) of such section. The Secretary shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) ensure that agencies with demonstrated 

23 expertise in providing high-quality training and tech24 nical assistance to improve the delivery of Head 

25 Start services, including the State Head Start Asso-
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1 ciations, State agencies, migrant and seasonal Head 

2 Start programs, and other entities providing training 

3 and technical assistance in early education, for the 

4 region or State are included in the planning and co5 ordination of the system; and 

6 ‘‘(2) encourage States to supplement the funds 

7 authorized in section 640(a)(2)(C)(ii) with Federal, 

8 State, or local funds other than Head Start funds, 

9 to expand training and technical assistance activities 

10 beyond Head Start agencies to include other pro11 viders of other early childhood services within a re12 gion or State.’’; 

13 (4) in subsection (d), as so redesignated— 

14 (A) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by striking 

15 ‘‘educational performance measures’’ and in16 serting ‘‘measures’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and 

18 for activities described in section 1221(b)(3) of 

19 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

20 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6371(b)(3))’’ after ‘‘chil21 dren with disabilities’’; 

22 (C) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘, in23 cluding assessing the needs of homeless children 

24 and their families’’ after ‘‘needs assessment’’; 
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1 (D) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

2 and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (E) in paragraph (11), by striking the pe4 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 

5 (F) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(12) assist Head Start agencies and programs 

7 in increasing the program participation of homeless 

8 children; 

9 ‘‘(13) provide training and technical assistance 

10 to members of governing bodies to ensure that the 

11 members can fulfill the functions described in sec12 tion 641(a)(4); 

13 ‘‘(14) provide training and technical assistance 

14 to Head Start agencies to assist such agencies in 

15 conducting self-assessments; and 

16 ‘‘(15) assist Head Start agencies and Head 

17 Start programs in improving outreach to, and qual18 ity of services available to, limited English proficient 

19 children and their families, including such services 

20 to help such families learn English, particularly in 

21 communities that have experienced a large percent22 age increase in the population of limited English 

23 proficient individuals, as measured by the Bureau of 

24 the Census.’’; 
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1 (5) in subsection (e), as so redesignated, by in2 serting ‘‘including community-based organizations,’’ 

3 after ‘‘nonprofit entities’’; 

4 (6) in subsection (f), as so redesignated, by in5 serting ‘‘or providing services to children determined 

6 to be abused or neglected, training for personnel 

7 providing services to children referred by entities 

8 providing child welfare services or receiving child 

9 welfare services,’’ after ‘‘English language),’’; and 

10 (7) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(g) The Secretary shall provide, either directly or 

12 through grants or other arrangements, funds for training 

13 of Head Start personnel in addressing the unique needs 

14 of migrant and seasonal farmworking families, families 

15 with limited English proficiency, and homeless families. 

16 ‘‘(h) Funds used under this section shall be used to 

17 provide high quality, sustained, and intensive, training 

18 and technical assistance in order to have a positive and 

19 lasting impact on classroom instruction. Funds shall be 

20 used to carry out activities related to 1 or more of the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(1) Education and early childhood develop23 ment. 

24 ‘‘(2) Child health, nutrition, and safety. 

25 ‘‘(3) Family and community partnerships. 
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1 ‘‘(4) Other areas that impact the quality or 

2 overall effectiveness of Head Start programs. 

3 ‘‘(i) Funds used under this section for training shall 

4 be used for needs identified annually by a grant applicant 

5 or delegate agency in its program improvement plan, ex6 cept that funds shall not be used for long-distance travel 

7 expenses for training activities— 

8 ‘‘(1) available locally or regionally; or 

9 ‘‘(2) substantially similar to locally or regionally 

10 available training activities. 

11 ‘‘(j)(1) To support local efforts to enhance early lan12 guage and preliteracy development of children in Head 

13 Start programs, and to provide the children with high14 quality oral language skills, and environments that are 

15 rich in literature, in which to acquire language and 

16 preliteracy skills, each Head Start agency, in coordination 

17 with the appropriate State office and the relevant State 

18 Head Start collaboration office, shall ensure that all of 

19 the agency’s Head Start teachers receive ongoing training 

20 in language and emergent literacy (referred to in this sub21 section as ‘literacy training’), including appropriate cur22 ricula and assessments to improve instruction and learn23 ing. Such training shall include training in methods to 

24 promote phonological and phonemic awareness and vocab-
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1 ulary development in an age-appropriate and culturally 

2 and linguistically appropriate manner. 

3 ‘‘(2) The literacy training shall be provided at the 

4 local level in order— 

5 ‘‘(A) to be provided, to the extent feasible, in 

6 the context of the Head Start programs of the State 

7 involved and the children the program serves; and 

8 ‘‘(B) to be tailored to the early childhood lit9 eracy background and experience of the teachers in10 volved. 

11 ‘‘(3) The literacy training shall be culturally and lin12 guistically appropriate and support children’s development 

13 in their home language. 

14 ‘‘(4) The literacy training shall include training in 

15 how to work with parents to enhance positive language 

16 and early literacy development at home. 

17 ‘‘(5) The literacy training shall include specific meth18 ods to best address the needs of children who are English 

19 language learners or are limited English proficient. 

20 ‘‘(6) The literacy training shall include specific meth21 ods to best address the needs of children who have speech 

22 and language delays, including problems with articulation, 

23 or have other disabilities.’’. 
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1 SEC. 17. STAFF QUALIFICATION AND DEVELOPMENT. 

2 Section 648A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 9843a) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) by striking paragraph (2) and insert6 ing the following: 

7 ‘‘(2) DEGREE REQUIREMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

9 ensure that— 

10 ‘‘(i) not later than September 30, 

11 2010, all Head Start teachers in center12 based programs have at least— 

13 ‘‘(I)(aa) an associate degree (or 

14 equivalent coursework) relating to 

15 early childhood; or 

16 ‘‘(bb) an associate degree in a re17 lated educational area and, to the ex18 tent practicable, coursework relating 

19 to early childhood; and 

20 ‘‘(II) demonstrated teaching com21 petencies, as determined by the pro22 gram director involved (including, at a 

23 minimum, an appropriate level of lit24 eracy, a demonstrated capacity to be 

25 highly engaged with children, and a 

26 demonstrated ability to effectively im-
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•S 1107 IS

1 plement an early childhood cur2 riculum); and 

3 ‘‘(ii) not later than September 30, 

4 2008, all Head Start curriculum specialists 

5 and education coordinators in center-based 

6 programs have— 

7 ‘‘(I) the capacity to offer assist8 ance to other teachers in the imple9 mentation and adaptation of curricula 

10 to the group and individual needs of a 

11 class; and 

12 ‘‘(II)(aa) a baccalaureate or ad13 vanced degree relating to early child14 hood; or 

15 ‘‘(bb) a baccalaureate or ad16 vanced degree and coursework equiva17 lent to a major relating to early child18 hood; 

19 ‘‘(iii) not later than September 30, 

20 2008, all Head Start teaching assistants in 

21 center-based programs have— 

22 ‘‘(I) at least a child development 

23 associate credential; 
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1 ‘‘(II) enrolled in a program lead2 ing to an associate or baccalaureate 

3 degree; or 

4 ‘‘(III) enrolled in a child develop5 ment associate credential program to 

6 be completed within 2 years; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) not later than September 30, 

8 2011— 

9 ‘‘(I) in States that have estab10 lished teacher requirements for State 

11 prekindergarten programs, all Head 

12 Start teachers in center-based pro13 grams— 

14 ‘‘(aa) if such requirements 

15 are not less than those require16 ments described in subclause 

17 (II), meet such teacher require18 ments for State prekindergarten 

19 programs; and 

20 ‘‘(bb) if such requirements 

21 are less than those requirements 

22 described in subclause (II), meet 

23 the requirements described in 

24 subclause (II); and 
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1 ‘‘(II) in States that do not have 

2 teacher requirements for their State 

3 prekindergarten programs, 50 percent 

4 of all Head Start teachers in each 

5 center-based program have a bacca6 laureate degree relating to early child7 hood (or a related educational area or 

8 a baccalaureate degree that meets 

9 State specialized training require10 ments for prekindergarten teachers, 

11 such as State licensure, endorsement, 

12 or certification for prekindergarten or 

13 other early childhood area), and dem14 onstrated teaching competencies, as 

15 determined by the program director 

16 involved (including, at a minimum, an 

17 appropriate level of literacy, a dem18 onstrated capacity to be highly en19 gaged with children, and a dem20 onstrated ability to effectively imple21 ment an early childhood curriculum). 

22 ‘‘(B) TEACHER IN-SERVICE REQUIRE23 MENT.—Each Head Start teacher shall attend 

24 an average of not less than 15 clock hours of 

25 professional development per year. Such profes-
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1 sional development shall be high quality, sus2 tained, intensive, and classroom-focused in 

3 order to have a positive and lasting impact on 

4 classroom instruction and the teacher’s per5 formance in the classroom, and regularly evalu6 ated for effectiveness. 

7 ‘‘(C) PROGRESS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) REPORT.—The Secretary shall— 

9 ‘‘(I) require Head Start agencies 

10 to— 

11 ‘‘(aa) demonstrate con12 tinuing progress each year to 

13 reach the result described in sub14 paragraph (A); and 

15 ‘‘(bb) submit to the Sec16 retary a report indicating the 

17 number and percentage of class18 room instructors in center-based 

19 programs with child development 

20 associate credentials or associate, 

21 baccalaureate, or graduate de22 grees; and 

23 ‘‘(II) compile and submit a sum24 mary of all program reports described 

25 in subclause (I)(bb) to the Committee 
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1 on Education and the Workforce of 

2 the House of Representatives and the 

3 Committee on Health, Education, 

4 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. 

5 ‘‘(ii) DEMONSTRATE PROGRESS.—A 

6 Head Start agency may demonstrate 

7 progress by partnering with institutions of 

8 higher education or other programs that 

9 recruit, train, place, and support college 

10 students to deliver an innovative early 

11 learning program to preschool children. 

12 ‘‘(D) SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec13 retary shall establish requirements to ensure 

14 that, in order to enable Head Start agencies to 

15 comply with the requirements of subparagraph 

16 (A), individuals who receive financial assistance 

17 under this subchapter to pursue a degree de18 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall— 

19 ‘‘(i) teach or work in a Head Start 

20 program for a minimum of 3 years after 

21 receiving the degree; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) repay the total or a prorated 

23 amount of the financial assistance received 

24 based on the length of service completed 

25 after receiving the degree.’’; and 
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1 (B) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4) and 

2 inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On request, the Sec5 retary may grant a waiver of the postsecondary 

6 degree requirements of paragraph (2) for 1 or 

7 more Head Start agencies, either individually, 

8 statewide, or throughout a region, that can 

9 demonstrate— 

10 ‘‘(i) that continuing aggressive state11 wide and national efforts have been unsuc12 cessful at recruiting an individual to serve 

13 as a Head Start teacher or curriculum spe14 cialist or education coordinator who meets 

15 the requirements of paragraph (2)(A); 

16 ‘‘(ii) limited access to degree pro17 grams (including quality distance learning 

18 programs), due to the remote location of 

19 the program involved; or 

20 ‘‘(iii) that Head Start staff members 

21 are, as of the day the waiver is granted, 

22 enrolled in a program that— 

23 ‘‘(I) grants the required degree; 

24 and 
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1 ‘‘(II) will be completed within 1 

2 year. 

3 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—An agency that re4 ceives a waiver under subparagraph (A) shall 

5 ensure that Head Start teachers for the agency, 

6 as of the day the waiver is granted, who have 

7 not met the postsecondary degree requirements 

8 of paragraph (2) but are otherwise highly quali9 fied and competent shall be directly and appro10 priately supervised by a teacher who has met or 

11 exceeded the requirements of this subchapter. 

12 ‘‘(C) DURATION.—The Secretary may not 

13 grant a waiver under subparagraph (A) for a 

14 period that exceeds 1 year.’’; 

15 (2) in subsection (c)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

17 the end; 

18 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe19 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(4) promote the use of appropriate strategies 

22 to meet the needs of special populations (including 

23 limited English proficient populations).’’; 

24 (3) in subsection (d)(3)(C) by inserting ‘‘, in25 cluding a center,’’ after ‘‘any agency’’; and 
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•S 1107 IS

1 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(f) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS.—Every 

3 Head Start agency and center shall create, in consultation 

4 with employees of the agency or center (including family 

5 service workers), a professional development plan for em6 ployees who provide direct services to children, including 

7 a plan for classroom teachers, curriculum specialists, and 

8 education coordinators to meet the requirements set forth 

9 in subsection (a).’’. 

10 SEC. 18. TRIBAL COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES HEAD 

11 START PARTNERSHIP. 

12 The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) is 

13 amended by inserting after section 648A the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 648B. TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY HEAD START 

15 PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. 

16 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 

17 promote social competencies and school readiness in In18 dian children. 

19 ‘‘(b) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY HEAD START

20 PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.— 

21 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

22 award grants, for periods of not less than 5 years, 

23 to Tribal Colleges and Universities to— 

24 ‘‘(A) implement education programs that 

25 include education concerning tribal culture and 
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1 language and increase the number of associate, 

2 baccalaureate, and graduate degrees in early 

3 childhood education and related fields that are 

4 earned by Indian Head Start agency staff mem5 bers, parents of children served by such an 

6 agency, and members of the tribal community 

7 involved; 

8 ‘‘(B) develop and implement the programs 

9 under subparagraph (A) in technology-mediated 

10 formats, including providing the programs 

11 through such means as distance learning and 

12 use of advanced technology, as appropriate; and 

13 ‘‘(C) provide technology literacy programs 

14 for Indian Head Start agency staff members 

15 and children and families of children served by 

16 such an agency. 

17 ‘‘(2) STAFFING.—The Secretary shall ensure 

18 that the American Indian Programs Branch of the 

19 Head Start Bureau of the Department of Health 

20 and Human Services shall have staffing sufficient to 

21 administer the programs under this section and to 

22 provide appropriate technical assistance to Tribal 

23 Colleges and Universities receiving grants under this 

24 section. 
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1 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—Each Tribal College or Univer2 sity desiring a grant under this section shall submit an 

3 application to the Secretary, at such time, in such manner, 

4 and containing such information as the Secretary may re5 quire, including a certification that the Tribal College or 

6 University has established a partnership with 1 or more 

7 Indian Head Start agencies for the purpose of conducting 

8 the activities described in subsection (b). 

9 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

11 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 and such sums as may 

12 be necessary for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2010. 

13 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

15 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

16 meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the 

17 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

18 ‘‘(2) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 

19 term ‘Tribal College or University’— 

20 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given such term in 

21 section 316 of the Higher Education Act of 

22 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c); and 

23 ‘‘(B) means an institution determined to 

24 be accredited or a candidate for accreditation 
126 

•S 1107 IS

1 by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or 

2 association.’’. 

3 SEC. 19. RESEARCH, DEMONSTRATIONS, AND EVALUATION. 

4 Section 649 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9844) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by inserting ‘‘and 

7 children determined to be abused or neglected’’ after 

8 ‘‘children with disabilities’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (d)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (8), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

11 after the semicolon; 

12 (B) by striking paragraph (9); 

13 (C) by redesignating paragraph (10) as 

14 paragraph (9); and 

15 (D) by striking the last sentence; 

16 (3) in subsection (g)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

18 (i) by striking clause (i); and 

19 (ii) by redesignating clauses (ii) and 

20 (iii) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; 

21 and 

22 (B) in paragraph (7)(C)— 

23 (i) in clause (i)(I), by striking ‘‘2003’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘2007’’; and 
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•S 1107 IS

1 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘Labor 

2 and Human Resources’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘Health, Education, Labor, and Pen4 sions’’; and 

5 (4) by striking subsection (h) and inserting the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(h) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES STUDY.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter 

9 into a contract with the Board on Children, Youth, 

10 and Families of the National Research Council, the 

11 Board on Testing and Assessments, and the Insti12 tute of Medicine, of the National Academy of 

13 Sciences to establish an independent panel of experts 

14 to review and synthesize research and theories in the 

15 social, behavioral, and biological sciences regarding 

16 early childhood, and make recommendations with re17 gard to each of the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) Age- and developmentally appropriate 

19 Head Start academic requirements and out20 comes, including the standards described in sec21 tion 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii). 

22 ‘‘(B) Differences in the type, length, mix, 

23 and intensity of services that are necessary to 

24 ensure that children from challenging family or 

25 social backgrounds (including low-income chil-
128 

•S 1107 IS

1 dren, children with disabilities, and limited 

2 English proficient children) enter kindergarten 

3 ready to succeed. 

4 ‘‘(C) Appropriate assessments of young 

5 children for the purposes of improving instruc6 tion, services, and program quality, including— 

7 ‘‘(i) formal and systematic observa8 tional assessments in a child’s natural en9 vironment; 

10 ‘‘(ii) assessments of children’s devel11 opment through parent and provider inter12 views; 

13 ‘‘(iii) appropriate accommodations for 

14 children with disabilities and limited 

15 English proficient children; 

16 ‘‘(iv) appropriate assessments for chil17 dren with disabilities, limited English pro18 ficient children, and children from different 

19 cultural backgrounds; and 

20 ‘‘(v) other assessments used in Head 

21 Start programs. 

22 ‘‘(D) Identification of existing, or rec23 ommendations for the development of, scientif24 ically based, valid and reliable assessments that 

25 are capable of measuring child outcomes in the 
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•S 1107 IS

1 domains important to school readiness, includ2 ing language skills, prereading ability, 

3 premathematics ability, cognitive ability, sci4 entific ability, social and emotional develop5 ment, and physical development; 

6 ‘‘(E) Appropriate use and application of 

7 valid and reliable assessments for Head Start 

8 programs identified in accordance with subpara9 graph (D). 

10 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The panel described 

12 in paragraph (1) shall consist of multiple ex13 perts in each of the following areas: 

14 ‘‘(i) Child development (including cog15 nitive, social, emotional, and physical de16 velopment) and child education (including 

17 approaches to learning). 

18 ‘‘(ii) Professional development, includ19 ing preparation of individuals who teach 

20 young children. 

21 ‘‘(iii) Assessment of young children 

22 (including children with disabilities and 

23 limited English proficient children), includ24 ing screening, diagnostic, and classroom25 based instructional assessment. 
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•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(B) REPRESENTATIVES.—The panel de2 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be selected and 

3 appointed by the National Academy of Sciences, 

4 after consultation with the Secretary of Health 

5 and Human Services. 

6 ‘‘(3) TIMING.— 

7 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 

8 days after the date of enactment of the Head 

9 Start Improvements for School Readiness Act, 

10 the Board on Children, Youth, and Families of 

11 the National Research Council, the Board on 

12 Testing and Assessments, and the Institute of 

13 Medicine, of the National Academy of Sciences 

14 shall establish the panel described in paragraph 

15 (1), including selecting and appointing the 

16 members of the panel. Representatives de17 scribed in paragraph (2) shall be selected and 

18 appointed after consultation with the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(B) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 

20 1 year after the panel described in paragraph 

21 (1) is established, the panel shall complete, and 

22 submit to the Secretary a report containing, the 

23 recommendations described in paragraph (1). 

24 The Secretary shall not implement the amend25 ments made to section 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii) by the 
131 

•S 1107 IS

1 Head Start Improvements for School Readiness 

2 Act until the panel submits the report. 

3 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION OF PANEL REPORT.—The 

4 Secretary shall use the results of the review and rec5 ommendations described in paragraph (1) to (where 

6 appropriate) develop, inform, and revise— 

7 ‘‘(A) the educational standards, and the 

8 performance measures, described in section 

9 641A; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the assessments utilized in the Head 

11 Start programs. 

12 ‘‘(i) SERVICES TO LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT

13 CHILDREN AND FAMILIES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a 

15 study on the status of limited English proficient 

16 children and their families in Head Start or Early 

17 Head Start programs. 

18 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall prepare 

19 and submit to Congress, not later than September 

20 2009, a report containing the results of the study, 

21 including information on— 

22 ‘‘(A) the demographics of limited English 

23 proficient children from birth through age 5, in24 cluding the number of such children receiving 

25 Head Start or Early Head Start services and 
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•S 1107 IS

1 the geographic distribution of children described 

2 in this subparagraph; 

3 ‘‘(B) the nature of Head Start or Early 

4 Head Start services provided to limited English 

5 proficient children and their families, including 

6 the types, content, duration, intensity, and costs 

7 of family services, language assistance, and 

8 educational services; 

9 ‘‘(C) procedures in Head Start programs 

10 for the assessment of language needs and the 

11 transition of limited English proficient children 

12 to kindergarten, including the extent to which 

13 Head Start programs meet the requirements of 

14 section 642A for limited English proficient chil15 dren; 

16 ‘‘(D) the qualifications and training pro17 vided to Head Start and Early Head Start 

18 teachers serving limited English proficient chil19 dren and their families; 

20 ‘‘(E) the rate of progress made by limited 

21 English proficient children and their families in 

22 Head Start programs and Early Head Start 

23 programs, including— 

24 ‘‘(i) the rate of progress of the limited 

25 English proficient children toward meeting 
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•S 1107 IS

1 the additional educational standards de2 scribed in section 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii) while 

3 enrolled in Head Start programs, meas4 ured between 1990 and 2004; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the correlation between such 

6 progress and the type of instruction and 

7 educational program provided to the lim8 ited English proficient children; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) the correlation between such 

10 progress and the health and family services 

11 provided by Head Start programs to lim12 ited English proficient children and their 

13 families; and 

14 ‘‘(F) the extent to which Head Start pro15 grams make use of funds under section 

16 640(a)(3) to improve the quality of Head Start 

17 services provided to limited English proficient 

18 children and their families.’’. 

19 SEC. 20. REPORTS. 

20 Section 650 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9846) 

21 is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)— 

23 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

24 by striking ‘‘Labor and Human Resources’’ and 
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•S 1107 IS

1 inserting ‘‘Health, Education, Labor, and Pen2 sions’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (8), by inserting ‘‘home4 lessness, children in foster care, children who 

5 are abused or neglected,’’ after ‘‘ethnic back6 ground,’’; and 

7 (C) in the flush matter at the end by strik8 ing ‘‘Labor and Human Resources’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions’’; 

10 and 

11 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Labor and 

12 Human Resources’’ and inserting ‘‘Health, Edu13 cation, Labor, and Pensions’’. 

14 SEC. 21. COMPARABILITY OF WAGES. 

15 Section 653 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9848) 

16 is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall take’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall take’’; 

19 (2) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by 

20 striking ‘‘or (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2) in excess of the 

21 salary of the Secretary, in the case of an individual 

22 compensated with funds awarded under this sub23 chapter or the Community Services Block Grant Act 

24 (42 U.S.C. 9901 et seq.); or (3)’’; and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following: 
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•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘(b) If in any fiscal year the restriction described in 

2 subsection (a)(2) is violated, the Secretary shall withhold 

3 from the base grant of the Head Start agency involved 

4 (as defined in section 641A(g)(1)) for the next fiscal year, 

5 an amount equal to the aggregate amount by which the 

6 salary that resulted in the violation exceeded the salary 

7 of the Secretary.’’. 

8 SEC. 22. LIMITATION WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN UNLAW9 FUL ACTIVITIES. 

10 Section 655 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9850) 

11 is amended by inserting ‘‘or in’’ after ‘‘assigned by’’. 

12 SEC. 23. POLITICAL ACTIVITIES. 

13 Section 656 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9851) 

14 is amended— 

15 (1) by striking all that precedes ‘‘chapter 15’’ 

16 and inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 656. POLITICAL ACTIVITIES. 

18 ‘‘(a) STATE OR LOCAL AGENCY.—For purposes of’’; 

19 and 

20 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A program assisted under 

24 this subchapter, and any individual employed by, or 

25 assigned to, a program assessed under this sub-
136 

•S 1107 IS

1 chapter (during the hours in which such individual 

2 is working on behalf of such program), shall not en3 gage in— 

4 ‘‘(A) any partisan or nonpartisan political 

5 activity or any other political activity associated 

6 with a candidate, or contending faction or 

7 group, in an election for public or party office; 

8 ‘‘(B) any activity to provide voters or pro9 spective voters with transportation to the polls 

10 or similar assistance in connection with any 

11 such election; or 

12 ‘‘(C) any voter registration activity. 

13 ‘‘(2) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—The Sec14 retary, after consultation with the Director of the 

15 Office of Personnel Management, may issue rules 

16 and regulations to provide for the enforcement of 

17 this section, which may include provisions for sum18 mary suspension of assistance or other action nec19 essary to permit enforcement on an emergency 

20 basis.’’. 

21 SEC. 24. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR HEALTH 

22 SERVICES. 

23 The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
137 

•S 1107 IS

1 ‘‘SEC. 657A. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR NON2 EMERGENCY INTRUSIVE PHYSICAL EXAMINA3 TIONS. 

4 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—The term ‘nonemergency intru5 sive physical examination’ means, with respect to a child, 

6 a physical examination that— 

7 ‘‘(1) is not immediately necessary to protect the 

8 health or safety of the child or the health or safety 

9 of another individual; and 

10 ‘‘(2) requires incision or is otherwise invasive, 

11 or involves exposure of private body parts. 

12 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT.—A Head Start agency shall ob13 tain written parental consent before administration of, or 

14 referral for, any health care service provided or arranged 

15 to be provided, including any nonemergency intrusive 

16 physical examination of a child in connection with partici17 pation in a program under this subchapter. 

18 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec19 tion shall be construed to prohibit agencies from using es20 tablished methods, for handling cases of suspected or 

21 known child abuse and neglect, that are in compliance 

22 with applicable Federal, State, or tribal law.’’. 

Æ