II 

Calendar No. 413

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1940

[Report No. 108–208] 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 24, 2003

Mr. GREGG, from the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 

reported the following original bill; which was read twice and placed on 

the calendar 

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 
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1 prereading skills, premathematics skills, and language and 

2 through’’ after ‘‘low-income children through’’. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

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

5 is amended—

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

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

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

10 Islands.’’; and 

11 (3) 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; 
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1 ‘‘(ii)(I) who is an Indian (including an 

2 Alaskan Native) or a native resident of a 

3 United States territory; and 

4 ‘‘(II) who comes from an environment 

5 where a language other than English has had 

6 a significant impact on the child’s level of 

7 English language proficiency; or 

8 ‘‘(iii) who is migratory, whose native lan9 guage is a language other than English, and 

10 who comes from an environment where a lan11 guage other than English is dominant; and 

12 ‘‘(C) whose difficulty in speaking or under13 standing the English language may be sufficient 

14 to deny such child—

15 ‘‘(i) the ability to successfully achieve 

16 in a classroom in which the language of in17 struction is English; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) the opportunity to participate 

19 fully in society.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR HEAD START PRO21 GRAMS. 

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

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

24 ‘‘provide financial assistance to such agency’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

3 is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 639. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap6 propriated for carrying out the provisions of this sub7 chapter $7,215,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, 

8 $7,615,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, $8,015,000,000 for 

9 fiscal year 2007, and such sums as may be necessary for 

10 each of fiscal years 2008 and 2009. 

11 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIC PROGRAMS.—From the amount ap12 propriated under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make 

13 available to carry out research, demonstration, and evalua14 tion activities, including longitudinal studies under section 

15 649, not more than $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, and 

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

17 2005 through 2009, of which not more than $7,000,000 

18 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2009 shall be avail19 able to carry out impact studies under section 649(g).’’. 

20 SEC. 6. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS. 

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

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

23 (1) in paragraph (2)—

24 (A) by striking subparagraph (A) and in25 serting the following: 
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1 ‘‘(A) Indian Head Start programs, services for 

2 children with disabilities, and migrant and seasonal 

3 Head Start programs, except that—

4 ‘‘(i) subject to the availability of appropria5 tions, the Secretary shall reserve for each fiscal 

6 year for use by Indian Head Start and migrant 

7 and seasonal Head Start programs (referred to 

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

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

10 not less than 4 percent of the amount appro11 priated under section 639 for that fiscal year 

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

13 than 5 percent of that appropriated amount 

14 (for migrant and seasonal Head Start pro15 grams), except that—

16 ‘‘(I) if reserving the specified percent17 ages for Indian Head Start programs and 

18 migrant and seasonal Head Start pro19 grams would reduce the number of chil20 dren served by Head Start programs, rel21 ative to the number of children served on 

22 the date of enactment of the Head Start 

23 Improvements for School Readiness Act, 

24 taking into consideration an appropriate 

25 adjustment for inflation, the Secretary
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1 shall reserve percentages that approach, as 

2 closely as practicable, the specified percent3 ages and that do not cause such a reduc4 tion; and 

5 ‘‘(II) notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of this subparagraph, the Secretary 

7 shall reserve for each fiscal year for use by 

8 Indian Head Start programs and by mi9 grant and seasonal Head Start programs, 

10 on a nationwide basis, not less than the 

11 amount that was obligated for use by In12 dian Head Start programs and by migrant 

13 and seasonal Head Start programs for the 

14 previous fiscal year; 

15 ‘‘(ii) after ensuring that each grant recipi16 ent for a covered program has received an 

17 amount sufficient to enable the grant recipient 

18 to serve the same number of children in Head 

19 Start programs as were served by such grant 

20 recipient on the date of enactment of the Head 

21 Start Improvements for School Readiness Act, 

22 taking into consideration an appropriate adjust23 ment for inflation, and after allotting the funds 

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

25 paragraph (3)(D), the Secretary shall distribute 
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1 the remaining funds available under this sub2 paragraph for covered programs, by—

3 ‘‘(I) distributing 65 percent of 

4 the remainder by giving priority to 

5 grant recipients in the States serving 

6 the smallest percentages of eligible 

7 children (as determined by the Sec8 retary); and 

9 ‘‘(II) distributing 35 percent of 

10 the remainder on a competitive 

11 basis;’’; and 

12 (B) by striking subparagraph (C) and in13 serting the following: 

14 ‘‘(C) training and technical assistance activities 

15 that are sufficient to meet the needs associated with 

16 program expansion and to foster program and man17 agement improvement activities as described in sec18 tion 648, in an amount for each fiscal year that is 

19 equal to 2 percent of the amount appropriated under 

20 section 639 for such fiscal year, of which—

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

22 Head Start agencies to comply with the stand23 ards described in section 641A(a)(1) and with 

24 the transportation safety regulations issued 

25 pursuant to subsection (i) and section 
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1 645A(b)(11), and for the uses described in 

2 clauses (iii), (iv), and (vii) of paragraph (3)(B); 

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

4 the Secretary to support a regional or State 

5 system of early childhood education training 

6 and technical assistance and to assist local pro7 grams (including Indian Head Start programs 

8 and migrant and seasonal Head Start pro9 grams) in meeting the standards described in 

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

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

12 amount in clause (ii) appropriated for such fis13 cal year shall be made available to carry out ac14 tivities described in section 648(d)(4);’’; 

15 (2) in paragraph (3)—

16 (A) in subparagraph (A)(i)(I)—

17 (i) by striking ‘‘60 percent of such ex18 cess amount for fiscal year 1999’’ and all 

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

20 (ii) by inserting before the semicolon 

21 the following: ‘‘and 50 percent of such ex22 cess amount for each of fiscal years 2005 

23 through 2009’’; 

24 (B) in subparagraph (B)—
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1 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘perform2 ance standards’’ and all that follows and 

3 inserting ‘‘standards and measures pursu4 ant to section 641A.’’; 

5 (ii) by striking clause (ii) and insert6 ing the following: 

7 ‘‘(ii) Ensuring that such programs have ade8 quate numbers of qualified staff, and that such staff 

9 is furnished adequate training, including training to 

10 promote the development of language skills, 

11 premathematics skills, and prereading in young chil12 dren and in working with limited English proficient 

13 children, children referred by child welfare services, 

14 and children with disabilities, when appropriate.’’; 

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

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

18 and benefits standards under section 644(a) and 

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

20 benefits are adequate to attract and retain qualified 

21 staff for such programs.’’; 

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

24 ‘‘(iv) Using salary increases to—
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1 ‘‘(I) assist with the implementation of 

2 quality programs and improve staff qualifica3 tions; 

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

5 language skills and literacy growth of children 

6 and can provide children with a variety of skills 

7 that have been identified, through scientifically 

8 based early reading research, as predictive of 

9 later reading achievement; and 

10 ‘‘(III) encourage the staff to continually 

11 improve their skills and expertise by informing 

12 the staff of the availability of Federal and State 

13 incentive and loan forgiveness programs for 

14 professional development.’’; 

15 (v) in clause (v), by inserting ‘‘, in16 cluding collaborations to increase program 

17 participation by underserved populations of 

18 eligible children’’ before the period; and 

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

20 and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(vii) Providing assistance to complete postsec22 ondary coursework including scholarships or other fi23 nancial incentives, such as differential and merit 

24 pay, to enable Head Start teachers to improve com25 petencies and the resulting child outcomes.
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1 ‘‘(viii) Promoting the regular attendance and 

2 stability of all Head Start children with particular 

3 attention to highly mobile children, including chil4 dren from migrant and seasonal farmworking fami5 lies (where appropriate), homeless children, and chil6 dren in foster care. 

7 ‘‘(ix) Making such other improvements in the 

8 quality of such programs as the Secretary may des9 ignate.’’; 

10 (C) in subparagraph (C)—

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

12 sentence and inserting ‘‘Salary increases, 

13 in excess of cost-of-living allowances, pro14 vided with such funds shall be subject to 

15 the specific standards governing salaries 

16 and salary increases established pursuant 

17 to section 644(a).’’; 

18 (ii) in clause (ii)—

19 (I) in the matter preceding sub20 clause (I), by striking ‘‘education per21 formance’’ and inserting ‘‘additional 

22 educational’’; 

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

24 ‘‘, prereading,’’ after ‘‘language’’; 
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1 (III) by striking subclause (II) 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(II) to help limited English proficient 

4 children attain the knowledge, skills, and devel5 opment specified in section 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii) 

6 and to promote the acquisition of the English 

7 language by such children and families;’’; and 

8 (IV) by striking subclause (IV) 

9 and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(IV) to provide education and training 

11 necessary to improve the qualifications of Head 

12 Start staff, particularly assistance to enable 

13 more instructors to be fully competent and to 

14 meet the degree requirements under section 

15 648A(a)(2)(A), and to support staff training, 

16 child counseling, and other services necessary to 

17 address the challenges of children participating 

18 in Head Start programs, including children 

19 from immigrant, refugee, and asylee families, 

20 children from families in crisis, children who ex21 perience chronic violence in their communities, 

22 and children who experience substance abuse in 

23 their families.’’; 

24 (iii) in clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘, edu25 cational staff who have the qualifications 
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1 described in section 648A(a),’’ after 

2 ‘‘ratio’’; 

3 (iv) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘pro4 grams, including’’ and all that follows and 

5 inserting ‘‘programs.’’; 

6 (v) by redesignating clause (vi) as 

7 clause (viii); and 

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

9 following: 

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

11 in an effort to increase the program participation of 

12 eligible homeless children. 

13 ‘‘(vii) To conduct outreach to migrant and sea14 sonal farmworking families and families with limited 

15 English proficient children.’’; 

16 (3) in paragraph (4)—

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

18 ‘‘1998’’ and inserting ‘‘2003’’; and 

19 (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in20 serting the following: 

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

22 are made under subparagraph (A) for such fiscal 

23 year shall be distributed as follows: 

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

25 sufficient to enable such State to serve the 
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1 same number of children in Head Start pro2 grams as were served by such State on the date 

3 of enactment of the Head Start Improvements 

4 for School Readiness Act, taking into consider5 ation an appropriate adjustment for inflation. 

6 ‘‘(ii) After ensuring that each State has re7 ceived the amount described in clause (i) and 

8 after allotting the funds reserved under para9 graph (3)(A) as specified in paragraph (3)(D), 

10 the Secretary shall distribute the remaining bal11 ance, by—

12 ‘‘(I) distributing 65 percent of the 

13 balance by giving priority to States serving 

14 the smallest percentages of eligible children 

15 (as determined by the Secretary); and 

16 ‘‘(II) distributing 35 percent of the 

17 balance on a competitive basis.’’; 

18 (4) in paragraph (5)—

19 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) 

20 and (F) as subparagraphs (F) and (G), respec21 tively; and 

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

23 and (D) and inserting the following: 

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

25 award a collaboration grant to each State to facilitate col-
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1 laboration between Head Start agencies and entities (in2 cluding the State) that carry out other activities designed 

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

4 school entry. 

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

6 ‘‘(I) encourage Head Start agencies to collabo7 rate with entities involved in State and local plan8 ning processes to better meet the needs of low-in9 come families and children from birth to school 

10 entry; 

11 ‘‘(II) encourage Head Start agencies to coordi12 nate activities with the State agency responsible for 

13 administering the State program carried out under 

14 the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 

15 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) and entities providing 

16 resources and referral services in the State to make 

17 full-working-day and full calendar year services 

18 available to children; 

19 ‘‘(III) promote alignment of Head Start serv20 ices with State early learning and school readiness 

21 goals and standards; 

22 ‘‘(IV) promote better linkages between Head 

23 Start agencies and other child and family agencies, 

24 including agencies that provide health, mental
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1 health, or family services, or other child or family 

2 supportive services; and 

3 ‘‘(V) carry out the activities of the State Direc4 tor of Head Start Collaboration authorized in sub5 paragraph (D). 

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

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

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

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

10 Director of Head Start Collaboration; 

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

12 Start Collaboration holds a position with sufficient 

13 authority and access to ensure that the collaboration 

14 described in subparagraph (B) is effective and in15 volves a range of State agencies; and 

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

17 in the selection of the Director and involve the Asso18 ciation in determinations relating to the ongoing di19 rection of the collaboration office. 

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

21 after consultation with the State Advisory Council de22 scribed in subparagraph (E), shall—

23 ‘‘(i) not later than 1 year after the date of en24 actment of the Head Start Improvements for School 

25 Readiness Act, conduct an assessment that— 
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1 ‘‘(I) addresses the needs of Head Start 

2 agencies in the State with respect to collabo3 rating, coordinating services, and implementing 

4 State early learning and school readiness goals 

5 and standards to better serve children enrolled 

6 in Head Start programs in the State; 

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

8 and 

9 ‘‘(III) shall be made available to the gen10 eral public within the State; 

11 ‘‘(ii) assess the availability of high quality pre12 kindergarten services for low-income children in the 

13 State; 

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

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

16 ‘‘(I) enhance collaboration and coordina17 tion of Head Start services with other entities 

18 providing early childhood programs and services 

19 (such as child care and services offered by mu20 seums), health care, mental health care, wel21 fare, child protective services, education and 

22 community service activities, family literacy 

23 services, reading readiness programs (including 

24 such programs offered by public and school li25 braries), services relating to children with dis-
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1 abilities (including coordination of services with 

2 those State officials who are responsible for ad3 ministering section 619 and part C of the Indi4 viduals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

5 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.), and other early 

6 childhood programs and services for limited 

7 English proficient and homeless children (in8 cluding coordination of services with the Office 

9 of Coordinator for Education of Homeless Chil10 dren and Youths under section 722(d)(3) of the 

11 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 11432(d)(3))); 

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

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

15 calendar year services for children enrolled in 

16 Head Start programs who need such care; 

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

18 services with State early learning and school 

19 readiness goals and standards and to facilitate 

20 collaborative efforts to develop local school 

21 readiness standards; and 

22 ‘‘(IV) enable agencies in the State to bet23 ter coordinate professional development oppor24 tunities for Head Start staff, such as by—
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1 ‘‘(aa) assisting 2- and 4-year public 

2 and private institutions of higher education 

3 to develop articulation agreements; 

4 ‘‘(bb) awarding grants to institutions 

5 of higher education to develop model early 

6 childhood education programs, including 

7 practica or internships for students to 

8 spend time in a Head Start or prekinder9 garten program; 

10 ‘‘(cc) working with local Head Start 

11 agencies to meet the degree requirements 

12 described in section 648A(a)(2)(A), includ13 ing providing distance learning opportuni14 ties for Head Start staff, where needed to 

15 make higher education more accessible to 

16 Head Start staff; and 

17 ‘‘(dd) enabling the State Head Start 

18 agencies to better coordinate outreach to 

19 eligible families; 

20 ‘‘(iv) promote partnerships between Head Start 

21 agencies, State governments, and the private sector 

22 to help ensure that preschool children from low-in23 come families are receiving comprehensive services to 

24 prepare the children to enter school ready to learn; 
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1 ‘‘(v) consult with the chief State school officer, 

2 local educational agencies, and providers of early 

3 childhood education and care to conduct unified 

4 planning regarding early care and education services 

5 at both the State and local levels, including under6 taking collaborative efforts to develop and make im7 provements in school readiness standards; 

8 ‘‘(vi) promote partnerships (such as the part9 nerships involved with the Free to Grow initiative) 

10 between Head Start agencies, schools, law enforce11 ment, and substance abuse and mental health treat12 ment agencies to strengthen family and community 

13 environments and to reduce the impact on child de14 velopment of substance abuse, child abuse, domestic 

15 violence, and other high risk behaviors that com16 promise healthy development; 

17 ‘‘(vii) promote partnerships between Head Start 

18 agencies and other organizations in order to enhance 

19 the Head Start curriculum, including partnerships 

20 to promote inclusion of more books in Head Start 

21 classrooms and partnerships to promote coordination 

22 of activities with the Ready-to-Learn Television pro23 gram carried out under subpart 3 of part D of title 

24 II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

25 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6775 et seq.); and
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1 ‘‘(viii) identify other resources and organiza2 tions (both public and private) for the provision of 

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

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

5 establish a council to serve as the State advisory council 

6 on collaboration on early care and education activities for 

7 children from birth to school entry (in this subchapter re8 ferred to as the ‘State Advisory Council’). 

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

10 to serve as the State Advisory Council, if the entity in11 cludes representatives described in subclauses (I) through 

12 (XXIV) of clause (iii). 

13 ‘‘(iii) Members of the State Advisory Council shall in14 clude, to the maximum extent possible—

15 ‘‘(I) the State Director of Head Start Collabo16 ration; 

17 ‘‘(II) a representative of the appropriate re18 gional office of the Administration for Children and 

19 Families; 

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

21 agency and local educational agencies; 

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

23 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; 

7 ‘‘(VII) a representative of the State agency re8 sponsible for child care; 

9 ‘‘(VIII) early childhood education professionals; 

10 ‘‘(IX) kindergarten teachers and teachers in 

11 grades 1 through 3; 

12 ‘‘(X) health care professionals; 

13 ‘‘(XI) child development specialists, including 

14 specialists in prenatal, infant, and toddler develop15 ment; 

16 ‘‘(XII) a representative of the State agency re17 sponsible for assisting children with developmental 

18 disabilities; 

19 ‘‘(XIII) a representative of the State agency re20 sponsible for programs under part C of the Individ21 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

22 1431 et seq.); 

23 ‘‘(XIV) a representative of the State inter24 agency coordinating councils established under sec-
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1 tion 641 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu2 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1441); 

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

4 Association (where appropriate), and other rep5 resentatives of Head Start programs in the State; 

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

7 child care resource and referral agencies; 

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

9 organizations; 

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

11 providers of early childhood education and child 

12 care; 

13 ‘‘(XIX) a representative of migrant and sea14 sonal Head Start programs and Indian Head Start 

15 programs (where appropriate); 

16 ‘‘(XX) parents; 

17 ‘‘(XXI) religious and business leaders; 

18 ‘‘(XXII) the head of the State library adminis19 trative agency; 

20 ‘‘(XXIII) representatives of State and local or21 ganizations and other entities providing professional 

22 development to early care and education providers; 

23 and 
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1 ‘‘(XXIV) a representative of other entities de2 termined to be relevant by the chief executive officer 

3 of the State. 

4 ‘‘(iv)(I) The State Advisory Council shall be respon5 sible for, in addition to responsibilities assigned to the 

6 council by the chief executive officer of the State—

7 ‘‘(aa) conducting a periodic statewide needs as8 sessment concerning early care and education pro9 grams for children from birth to school entry; 

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

11 for, collaboration and coordination between entities 

12 carrying out Federal and State child development, 

13 child care, and early childhood education programs; 

14 ‘‘(cc) developing recommendations regarding 

15 means of establishing a unified data collection sys16 tem for early care and education programs through17 out the State; 

18 ‘‘(dd) developing a statewide professional devel19 opment and career ladder plan for early care and 

20 education in the State; and 

21 ‘‘(ee) reviewing and approving the strategic 

22 plan, regarding collaborating and coordinating serv23 ices to better serve children enrolled in Head Start 

24 programs, developed by the State Director of Head 

25 Start Collaboration under subparagraph (D)(iii). 
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1 ‘‘(II) The State Advisory Council shall hold public 

2 hearings and provide an opportunity for public comment 

3 on the needs assessment and recommendations described 

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

5 a statewide strategic report containing the needs assess6 ment and recommendations described in subclause (I) to 

7 the State Director of Head Start Collaboration and the 

8 chief executive officer of the State. 

9 ‘‘(III) After submission of a statewide strategic re10 port under subclause (II), the State Advisory Council shall 

11 meet periodically to review any implementation of the rec12 ommendations in such report and any changes in State 

13 and local needs.’’; and 

14 (5) in paragraph (6)—

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

16 percent’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘10 

17 percent for fiscal year 2004, 11 percent for fis18 cal year 2005, 13 percent for fiscal year 2006, 

19 15 percent for fiscal year 2007, 17 percent for 

20 fiscal year 2008, and 18 percent for fiscal year 

21 2009, of the amount appropriated pursuant to 

22 section 639(a).’’; 

23 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); 

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

25 ‘‘required to be’’; and
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1 (D) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 

2 subparagraph (B). 

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

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

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

6 ‘‘(1) models that leverage the capacity and ca7 pabilities of the delivery system of early childhood 

8 education and child care; and 

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

10 part-day programs to full-day programs or part-day 

11 slots to full-day slots.’’. 

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

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

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

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(C) the extent to which the applicant has un17 dertaken communitywide strategic planning and 

18 needs assessments involving other community orga19 nizations and Federal, State, and local public agen20 cies serving children and families (including organi21 zations and agencies providing family support serv22 ices and protective services to children and families 

23 and organizations serving families in whose homes 

24 English is not the language customarily spoken), 

25 and individuals, organizations, and public entities 
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1 serving children with disabilities and homeless chil2 dren including the local educational agency liaison 

3 designated under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the 

4 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii));’’; 

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

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

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

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

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

11 the existing delivery systems of such services and’’ 

12 after ‘‘manner that will’’; and 

13 (5) in subparagraph (H), by inserting ‘‘, includ14 ing the local educational agency liaison designated 

15 under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney16 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)),’’ after ‘‘community involved’’. 

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

19 Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(i)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and re20 quirements to ensure the appropriate supervision and 

21 background checks of individuals with whom the agencies 

22 contract to transport those children’’ before the period. 

23 (e) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START PRO24 GRAMS.—Section 640(l) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 9835(l)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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•S 1940 RS 

1 ‘‘(4)(A) For the purposes of paragraph (3), the Sec2 retary shall conduct an annual consultation in each af3 fected Head Start region, with tribal governments oper4 ating Head Start and Early Head Start programs. 

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

6 better meeting the needs of American Indian and Alaska 

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

8 (b), and (c) of section 641, taking into consideration fund9 ing allocations, distribution formulas, and other issues af10 fecting the delivery of Head Start services within tribal 

11 communities. 

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

13 consultations in the Federal Register prior to conducting 

14 the consultations. 

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

16 prepared and made available, on a timely basis, to all trib17 al governments receiving funds under this subchapter.’’. 

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

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

20 end the following: 

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

22 Secretary shall issue regulations to remove barriers to the 

23 enrollment and participation of eligible homeless children 

24 in Head Start programs. Such regulations shall require 

25 Head Start agencies to—
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•S 1940 RS 

1 ‘‘(1) implement policies and procedures to en2 sure that eligible homeless children are identified 

3 and receive appropriate priority for enrollment; 

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

5 in, and attend Head Start programs while required 

6 documents, such as proof of residency, proof of im7 munization, and other medical records, birth certifi8 cates, and other documents, are obtained within a 

9 reasonable timeframe (consistent with State law); 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(3) coordinate individual Head Start programs 

12 with efforts to implement subtitle B of title VII of 

13 the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

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

15 ‘‘(n) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub16 chapter shall be construed to require a State to establish 

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

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

19 education in order to attend preschool, or to participate 

20 in any initial screening prior to participation in such pro21 gram, except as provided under section 612(a)(3) of the 

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

23 1412(a)(3)) and consistent with section 614(a)(1)(C) of 

24 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(a)(1)(C)). 
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1 ‘‘(o) MATERIALS.—All curricula funded under this 

2 subchapter shall be scientifically based and age appro3 priate. Parents shall have the opportunity to examine any 

4 such curricula or instructional materials funded under this 

5 subchapter.’’. 

6 SEC. 7. DESIGNATION OF HEAD START AGENCIES. 

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

8 is amended to read as follows: 

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

10 ‘‘(a) DESIGNATION.—

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

12 to designate as a Head Start agency any local public 

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

14 community, including a community-based organiza15 tion that—

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

17 the purpose of this subchapter and perform the 

18 functions set forth in section 642 within a com19 munity; and 

20 ‘‘(B) is determined to be capable of plan21 ning, conducting, administering, and evaluating, 

22 either directly or by other arrangements, a 

23 Head Start program. 

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

25 order to be designated as a Head Start agency, an
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1 entity described in paragraph (1) shall establish pro2 gram goals for improving the school readiness of 

3 children participating in a program under this sub4 chapter, including goals for meeting the performance 

5 standards and additional educational standards de6 scribed in section 641A and shall establish results7 based school readiness goals that are aligned with 

8 requirements and expectations for local public 

9 schools. 

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

11 In order to receive a grant under this subchapter 

12 subsequent to the initial grant provided following the 

13 date of enactment of the Head Start Improvements 

14 for School Readiness Act, an entity described in 

15 paragraph (1) shall demonstrate that the entity has 

16 met or is making progress toward meeting the goals 

17 described in paragraph (2). 

18 ‘‘(b) COMMUNITIES.—For purposes of this sub19 chapter, a community may be a city, county, or multicity 

20 or multicounty unit within a State, an Indian reservation 

21 (including Indians in any off-reservation area designated 

22 by an appropriate tribal government in consultation with 

23 the Secretary), or a neighborhood or other area (irrespec24 tive of boundaries or political subdivisions) that provides 

25 a suitable organizational base and possesses the com-
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•S 1940 RS 

1 monality of interest needed to operate a Head Start pro2 gram. 

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

4 the provisions of this section, the Secretary shall, in con5 sultation with the chief executive officer of the State in6 volved, give priority in the designation (including redesig7 nation) of Head Start agencies to any high-performing 

8 Head Start agency or delegate agency that—

9 ‘‘(1) is receiving assistance under this sub10 chapter; 

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

12 management requirements, standards described in 

13 section 641A(a)(1), or other requirements estab14 lished by the Secretary; 

15 ‘‘(3) has no unresolved programmatic defi16 ciencies and has not had findings of deficiencies dur17 ing the last triennial review under section 641A(c); 

18 and 

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

20 as memoranda of understanding, active collaboration 

21 with the State in the provision of services for chil22 dren (such as the provision of extended day services, 

23 education, professional development and training for 

24 staff, and other types of cooperative endeavors). 
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•S 1940 RS 

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

2 If no entity in a community is entitled to the priority spec3 ified in subsection (c), the Secretary shall, after con4 ducting an open competition, designate a Head Start 

5 agency from among qualified applicants in such commu6 nity. 

7 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVENESS.—In selecting from among 

8 qualified applicants for designation as a Head Start agen9 cy, the Secretary shall consider the effectiveness of each 

10 such applicant to provide Head Start services, based on—

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

12 providing services comparable to Head Start serv13 ices, including how effectively such applicant pro14 vided such comparable services; 

15 ‘‘(2) the plan of such applicant to provide com16 prehensive health, educational, nutritional, social, 

17 and other services needed to aid participating chil18 dren in attaining their full potential, and to prepare 

19 children to succeed in school; 

20 ‘‘(3) the capacity of such applicant to serve eli21 gible children with scientifically based programs that 

22 promote school readiness of children participating in 

23 the program; 

24 ‘‘(4) the plan of such applicant to meet stand25 ards set forth in section 641A(a)(1), with particular 
34

•S 1940 RS 

1 attention to the standards set forth in subpara2 graphs (A) and (B) of such section; 

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

4 the Head Start program the applicant proposes to 

5 carry out with other preschool programs, includ6 ing—

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

8 Start programs under subparts 2 and 3 of part 

9 B of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

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

11 6381 et seq.); 

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

13 C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

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

15 ‘‘(C) State prekindergarten programs; 

16 ‘‘(D) child care programs; 

17 ‘‘(E) the educational programs that the 

18 children in the Head Start program involved 

19 will enter at the age of compulsory school at20 tendance; and 

21 ‘‘(F) reading readiness programs such as 

22 those conducted by public and school libraries; 

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

24 the Head Start program that the applicant proposes 

25 to carry out with public and private entities who are 
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1 willing to commit resources to assist the Head Start 

2 program in meeting its program needs; 

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

4 with a local library, where available, that is inter5 ested in that collaboration, to—

6 ‘‘(A) develop innovative programs to excite 

7 children about the world of books, such as pro8 grams that involve—

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

10 a story hour; 

11 ‘‘(ii) promoting the use of library 

12 cards; 

13 ‘‘(iii) developing a lending library or 

14 using a mobile library van; and 

15 ‘‘(iv) providing fresh books in the 

16 Head Start classroom on a regular basis; 

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

18 Start teachers; and 

19 ‘‘(C) support parents and other caregivers 

20 in literacy efforts; 

21 ‘‘(8) the plan of such applicant—

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

23 participating children in activities (at home and 

24 in the center involved where practicable) de-
36

•S 1940 RS 

1 signed to help such parents become full part2 ners in the education of their children; 

3 ‘‘(B) to afford such parents the oppor4 tunity to participate in the development and 

5 overall conduct of the program at the local 

6 level; 

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

8 to local entities, such as entities carrying out 

9 Even Start programs under subpart 3 of part 

10 B of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

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

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

13 carrying out family support programs) to such 

14 parents—

15 ‘‘(i) family literacy services; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) parenting skills training; 

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

18 children substance abuse counseling (either di19 rectly or through referral to local entities), in20 cluding information on the effect of drug expo21 sure on infants and fetal alcohol syndrome; 

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

23 offer (directly or through referral to local enti24 ties) to such parents—
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•S 1940 RS 

1 ‘‘(i) training in basic child develop2 ment (including cognitive development); 

3 ‘‘(ii) assistance in developing literacy 

4 and communication skills; 

5 ‘‘(iii) opportunities to share experi6 ences with other parents (including parent 

7 mentor relationships); 

8 ‘‘(iv) regular in-home visitation; or 

9 ‘‘(v) any other activity designed to 

10 help such parents become full partners in 

11 the education of their children; 

12 ‘‘(F) to provide, with respect to each par13 ticipating family, a family needs assessment 

14 that includes consultation with such parents 

15 about the benefits of parent involvement and 

16 about the activities described in subparagraphs 

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

18 choose to become involved (taking into consider19 ation their specific family needs, work sched20 ules, and other responsibilities); and 

21 ‘‘(G) to extend outreach to fathers, in ap22 propriate cases, in order to strengthen the role 

23 of fathers in families, in the education of their 

24 young children, and in the Head Start program, 
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•S 1940 RS 

1 by working directly with fathers and father fig2 ures through activities such as—

3 ‘‘(i) in appropriate cases, including fa4 thers in home visits and providing opportu5 nities for direct father-child interactions; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) targeting increased male partici8 pation in the conduct of the program; 

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

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

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

12 of this subchapter; 

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

14 needs of limited English proficient children and their 

15 families, including procedures to identify such chil16 dren, plans to provide trained personnel, and plans 

17 to provide services to assist the children in making 

18 progress toward the acquisition of the English lan19 guage; 

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

21 needs of children with disabilities; 

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

23 assist younger siblings of children who will partici24 pate in the Head Start program, to obtain health 

25 services from other sources; 
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•S 1940 RS 

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

2 with other entities carrying out early childhood edu3 cation and child care programs in the community; 

4 and 

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

6 needs of homeless children and children in foster 

7 care.’’. 

8 SEC. 8. QUALITY STANDARDS; MONITORING OF HEAD 

9 START AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS. 

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

11 9836a) is amended—

12 (1) in subsection (a)—

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

14 ‘‘642(d)’’ and inserting ‘‘642(c)’’; 

15 (B) in paragraph (1)(B)—

16 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘edu17 cation performance standards’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘educational performance standards’’; 

19 and 

20 (ii) by striking clause (ii) and insert21 ing the following: 

22 ‘‘(ii) additional educational standards 

23 based on the recommendations of the National 

24 Academy of Sciences panel described in section 

25 649(h) and other experts in the field, to ensure 
40

•S 1940 RS 

1 that the curriculum involved addresses, and 

2 that the children participating in the program 

3 show appropriate progress toward developing 

4 and applying, the recommended educational 

5 outcomes, after the panel considers the appro6 priateness of additional educational standards 

7 relating to—

8 ‘‘(I) language skills related to listen9 ing, understanding, speaking, and commu10 nicating, including—

11 ‘‘(aa) understanding and use of a 

12 diverse vocabulary (including knowing 

13 the names of colors) and knowledge of 

14 how to use oral language to commu15 nicate for various purposes; 

16 ‘‘(bb) narrative abilities used, for 

17 example, to comprehend, tell, and re18 spond to a story, or to comprehend in19 structions; 

20 ‘‘(cc) ability to detect and 

21 produce sounds of the language the 

22 child speaks or is learning; and 

23 ‘‘(dd) clarity of pronunciation 

24 and speaking in syntactically and 

25 grammatically correct sentences; 
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•S 1940 RS 

1 ‘‘(II) prereading knowledge and skills, 

2 including—

3 ‘‘(aa) alphabet knowledge includ4 ing knowing the letter names and as5 sociating letters with their shapes and 

6 sounds in the language the child 

7 speaks or is learning; 

8 ‘‘(bb) phonological awareness and 

9 processes that support reading, for ex10 ample, rhyming, recognizing speech 

11 sounds and separate syllables in spo12 ken words, and putting speech sounds 

13 together to make words; 

14 ‘‘(cc) knowledge, interest in, and 

15 appreciation of books, reading, and 

16 writing (either alone or with others), 

17 and knowledge that books have parts 

18 such as the front, back, and title 

19 page; 

20 ‘‘(dd) early writing, including the 

21 ability to write one’s own name and 

22 other words and phrases; and 

23 ‘‘(ee) print awareness and con24 cepts, including recognizing different 

25 forms of print and understanding the 
42

•S 1940 RS 

1 association between spoken and writ2 ten words; 

3 ‘‘(III) premathematics knowledge and 

4 skills, including—

5 ‘‘(aa) number recognition; 

6 ‘‘(bb) use of early number con7 cepts and operations, including count8 ing, simple adding and subtracting, 

9 and knowledge of quantitative rela10 tionships such as part versus whole 

11 and comparison of numbers of objects; 

12 ‘‘(cc) use of early space and loca13 tion concepts including recognizing 

14 shapes, classification, striation, and 

15 understanding directionality; and 

16 ‘‘(dd) early pattern skills and 

17 measurement, including recognizing 

18 and extending simple patterns and 

19 measuring length, weight, and time; 

20 ‘‘(IV) scientific abilities, including—

21 ‘‘(aa) building awareness about 

22 scientific skills and methods, such as 

23 gathering, describing, and recording 

24 information, making observations, and
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1 making explanations and predictions; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(bb) expanding scientific knowl4 edge of the environment, time, tem5 perature, and cause and effect rela6 tionships; 

7 ‘‘(V) general cognitive abilities related 

8 to academic achievement and child develop9 ment, including—

10 ‘‘(aa) reasoning, planning, and 

11 problem solving skills; 

12 ‘‘(bb) ability to engage, sustain 

13 attention, and persist on challenging 

14 tasks; 

15 ‘‘(cc) intellectual curiosity, initia16 tive, and task engagement; and 

17 ‘‘(dd) motivation to achieve and 

18 master concepts and skills; 

19 ‘‘(VI) social and emotional develop20 ment related to early learning and school 

21 success, including developing—

22 ‘‘(aa) the ability to develop social 

23 relationships, demonstrate cooperative 

24 behaviors, and relate to teachers and 

25 peers in positive and respectful ways; 
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1 ‘‘(bb) an understanding of the 

2 consequences of actions, following 

3 rules, and appropriately expressing 

4 feelings; 

5 ‘‘(cc) a sense of self, such as self6 awareness, independence, and con7 fidence; 

8 ‘‘(dd) the ability to control nega9 tive behaviors with teachers and peers 

10 that include impulsiveness, aggression, 

11 and noncompliance; and 

12 ‘‘(ee) knowledge of civic society 

13 and surrounding communities; 

14 ‘‘(VII) physical development, including 

15 developing—

16 ‘‘(aa) fine motor skills, such as 

17 strength, manual dexterity, and hand18 eye coordination; and 

19 ‘‘(bb) gross motor skills, such as 

20 balance and coordinated movements; 

21 and 

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

23 proficient children, progress toward acqui24 sition of the English language while mak25 ing meaningful progress in attaining the 
45

•S 1940 RS 

1 knowledge, skills, abilities, and develop2 ment described in subclauses (I) through 

3 (VII);’’; 

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

5 ‘‘projects; and’’ and inserting ‘‘projects, includ6 ing regulations that require that the facilities 

7 used by Head Start agencies (including Early 

8 Head Start agencies) and delegate agencies for 

9 regularly scheduled center-based and combina10 tion program option classroom activities—

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

12 and local requirements concerning licensing 

13 for such facilities; and 

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

15 local authorities for purposes of monitoring 

16 and ensuring compliance.’’; 

17 (D) in paragraph (2)— 

18 (i) in subparagraph (B)—

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

20 date of enactment of this section’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘the date of enactment of 

22 the Head Start Improvements for 

23 School Readiness Act’’; 

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

25 ‘‘the date of enactment of this Act’’ 
46

•S 1940 RS 

1 and inserting ‘‘the date of enactment 

2 of the Head Start Improvements for 

3 School Readiness Act’’; 

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

5 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

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

7 ‘‘public schools’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

8 schools that the children will be at9 tending’’; and 

10 (V) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(viii) the unique challenges faced by 

13 individual programs, including those pro14 grams that are seasonal or short term and 

15 those programs that serve rural popu16 lations; and’’; 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by strik18 ing ‘‘the date of enactment of the Coats 

19 Human Services Reauthorization Act of 

20 1998’’ and inserting ‘‘the date of enact21 ment of the Head Start Improvements for 

22 School Readiness Act’’; and 

23 (iii) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 
47

•S 1940 RS 

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

2 Indian and Alaska Native experts in early child3 hood development, linguists, and the National 

4 Indian Head Start Directors Association on the 

5 review and promulgation of program standards 

6 and measures (including standards and meas7 ures for language acquisition and school readi8 ness).’’; 

9 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(4) EVALUATIONS AND CORRECTIVE ACTIONS

11 FOR DELEGATE AGENCIES.—

12 ‘‘(A) PROCEDURES.—The Head Start 

13 agency shall establish procedures relating to its 

14 delegate agencies, including—

15 ‘‘(i) procedures for evaluating delegate 

16 agencies; 

17 ‘‘(ii) procedures for defunding dele18 gate agencies; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) procedures for appealing a 

20 defunding decision relating to a delegate 

21 agency. 

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

23 agency—

24 ‘‘(i) shall evaluate its delegate agen25 cies using the procedures established pur-
48

•S 1940 RS 

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
49

•S 1940 RS 

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 
50

•S 1940 RS 

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 
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•S 1940 RS 

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, as appropriate.’’; 

21 (iv) by redesignating subparagraph 

22 (D) as subparagraph (E); and 

23 (v) by inserting after subparagraph 

24 (C) the following: 

25 ‘‘(D) Followup reviews including—
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•S 1940 RS 

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

2 programs, and centers that fail to meet 1 

3 or more of the performance measures de4 veloped by the Secretary under subsection 

5 (b); and 

6 ‘‘(ii) a review of programs with cita7 tions that include findings of deficiencies 

8 not later than 6 months after the date of 

9 such citation.’’; and 

10 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert11 ing the following: 

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

13 shall ensure that reviews described in paragraph 

14 (1)— 

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

16 may incorporate the visit without prior notice of 

17 the visit to the agency involved or with such 

18 limited prior notice as is necessary to ensure 

19 the participation of parents and key staff mem20 bers; 

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

22 shall include individuals who are knowledgeable 

23 about Head Start and other early childhood 

24 education programs and, to the maximum ex25 tent practicable, the diverse (including linguistic 
53

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1 and cultural) needs of eligible children (includ2 ing children with disabilities) and limited 

3 English proficient children and their families; 

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

5 programs, a review and assessment of program 

6 effectiveness, as measured in accordance with 

7 the results-based performance measures devel8 oped by the Secretary pursuant to subsection 

9 (b) and with the standards established pursuant 

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

11 (a)(1); 

12 ‘‘(D) seek information from the commu13 nities and States where Head Start programs 

14 exist about innovative or effective collaborative 

15 efforts, barriers to collaboration, and the efforts 

16 of the Head Start agencies to collaborate with 

17 the entities carrying out early childhood edu18 cation and child care programs in the commu19 nity; 

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

21 programs, a review and assessment of whether 

22 the programs are in conformity with the income 

23 eligibility requirements under section 645 and 

24 regulations promulgated under such section;
54

•S 1940 RS 

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

2 programs, a review and assessment of whether 

3 programs have adequately addressed the popu4 lation and community needs (including needs of 

5 populations of limited English proficient chil6 dren and children of migrant and seasonal 

7 farmworking families); and 

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

9 programs, data from the results of periodic 

10 child assessments, and a review and assessment 

11 of child outcomes and performance as they re12 late to State, local, and agency-determined 

13 school readiness goals.’’; 

14 (4) in subsection (d)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘and 

15 identify the technical assistance to be provided con16 sistent with paragraph (3)’’ after ‘‘corrected’’; 

17 (5) in subsection (e), by striking the last sen18 tence and inserting ‘‘The information contained in 

19 such report shall be made available to all parents 

20 with children receiving assistance under this sub21 chapter in an understandable and uniform format, 

22 and to the extent practicable, provided in a language 

23 that the parents can understand. Such information 

24 shall be made widely available through public means 

25 such as distribution through public agencies, and, at 
55

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1 a minimum, by posting such information on the 

2 Internet immediately upon publication.’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(f) REDUCTION OF GRANTS AND REDISTRIBUTION

5 OF FUNDS IN CASES OF UNDER-ENROLLMENT.—

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

7 ‘‘(A) ACTUAL ENROLLMENT.—The term 

8 ‘actual enrollment’ means, with respect to the 

9 program of a Head Start agency, the actual 

10 number of children enrolled in such program 

11 and reported by the agency (as required in 

12 paragraph (2)) in a given month. 

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

14 means, with respect to a Head Start agency for 

15 a fiscal year, that portion of the grant de16 rived—

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

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

19 Head Start agency administering an In20 dian Head Start program or migrant and 

21 seasonal Head Start program; 

22 ‘‘(ii) from amounts reserved for pay23 ments under section 640(a)(2)(B); or 
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1 ‘‘(iii) from amounts available under 

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

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

4 ‘‘(C) FUNDED ENROLLMENT.—The term 

5 ‘funded enrollment’ means, with respect to the 

6 program of a Head Start agency in a fiscal 

7 year, the number of children that the agency is 

8 funded to serve through a grant for the pro9 gram during such fiscal year, as indicated in 

10 the grant agreement. 

11 ‘‘(2) ENROLLMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENT

12 FOR CURRENT FISCAL YEAR.—Each entity carrying 

13 out a Head Start program shall report on a monthly 

14 basis to the Secretary and the relevant Head Start 

15 agency—

16 ‘‘(A) the actual enrollment in such pro17 gram; and 

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

19 the funded enrollment, any apparent reason for 

20 such enrollment shortfall. 

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

22 Secretary shall—

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

24 which Head Start agencies are operating with 

25 an actual enrollment that is less than the fund-
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1 ed enrollment based on not less than 4 consecu2 tive months of data; 

3 ‘‘(B) for each such Head Start agency op4 erating a program with an actual enrollment 

5 that is less than 95 percent of its funded enroll6 ment, as determined under subparagraph (A), 

7 develop, in collaboration with such agency, a 

8 plan and timetable for reducing or eliminating 

9 under-enrollment taking into consideration—

10 ‘‘(i) the quality and extent of the out11 reach, recruitment, and community needs 

12 assessment conducted by such agency; 

13 ‘‘(ii) changing demographics, mobility 

14 of populations, and the identification of 

15 new underserved low-income populations; 

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

17 impact enrollment; 

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

19 programs, where needed, through Head 

20 Start funds or through collaboration with 

21 entities carrying out other preschool or 

22 child care programs, or programs with 

23 other funding sources (where available); 

24 ‘‘(v) the availability and use by fami25 lies of other preschool and child care op-
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1 tions (including parental care) in the local 

2 catchment area; and 

3 ‘‘(vi) agency management procedures 

4 that may impact enrollment; and 

5 ‘‘(C) provide timely and ongoing technical 

6 assistance to each agency described in subpara7 graph (B) for the purpose of implementing the 

8 plan described in such subparagraph. 

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

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

11 Head Start agency shall immediately implement the 

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

13 ‘‘(5) SECRETARIAL ACTION FOR CONTINUED

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

15 implementation of the plan described in paragraph 

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

17 a program at less than full enrollment, the Secretary 

18 shall, where determined appropriate, continue to 

19 provide technical assistance to such agency. 

20 ‘‘(6) SECRETARIAL REVIEW AND ADJUSTMENT

21 FOR CHRONIC UNDER-ENROLLMENT.—

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

23 technical assistance and developing and imple24 menting a plan to the extent described in para25 graphs (3), (4), and (5) for 18 months, a Head
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1 Start agency is still operating a program with 

2 an actual enrollment that is less than 95 per3 cent of its funded enrollment, the Secretary 

4 may—

5 ‘‘(i) designate such agency as chron6 ically under-enrolled; and 

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

8 the base grant for the program by, a per9 centage equal to the percentage difference 

10 between funded enrollment and actual en11 rollment for the program for the most re12 cent year in which the agency is deter13 mined to be under-enrolled under para14 graph (2)(B). 

15 ‘‘(B) WAIVER OR LIMITATION OF REDUC16 TIONS.—If the Secretary, after the implementa17 tion of the plan described in paragraph (3)(B), 

18 finds that—

19 ‘‘(i) the causes of the enrollment 

20 shortfall, or a portion of the shortfall, are 

21 beyond the agency’s control (such as serv22 ing significant numbers of migrant or sea23 sonal farmworker, homeless, foster, or 

24 other highly mobile children); 
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1 ‘‘(ii) the shortfall can reasonably be 

2 expected to be temporary; or 

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

4 the agency is small enough that under-en5 rollment does not constitute a significant 

6 shortfall, 

7 the Secretary may, as appropriate, waive or re8 duce the percentage recapturing, withholding, 

9 or reduction otherwise required by subpara10 graph (A). 

11 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS; EF12 FECTIVE DATE.—The actions taken by the Sec13 retary under this paragraph with respect to a 

14 Head Start agency shall take effect 1 day after 

15 the date on which—

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

17 section 646(a) expires without an appeal 

18 by the agency; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) the action is upheld in an admin20 istrative hearing under section 646. 

21 ‘‘(7) REDISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—

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

23 use amounts recovered from a Head Start agen24 cy through recapturing, withholding, or reduc25 tion under paragraph (6) in a fiscal year—
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1 ‘‘(i) in the case of a Head Start agen2 cy administering an Indian Head Start 

3 program or a migrant and seasonal Head 

4 Start program, whose base grant is derived 

5 from amounts specified in paragraph 

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

7 agencies that—

8 ‘‘(I) are administering Head 

9 Start programs serving the same spe10 cial population; and 

11 ‘‘(II) demonstrate that the agen12 cies will use such redirected funds to 

13 increase enrollment in their Head 

14 Start programs in such fiscal year; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a Head Start agen16 cy in a State, whose base grant is derived 

17 from amounts specified in clause (ii) or 

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

19 to 1 or more agencies that—

20 ‘‘(I) are administering Head 

21 Start programs in the same State; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(II) make the demonstration de24 scribed in clause (i)(II). 
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1 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—If there is no agen2 cy located in a State that meets the require3 ments of subclauses (I) and (II) of subpara4 graph (A)(ii), the Secretary shall use amounts 

5 described in subparagraph (A) to redirect funds 

6 to Head Start agencies located in other States 

7 that make the demonstration described in sub8 paragraph (A)(i)(II). 

9 ‘‘(C) ADJUSTMENT TO FUNDED ENROLL10 MENT.—The Secretary shall adjust as necessary 

11 the requirements relating to funded enrollment 

12 indicated in the grant agreement of a Head 

13 Start agency receiving redistributed amounts 

14 under this paragraph.’’. 

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

16 The Head Start Act is amended by inserting after 

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

18 ‘‘SEC. 641B. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN EARLY CHILD19 HOOD. 

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

21 of excellence’ means a Center of Excellence in Early Child22 hood designated under subsection (b). 

23 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATION AND BONUS GRANTS.—The Sec24 retary shall, subject to the availability of funds under this 
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1 subchapter, including under subsection (f), establish a 

2 program under which the Secretary shall—

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

4 Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start 

5 agencies) as Centers of Excellence in Early Child6 hood; and 

7 ‘‘(2) make bonus grants to the centers of excel8 lence to carry out the activities described in sub9 section (d). 

10 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION AND DESIGNATION.—

11 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—

12 ‘‘(A) NOMINATION AND SUBMISSION.—

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

14 receive a designation as a center of excel15 lence under subsection (b), a Head Start 

16 agency in a State shall be nominated by 

17 the Governor of the State and shall submit 

18 an application to the Secretary at such 

19 time, in such manner, and containing such 

20 information as the Secretary may require. 

21 ‘‘(ii) INDIAN AND MIGRANT AND SEA22 SONAL HEAD START PROGRAMS.—In the 

23 case of an agency operating an Indian 

24 Head Start program or a migrant and sea25 sonal Head Start program, to be eligible to 
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1 receive a designation as a center of excel2 lence under subsection (b), such an agency 

3 shall be nominated by the Governor of the 

4 State and by its program branch and shall 

5 submit an application to the Secretary in 

6 accordance with clause (i). 

7 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—At a minimum, the ap8 plication shall include—

9 ‘‘(i) evidence that the Head Start pro10 gram carried out by the agency has signifi11 cantly improved the school readiness of, 

12 and enhanced academic outcomes for, chil13 dren who have participated in the program; 

14 ‘‘(ii) evidence that the program meets 

15 or exceeds standards and performance 

16 measures described in subsections (a) and 

17 (b) of section 641A, as evidenced by suc18 cessful completion of programmatic and 

19 monitoring reviews, and has no findings of 

20 deficiencies with respect to the standards 

21 and measures; 

22 ‘‘(iii) evidence that the program is 

23 making progress toward meeting the re24 quirements described in section 648A;
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1 ‘‘(iv) evidence demonstrating the ex2 istence of a collaborative partnership be3 tween the Head Start agency and the 

4 State (or a State agency); 

5 ‘‘(v) a nomination letter from the 

6 Governor, demonstrating the agency’s abil7 ity to carry out the coordination, transi8 tion, and training services of the program 

9 to be carried out under the bonus grant in10 volved, including coordination of activities 

11 with State and local agencies that provide 

12 early childhood services to children and 

13 families in the community served by the 

14 agency; and 

15 ‘‘(vi) information demonstrating the 

16 existence of, or the agency’s plan to estab17 lish, a local council for excellence in early 

18 childhood, which shall include representa19 tives of all the institutions, agencies, and 

20 groups involved in the work of the center 

21 for, and the local provision of services to, 

22 eligible children and other at-risk children, 

23 and their families. 

24 ‘‘(2) SELECTION.—In selecting agencies to des25 ignate as centers of excellence under subsection (b), 
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1 the Secretary shall designate not less than 1 from 

2 each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 

3 Puerto Rico. 

4 ‘‘(3) TERM OF DESIGNATION.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara6 graph (B), the Secretary shall designate a Head 

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

8 year term. During the period of that designa9 tion, subject to the availability of appropria10 tions, the agency shall be eligible to receive a 

11 bonus grant under subsection (b). 

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

13 revoke an agency’s designation under subsection 

14 (b) if the Secretary determines that the agency 

15 is not demonstrating adequate performance or 

16 has had findings of deficiencies described in 

17 paragraph (1)(B)(ii). 

18 ‘‘(4) AMOUNT OF BONUS GRANT.—The Sec19 retary shall base the amount of funding provided 

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

21 a center of excellence on the number of children 

22 served at the center of excellence. The Secretary 

23 shall, subject to the availability of funding, make 

24 such a bonus grant in an amount of not less than 

25 $100,000 per year. 
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1 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—

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

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

4 the funds made available through the bonus grant—

5 ‘‘(A) to provide Head Start services to ad6 ditional eligible children; 

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

8 families in the community served by the center 

9 by serving more children in existing Early Head 

10 Start programs (existing as of the date the cen11 ter is designated under this section) or in full12 working-day, full calendar year Head Start pro13 grams; 

14 ‘‘(C) to model and disseminate best prac15 tices for achieving early academic success, in16 cluding achieving school readiness and devel17 oping prereading and premathematics skills for 

18 at-risk children and achieving the acquisition of 

19 the English language for limited English pro20 ficient children, and to provide seamless service 

21 delivery for eligible children and their families; 

22 ‘‘(D) to coordinate early childhood and so23 cial services available in the community served 

24 by the center for at-risk children (prenatal 

25 through age 8) and their families, including 
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1 services provided by child care providers, health 

2 care providers, and providers of income-based 

3 financial assistance, and other State and local 

4 services; 

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

6 for Head Start teachers and staff, and to de7 velop agency leaders; 

8 ‘‘(F) to provide effective transitions be9 tween Head Start programs and elementary 

10 school, to facilitate ongoing communication be11 tween Head Start and elementary school teach12 ers concerning children receiving Head Start 

13 services, and to provide training and technical 

14 assistance to providers who are public elemen15 tary school teachers and other staff of local 

16 educational agencies, child care providers, fam17 ily service providers, and other providers of 

18 early childhood services, to help the providers 

19 described in this subparagraph increase their 

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

21 and their families; and 

22 ‘‘(G) to carry out other activities deter23 mined by the center to improve the overall qual24 ity of the Head Start program carried out by 
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1 the agency and the program carried out under 

2 the bonus grant involved. 

3 ‘‘(2) INVOLVEMENT OF OTHER HEAD START

4 AGENCIES AND PROVIDERS.—Not later than the sec5 ond year for which the center receives a bonus grant 

6 under subsection (b), the center, in carrying out ac7 tivities under this subsection, shall work with the 

8 center’s delegate agencies, several additional Head 

9 Start agencies, and other providers of early child10 hood services in the community involved, to encour11 age the agencies and providers described in this sen12 tence to carry out model programs. The center shall 

13 establish the local council described in subsection 

14 (c)(1)(B)(vi). 

15 ‘‘(e) RESEARCH AND REPORTS.—

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

17 to the availability of funds to carry out this sub18 section, make a grant to an independent organiza19 tion to conduct research on the ability of the centers 

20 of excellence to improve the school readiness of chil21 dren receiving Head Start services, and to positively 

22 impact school results in the earliest grades. The or23 ganization shall also conduct research to measure 

24 the success of the centers of excellence at encour25 aging the center’s delegate agencies, additional Head
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1 Start agencies, and other providers of early child2 hood services in the communities involved to meet 

3 measurable improvement goals, particularly in the 

4 area of school readiness. 

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

6 the date of enactment of the Head Start Improve7 ments for School Readiness Act, the organization 

8 shall prepare and submit to the Secretary and Con9 gress a report containing the results of the research 

10 described in paragraph (1). 

11 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2004 and 

13 each subsequent fiscal year—

14 ‘‘(1) $90,000,000 to make bonus grants to cen15 ters of excellence under subsection (b) to carry out 

16 activities described in subsection (d); 

17 ‘‘(2) $2,500,000 to pay for the administrative 

18 costs of the Secretary in carrying out this section, 

19 including the cost of a conference of centers of excel20 lence; and 

21 ‘‘(3) $2,000,000 for research activities de22 scribed in subsection (e).’’. 
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1 SEC. 10. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGEN2 CIES. 

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

4 is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 642. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGEN6 CIES. 

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

8 Head Start agency under this subchapter, an agency shall 

9 have authority under its charter or applicable law to re10 ceive and administer funds provided under this sub11 chapter, funds and contributions from private or local 

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

13 Start program, and funds provided under any Federal or 

14 State assistance program pursuant to which a public or 

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

16 organized in accordance with this subchapter, could act 

17 as a grantee, contractor, or sponsor of projects appro18 priate for inclusion in a Head Start program. Such an 

19 agency shall also be empowered to transfer funds so re20 ceived, and to delegate powers to other agencies, subject 

21 to the powers of its governing board and its overall pro22 gram responsibilities. The power to transfer funds and del23 egate powers shall include the power to make transfers 

24 and delegations covering component projects in all cases 

25 in which that power will contribute to efficiency and effec26 tiveness or otherwise further program objectives. 
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1 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In order to be 

2 designated as a Head Start agency under this subchapter, 

3 a Head Start agency shall also—

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

5 forth in section 641A(a)(1), with particular atten6 tion to the standards set forth in subparagraphs (A) 

7 and (B) of such section; 

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

9 children with scientifically based curricula and other 

10 interventions and support services that help promote 

11 the school readiness of children participating in the 

12 program; 

13 ‘‘(3) establish effective procedures and provide 

14 for the regular assessment of Head Start children, 

15 including observational and direct formal assess16 ment, where appropriate; 

17 ‘‘(4) seek the involvement of parents, area resi18 dents, and local business in the design and imple19 mentation of the program; 

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

21 parents and area residents in the implementation of 

22 the program; 

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

24 to enable such parents and area residents to secure, 
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1 on their own behalf, available assistance from public 

2 and private sources; 

3 ‘‘(7) establish effective procedures to facilitate 

4 the involvement of parents of participating children 

5 in activities designed to help such parents become 

6 full partners in the education of their children, and 

7 to afford such parents the opportunity to participate 

8 in the development and overall conduct of the pro9 gram at the local level; 

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

11 Start children will enroll, local educational agencies, 

12 the local business community, community-based or13 ganizations, faith-based organizations, museums, 

14 and libraries to generate support and leverage the 

15 resources of the entire local community in order to 

16 improve school readiness; 

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

18 entities, such as entities carrying out Even Start 

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

20 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

21 (20 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.)), to parents of partici22 pating children, family literacy services, and par23 enting skills training; 

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

25 substance abuse and other counseling (either directly 
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1 or through referral to local entities), if needed, in2 cluding information on the effect of drug exposure 

3 on infants and fetal alcohol syndrome; 

4 ‘‘(11) at the option of such agency, offer (di5 rectly or through referral to local entities), to such 

6 parents—

7 ‘‘(A) training in basic child development 

8 (including cognitive development); 

9 ‘‘(B) assistance in developing literacy and 

10 communication skills; 

11 ‘‘(C) opportunities to share experiences 

12 with other parents (including parent mentor re13 lationships); 

14 ‘‘(D) regular in-home visitation; or 

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

16 such parents become full partners in the edu17 cation of their children; 

18 ‘‘(12) provide, with respect to each partici19 pating family, a family needs assessment that in20 cludes consultation with such parents about the ben21 efits of parent involvement and about the activities 

22 described in this subsection in which such parents 

23 may choose to be involved (taking into consideration 

24 their specific family needs, work schedules, and 

25 other responsibilities);
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1 ‘‘(13) consider providing services to assist 

2 younger siblings of children participating in its Head 

3 Start program, to obtain health services from other 

4 sources; 

5 ‘‘(14) perform community outreach to encour6 age individuals previously unaffiliated with Head 

7 Start programs to participate in its Head Start pro8 gram as volunteers; and 

9 ‘‘(15)(A) inform custodial parents in single-par10 ent families that participate in programs, activities, 

11 or services carried out or provided under this sub12 chapter about the availability of child support serv13 ices for purposes of establishing paternity and ac14 quiring child support; and 

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

16 offices of State and local governments. 

17 ‘‘(c) PROGRESS.—

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

19 shall take steps to ensure, to the maximum extent 

20 possible, that children maintain the developmental 

21 and educational gains achieved in Head Start pro22 grams and build upon such gains in further school23 ing. 

24 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—
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1 ‘‘(A) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—In 

2 communities where both public prekindergarten 

3 programs and Head Start programs operate, a 

4 Head Start agency shall collaborate and coordi5 nate activities with the local educational agency 

6 or other public agency responsible for the oper7 ation of the prekindergarten program and pro8 viders of prekindergarten, including outreach 

9 activities to identify eligible children. 

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

11 staff shall, with the permission of the parents 

12 of children enrolled in Head Start programs, 

13 regularly communicate with the elementary 

14 schools such children will be attending to—

15 ‘‘(i) share information about such 

16 children; 

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

18 teachers in such elementary schools re19 garding teaching strategies and options; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(iii) ensure a smooth transition to el22 ementary school for such children. 

23 ‘‘(C) OTHER PROGRAMS.—The head of 

24 each Head Start agency shall coordinate activi25 ties and collaborate with the State agency re-
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1 sponsible for administering the State program 

2 carried out under the Child Care and Develop3 ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 

4 et seq.), and other entities carrying out early 

5 childhood education and development programs, 

6 programs under subtitle B of title VII of the 

7 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), Even Start programs 

9 under subpart 3 of part B of title I of the Ele10 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

11 (20 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.), and programs under 

12 section 619 and part C of the Individuals with 

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

14 1431 et seq.), serving the children and families 

15 served by the Head Start agency. 

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

17 shall take steps to coordinate activities with the local 

18 educational agency serving the community involved 

19 and with schools in which children participating in 

20 a Head Start program operated by such agency will 

21 enroll following such program, including—

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

23 transportation and facilities; 

24 ‘‘(B) collaborating to reduce the duplica25 tion of services while increasing the program 
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1 participation of underserved populations of eli2 gible children; and 

3 ‘‘(C) exchanging information on the provi4 sion of noneducational services to such children. 

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

6 promote the continued involvement of the parents of 

7 children that participate in Head Start programs in 

8 the education of their children upon transition to 

9 school, the Head Start agency shall—

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

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

12 rights and responsibilities concerning the 

13 education of their children; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) to enable the parents—

15 ‘‘(I) to understand and work with 

16 schools in order to communicate with 

17 teachers and other school personnel; 

18 ‘‘(II) to support the schoolwork 

19 of their children; and 

20 ‘‘(III) to participate as appro21 priate in decisions relating to the edu22 cation of their children; and 

23 ‘‘(B) take other actions, as appropriate 

24 and feasible, to support the active involvement 
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1 of the parents with schools, school personnel, 

2 and school-related organizations. 

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

4 adopt, in consultation with experts in child development 

5 and with classroom teachers, an assessment to be used 

6 when hiring or evaluating any classroom teacher in a cen7 ter-based Head Start program. Such assessment shall 

8 measure whether such teacher has mastered the functions 

9 described in section 648A(a)(1) and attained a level of lit10 eracy appropriate to implement Head Start curricula. 

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

12 Head Start agency shall enroll 100 percent of its funded 

13 enrollment and maintain an active waiting list at all times 

14 with ongoing outreach to the community and activities to 

15 identify underserved populations.’’. 

16 SEC. 11. HEAD START TRANSITION. 

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

18 9837a) is amended to read as follows: 

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

20 WITH K–12 EDUCATION. 

21 ‘‘Each Head Start agency shall take steps to coordi22 nate activities with the local educational agency serving 

23 the community involved and with schools in which children 

24 participating in a Head Start program operated by such 

25 agency will enroll following such program, including—
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1 ‘‘(1) developing and implementing a systematic 

2 procedure for transferring, with parental consent, 

3 Head Start program records for each participating 

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

5 ‘‘(2) establishing ongoing channels of commu6 nication between Head Start staff and their counter7 parts in the schools (including teachers, social work8 ers, health staff, and local educational agency liai9 sons designated under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the 

10 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

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

12 of programs; 

13 ‘‘(3) developing continuity of developmentally 

14 appropriate curricula and practice between the Head 

15 Start agency and local educational agency to ensure 

16 an effective transition and appropriate shared expec17 tations for children’s learning and development as 

18 the children make the transition to school; 

19 ‘‘(4) conducting meetings involving parents, 

20 kindergarten or elementary school teachers, and 

21 Head Start teachers to discuss the educational, de22 velopmental, and other needs of individual children; 

23 ‘‘(5) organizing and participating in joint train24 ing, including transition-related training of school 

25 staff and Head Start staff; 
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1 ‘‘(6) developing and implementing a family out2 reach and support program, in cooperation with en3 tities carrying out parental involvement efforts 

4 under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu5 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), and 

6 family outreach and support efforts under subtitle B 

7 of title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist8 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), taking into con9 sideration the language needs of limited English pro10 ficient parents; 

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

12 teachers in enhancing educational and developmental 

13 continuity and continuity of parental involvement in 

14 activities between Head Start services and elemen15 tary school classes; 

16 ‘‘(8) linking the services provided in such Head 

17 Start program with the education services, including 

18 services relating to language, literacy, and 

19 numeracy, provided by such local educational agen20 cy; 

21 ‘‘(9) helping parents understand the importance 

22 of parental involvement in a child’s academic success 

23 while teaching the parents strategies for maintaining 

24 parental involvement as their child moves from the 

25 Head Start program to elementary school; 
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1 ‘‘(10) developing and implementing a system to 

2 increase program participation of underserved popu3 lations of eligible children, including children with 

4 disabilities and limited English proficient children; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(11) coordinating activities and collaborating 

7 to ensure that curricula used in the Head Start pro8 gram is aligned with State early learning standards 

9 with regard to cognitive, social, emotional, and phys10 ical competencies that children entering kinder11 garten are expected to demonstrate.’’. 

12 SEC. 12. SUBMISSION OF PLANS TO GOVERNORS. 

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

14 is amended—

15 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘for ap16 proval’’ after ‘‘submitted to the chief executive offi17 cer of the State’’; and 

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

19 and migrant and seasonal Head Start programs in 

20 existence on the date of enactment of the Head 

21 Start Improvements for School Readiness Act, or’’ 

22 after ‘‘other assistance’’. 

23 SEC. 13. PARTICIPATION IN HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

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

25 9840(a)) is amended—
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1 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘130 per2 cent of’’ after ‘‘below’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(3)(A) In this paragraph: 

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

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

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

8 ‘‘(ii) The terms ‘member’ and ‘uniformed serv9 ices’ have the meanings given the terms in para10 graphs (23) and (3), respectively, of section 101 of 

11 title 37, United States Code. 

12 ‘‘(B) The following amounts of pay and allowance of 

13 a member of the uniformed services shall not be consid14 ered to be income for purposes of determining the eligi15 bility of a dependent of such member for programs funded 

16 under this subchapter: 

17 ‘‘(i) The amount of any special pay payable 

18 under section 310 if title 37, United States Code, re19 lating to duty subject to hostile fire or imminent 

20 danger. 

21 ‘‘(ii) The amount of basic allowance payable 

22 under section 403 of such title, including any such 

23 amount that is provided on behalf of the member for 

24 housing that is acquired or constructed under the al25 ternative authority for the acquisition and improve-
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1 ment of military housing under subchapter IV of 

2 chapter 169 of title 10, United States Code, or any 

3 other related provision of law. 

4 ‘‘(4) After demonstrating a need through a commu5 nity needs assessment, a Head Start agency may apply 

6 to the Secretary to convert part-day sessions, particularly 

7 consecutive part-day sessions, into full-day sessions.’’. 

8 SEC. 14. EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

9 Section 645A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 9840a) is amended—

11 (1) by striking the section heading and insert12 ing the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 645A. EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS.’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (b)—

15 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘provide 

16 services to parents to support their role as par17 ents’’ and inserting ‘‘provide additional services 

18 to parents to support their role as parents (in19 cluding parenting skills training and training in 

20 basic child development)’’; 

21 (B) in paragraph (5)—

22 (i) by inserting ‘‘(including home23 based services)’’ after ‘‘with services’’; and 

24 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, and family support 

25 services’’ after ‘‘health services’’;
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1 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (7), (8), 

2 and (9) as paragraphs (9), (10), and (11), re3 spectively; 

4 (D) by inserting after paragraph (6) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(7) develop and implement a systematic proce7 dure for transitioning children and parents from an 

8 Early Head Start program into a Head Start pro9 gram or another local early childhood education pro10 gram; 

11 ‘‘(8) establish channels of communication be12 tween staff of Early Head Start programs and staff 

13 of Head Start programs or other local early child14 hood education programs, to facilitate the coordina15 tion of programs;’’; and 

16 (E) in paragraph (10), as so redesig17 nated—

18 (i) by striking ‘‘and providers’’ and in19 serting ‘‘, providers’’; and 

20 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, and the agencies 

21 responsible for administering section 106 

22 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treat23 ment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a)’’ after ‘‘(20 

24 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.)’’; 

25 (3) in subsection (d)—
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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in2 cluding tribal governments and entities oper3 ating migrant and seasonal Head Start pro4 grams’’ after ‘‘subchapter’’; and 

5 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, in6 cluding community-based organizations’’ after 

7 ‘‘private entities’’; 

8 (4) in subsection (g)(2)(B), by striking clause 

9 (iv) and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(iv) providing professional develop11 ment and personnel enhancement activi12 ties, including the provision of funds to re13 cipients of grants under subsection (a), re14 lating to— 

15 ‘‘(I) effective methods of con16 ducting parent education, home vis17 iting, and promoting quality early 

18 childhood development; 

19 ‘‘(II) recruiting and retaining 

20 qualified staff; and 

21 ‘‘(III) increasing program partici22 pation for underserved populations of 

23 eligible children.’’; 

24 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(h) STAFF QUALIFICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT.—
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1 ‘‘(1) CENTER-BASED STAFF.—The Secretary 

2 shall ensure that, not later than September 30, 

3 2009, all teachers providing direct services to Early 

4 Head Start children and families in Early Head 

5 Start centers have a minimum of a child develop6 ment associate credential or an associate degree, and 

7 have been trained (or have equivalent course work) 

8 in early childhood development. 

9 ‘‘(2) HOME VISITOR STAFF.—

10 ‘‘(A) STANDARDS.—In order to further en11 hance the quality of home visiting services pro12 vided to families of children participating in 

13 home-based, center-based, or combination pro14 gram options under this subchapter, the Sec15 retary shall establish standards for training, 

16 qualifications, and the conduct of home visits 

17 for home visitor staff in Early Head Start pro18 grams. 

19 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The standards for 

20 training, qualifications, and the conduct of 

21 home visits shall include content related to—

22 ‘‘(i) structured child-focused home vis23 iting that promotes parents’ ability to sup24 port the child’s cognitive, social, emotional, 

25 and physical development; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) effective strengths-based parent 

2 education, including methods to encourage 

3 parents as their child’s first teachers; 

4 ‘‘(iii) early childhood development 

5 with respect to children from birth through 

6 age 3; 

7 ‘‘(iv) methods to help parents promote 

8 emergent literacy in their children from 

9 birth through age 3; 

10 ‘‘(v) health, vision, hearing, and devel11 opmental screenings; 

12 ‘‘(vi) strategies for helping families 

13 coping with crisis; and 

14 ‘‘(vii) the relationship of health and 

15 well-being of pregnant women to prenatal 

16 and early child development.’’. 

17 SEC. 15. RECORDS AND AUDITS. 

18 (a) RECIPIENTS.—Section 647(a) of the Head Start 

19 Act (42 U.S.C. 9842(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘Each 

20 recipient of’’ and inserting ‘‘Each Head Start agency, 

21 Head Start center, or Early Head Start center receiving’’. 

22 (b) ACCOUNTING.—Section 647 of the Head Start 

23 Act (42 U.S.C. 9842) is amended by adding at the end 

24 the following: 
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1 ‘‘(c) Each Head Start agency, Head Start center, or 

2 Early Head Start center receiving financial assistance 

3 under this subchapter shall maintain, and annually submit 

4 to the Secretary, a complete accounting of its administra5 tive expenses, including expenses for salaries and com6 pensation funded under this subchapter and provide such 

7 additional documentation as the Secretary may require.’’. 

8 SEC. 16. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. 

9 Section 648 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843) 

10 is amended—

11 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘(b) and 

12 (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘(b), (c), and (d)’’; 

13 (2) by redesignating subsections (b) through (e) 

14 as subsections (c) through (f), respectively; 

15 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(b) The Secretary shall make available funds set 

18 aside in section 640(a)(2)(C)(ii) to support a regional or 

19 State system of early childhood education training and 

20 technical assistance that improves the capacity of Head 

21 Start programs to deliver services in accordance with the 

22 standards described in section 641A(a)(1), with particular 

23 attention to the standards described in subparagraphs (A) 

24 and (B) of such section. The Secretary shall—
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1 ‘‘(1) ensure that agencies with demonstrated 

2 expertise in providing high quality training and tech3 nical assistance to improve the delivery of Head 

4 Start services, including the State Head Start Asso5 ciations, State agencies, migrant and seasonal Head 

6 Start programs, and other entities providing training 

7 and technical assistance in early education, for the 

8 region or State are included in the planning and co9 ordination of the system; and 

10 ‘‘(2) encourage States to supplement the funds 

11 authorized in section 640(a)(2)(C)(ii) with Federal, 

12 State, or local funds other than Head Start funds, 

13 to expand training and technical assistance activities 

14 beyond Head Start agencies to include other pro15 viders of other early childhood services within a re16 gion or State.’’; 

17 (4) in subsection (d), as so redesignated—

18 (A) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by striking 

19 ‘‘educational performance measures’’ and in20 serting ‘‘measures’’; 

21 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and 

22 for activities described in section 1221(b)(3) of 

23 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

24 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6371(b)(3))’’ after ‘‘chil25 dren with disabilities’’; 
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1 (C) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘, in2 cluding assessing the needs of homeless children 

3 and their families’’ after ‘‘needs assessment’’; 

4 (D) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

5 and inserting a semicolon; 

6 (E) in paragraph (11), by striking the pe7 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (F) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(12) assist Head Start agencies and programs 

10 in increasing the program participation of eligible 

11 homeless children.’’; 

12 (5) in subsection (e), as so redesignated, by in13 serting ‘‘including community-based organizations,’’ 

14 after ‘‘nonprofit entities’’; 

15 (6) in subsection (f), as so redesignated, by in16 serting ‘‘or providing services to children determined 

17 to be abused or neglected, training for personnel 

18 providing services to children referred by entities 

19 providing child welfare services or receiving child 

20 welfare services,’’ after ‘‘English language),’’; and 

21 (7) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(g) The Secretary shall provide, either directly or 

23 through grants or other arrangements, funds for training 

24 of Head Start personnel in addressing the unique needs 
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1 of migrant and seasonal farmworking families, families 

2 with limited English proficiency, and homeless families. 

3 ‘‘(h) Funds used under this section shall be used to 

4 provide high quality, sustained, and intensive, training 

5 and technical assistance in order to have a positive and 

6 lasting impact on classroom instruction. Funds shall be 

7 used to carry out activities related to 1 or more of the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(1) Education and early childhood develop10 ment. 

11 ‘‘(2) Child health, nutrition, and safety. 

12 ‘‘(3) Family and community partnerships. 

13 ‘‘(4) Other areas that impact the quality or 

14 overall effectiveness of Head Start programs. 

15 ‘‘(i) Funds used under this section for training shall 

16 be used for needs identified annually by a grant applicant 

17 or delegate agency in its program improvement plan, ex18 cept that funds shall not be used for long-distance travel 

19 expenses for training activities—

20 ‘‘(1) available locally or regionally; or 

21 ‘‘(2) substantially similar to locally or regionally 

22 available training activities. 

23 ‘‘(j)(1) To support local efforts to enhance early lan24 guage and preliteracy development of children in Head 

25 Start programs, and to provide the children with high-
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1 quality oral language skills, and environments that are 

2 rich in literature, in which to acquire language and 

3 preliteracy skills, each Head Start agency, in coordination 

4 with the appropriate State office and the relevant State 

5 Head Start collaboration office, shall ensure that all of 

6 the agency’s Head Start teachers receive ongoing training 

7 in language and emergent literacy (referred to in this sub8 section as ‘literacy training’), including appropriate cur9 ricula and assessments to improve instruction and learn10 ing. Such training shall include training in methods to 

11 promote phonological and phonemic awareness and vocab12 ulary development in an age-appropriate and culturally 

13 and linguistically appropriate manner. 

14 ‘‘(2) The literacy training shall be provided at the 

15 local level in order—

16 ‘‘(A) to be provided, to the extent feasible, in 

17 the context of the Head Start programs of the State 

18 involved and the children the program serves; and 

19 ‘‘(B) to be tailored to the early childhood lit20 eracy background and experience of the teachers in21 volved. 

22 ‘‘(3) The literacy training shall be culturally and lin23 guistically appropriate and support children’s development 

24 in their home language.
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1 ‘‘(4) The literacy training shall include training in 

2 how to work with parents to enhance positive language 

3 and early literacy development at home. 

4 ‘‘(5) The literacy training shall include specific meth5 ods to best address the needs of children who are English 

6 language learners, have speech and language delays, in7 cluding problems with articulation, or have other disabil8 ities.’’. 

9 SEC. 17. STAFF QUALIFICATION AND DEVELOPMENT. 

10 Section 648A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 9843a) is amended—

12 (1) in subsection (a)—

13 (A) by striking paragraph (2) and insert14 ing the following: 

15 ‘‘(2) DEGREE REQUIREMENTS.—

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

17 ensure that—

18 ‘‘(i) not later than September 30, 

19 2009, all Head Start teachers in center20 based programs have at least—

21 ‘‘(I)(aa) an associate degree (or 

22 equivalent coursework) relating to 

23 early childhood; or 

24 ‘‘(bb) an associate degree in a re25 lated educational area and, to the ex-
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1 tent practicable, coursework relating 

2 to early childhood; and 

3 ‘‘(II) demonstrated teaching com4 petencies, as determined by the pro5 gram director involved (including, at a 

6 minimum, an appropriate level of lit7 eracy, a demonstrated capacity to be 

8 highly engaged with children, and a 

9 demonstrated ability to effectively im10 plement an early childhood cur11 riculum); and 

12 ‘‘(ii) not later than September 30, 

13 2007, all Head Start curriculum specialists 

14 and education coordinators in center-based 

15 programs have—

16 ‘‘(I) the capacity to offer assist17 ance to other teachers in the imple18 mentation and adaptation of curricula 

19 to the group and individual needs of a 

20 class; and 

21 ‘‘(II)(aa) a baccalaureate or ad22 vanced degree relating to early child23 hood; or 

24 ‘‘(bb) a baccalaureate or ad25 vanced degree and coursework equiva-
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1 lent to a major relating to early child2 hood; 

3 ‘‘(iii) not later than September 30, 

4 2007, all Head Start teaching assistants in 

5 center-based programs have—

6 ‘‘(I) at least a child development 

7 associate credential; 

8 ‘‘(II) enrolled in a program lead9 ing to an associate or baccalaureate 

10 degree; or 

11 ‘‘(III) enrolled in a child develop12 ment associate credential program to 

13 be completed within 2 years; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) not later than September 30, 

15 2010, 50 percent of all Head Start teach16 ers in each center-based program have a 

17 baccalaureate degree relating to early 

18 childhood or a related educational area (or 

19 equivalent coursework), and demonstrated 

20 teaching competencies, as determined by 

21 the program director involved (including, 

22 at a minimum, an appropriate level of lit23 eracy, a demonstrated capacity to be highly 

24 engaged with children, and a demonstrated 
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1 ability to effectively implement an early 

2 childhood curriculum). 

3 ‘‘(B) PROGRESS.—

4 ‘‘(i) REPORT.—The Secretary shall—

5 ‘‘(I) require Head Start agencies 

6 to—

7 ‘‘(aa) demonstrate con8 tinuing progress each year to 

9 reach the result described in sub10 paragraph (A); 

11 ‘‘(bb) submit to the Sec12 retary a report indicating the 

13 number and percentage of class14 room instructors in center-based 

15 programs with child development 

16 associate credentials or associate, 

17 baccalaureate, or graduate de18 grees; and 

19 ‘‘(II) compile and submit a sum20 mary of all program reports described 

21 in subclause (I)(bb) to the Committee 

22 on Education and the Workforce of 

23 the House of Representatives and the 

24 Committee on Health, Education, 

25 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. 
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1 ‘‘(C) SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec2 retary shall establish requirements to ensure 

3 that, in order to enable Head Start agencies to 

4 comply with the requirements of subparagraph 

5 (A), individuals who receive financial assistance 

6 under this subchapter to pursue a degree de7 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall—

8 ‘‘(i) teach or work in a Head Start 

9 program for a minimum of 3 years after 

10 receiving the degree; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) repay the total or a prorated 

12 amount of the financial assistance received 

13 based on the length of service completed 

14 after receiving the degree.’’; and 

15 (B) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4) and 

16 inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On request, the Sec19 retary may grant a waiver of the postsecondary 

20 degree requirements of paragraph (2) for 1 or 

21 more Head Start agencies, either individually, 

22 statewide, or throughout a region, that can 

23 demonstrate— 

24 ‘‘(i) that continuing aggressive state25 wide and national efforts have been unsuc-
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1 cessful at recruiting an individual to serve 

2 as a Head Start teacher or curriculum spe3 cialist or education coordinator who meets 

4 the requirements of paragraph (2)(A); 

5 ‘‘(ii) limited access to degree pro6 grams (including quality distance learning 

7 programs), due to the remote location of 

8 the program involved; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) that Head Start staff members 

10 are, as of the day the waiver is granted, is 

11 enrolled in a program that—

12 ‘‘(I) grants the required degree; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(II) will be completed within 1 

15 year. 

16 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—An agency that re17 ceives a waiver under subparagraph (A) shall 

18 ensure that Head Start teachers for the agency, 

19 as of the day the waiver is granted, who have 

20 not met the postsecondary degree requirements 

21 of paragraph (2) but are otherwise highly quali22 fied and competent shall be directly and appro23 priately supervised by a teacher who has met or 

24 exceeded the requirements of this subchapter.
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1 ‘‘(C) DURATION.—The Secretary may not 

2 grant a waiver under subparagraph (A) for a 

3 period that exceeds 1 year.’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (c)—

5 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

6 the end; 

7 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe8 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(4) promote the use of appropriate strategies 

11 to meet the needs of special populations (including 

12 limited English proficient populations).’’; 

13 (3) in subsection (d)(3)(C) by inserting ‘‘, in14 cluding a center,’’ after ‘‘any agency’’; and 

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

16 ‘‘(f) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS.—Every 

17 Head Start agency and center shall create, in consultation 

18 with employees of the agency or center (including family 

19 service workers), a professional development plan for em20 ployees who provide direct services to children, including 

21 a plan for classroom teachers, curriculum specialists, and 

22 education coordinators to meet the requirements set forth 

23 in subsection (a).’’. 
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1 SEC. 18. TRIBAL COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES HEAD 

2 START PARTNERSHIP. 

3 The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) is 

4 amended by inserting after section 648A the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 648B. TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY-HEAD START 

6 PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. 

7 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 

8 promote social competencies and school readiness in In9 dian children. 

10 ‘‘(b) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY-HEAD START

11 PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.—

12 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

13 award grants, for periods of not less than 5 years, 

14 to Tribal Colleges and Universities to—

15 ‘‘(A) implement education programs that 

16 include education concerning tribal culture and 

17 language and increase the number of associate, 

18 baccalaureate, and graduate degrees in early 

19 childhood education and related fields that are 

20 earned by Indian Head Start agency staff mem21 bers, parents of children served by such an 

22 agency, and members of the tribal community 

23 involved; 

24 ‘‘(B) develop and implement the programs 

25 under subparagraph (A) in technology-mediated 

26 formats; and 
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1 ‘‘(C) provide technology literacy programs 

2 for Indian Head Start agency staff members 

3 and children and families of children served by 

4 such an agency. 

5 ‘‘(2) STAFFING.—The Secretary shall ensure 

6 that the American Indian Programs Branch of the 

7 Head Start Bureau of the Department of Health 

8 and Human Services shall have staffing sufficient to 

9 administer the programs under this section and to 

10 provide appropriate technical assistance to Tribal 

11 Colleges and Universities receiving grants under this 

12 section. 

13 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—Each Tribal College or Univer14 sity desiring a grant under this section shall submit an 

15 application to the Secretary, at such time, in such manner, 

16 and containing such information as the Secretary may re17 quire, including a certification that the Tribal College or 

18 University has established a partnership with 1 or more 

19 Indian Head Start agencies for the purpose of conducting 

20 the activities described in subsection (b). 

21 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

23 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2004 and such sums as may 

24 be necessary for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2008. 

25 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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1 ‘‘(1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—

2 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

3 meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the 

4 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

5 ‘‘(2) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 

6 term ‘Tribal College or University’—

7 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given such term in 

8 section 316 of the Higher Education Act of 

9 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c); and 

10 ‘‘(B) means an institution determined to 

11 be accredited or a candidate for accreditation 

12 by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or 

13 association.’’. 

14 SEC. 19. RESEARCH, DEMONSTRATIONS, AND EVALUATION. 

15 Section 649 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9844) 

16 is amended—

17 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by inserting ‘‘and 

18 children determined to be abused or neglected’’ after 

19 ‘‘children with disabilities’’; 

20 (2) in subsection (d)—

21 (A) in paragraph (8), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

22 after the semicolon; 

23 (B) by striking paragraph (9); 

24 (C) by redesignating paragraph (10) as 

25 paragraph (9); and 
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1 (D) by striking the last sentence; 

2 (3) in subsection (g)—

3 (A) in paragraph (1)(A)—

4 (i) by striking clause (i); and 

5 (ii) by redesignating clauses (ii) and 

6 (iii) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; 

7 and 

8 (B) in paragraph (7)(C)—

9 (i) in clause (i)—

10 (I) by striking ‘‘1999’’ and in11 serting ‘‘2003’’; 

12 (II) by striking ‘‘2001’’ and in13 serting ‘‘2005’’; and 

14 (III) by striking ‘‘2003’’ and in15 serting ‘‘2006’’; and 

16 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘Labor 

17 and Human Resources’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘Health, Education, Labor, and Pen19 sions’’; and 

20 (4) by striking subsection (h) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(h) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES STUDY.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter 

24 into a contract with the Board on Children, Youth, 

25 and Families of the National Research Council, the
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1 Board on Testing and Assessments, and the Insti2 tute of Medicine, of the National Academy of 

3 Sciences to establish an independent panel of experts 

4 to review and synthesize research and theories in the 

5 social, behavioral, and biological sciences regarding 

6 early childhood, and make recommendations with re7 gard to each of the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) Age- and developmentally appropriate 

9 Head Start academic requirements and out10 comes, including the standards described in sec11 tion 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii). 

12 ‘‘(B) Differences in the type, length, mix, 

13 and intensity of services that are necessary to 

14 ensure that children from challenging family or 

15 social backgrounds (including low-income chil16 dren, children with disabilities, and limited 

17 English proficient children) enter kindergarten 

18 ready to succeed. 

19 ‘‘(C) Appropriate assessments of young 

20 children for the purposes of improving instruc21 tion, services, and program quality, including—

22 ‘‘(i) formal and systematic observa23 tional assessments in a child’s natural en24 vironment; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) assessments of children’s devel2 opment through parent and provider inter3 views; 

4 ‘‘(iii) assessments of appropriate ac5 commodations for children with disabilities; 

6 ‘‘(iv) appropriate assessments for chil7 dren with disabilities, limited English pro8 ficient children, and children from different 

9 cultural backgrounds; and 

10 ‘‘(v) other assessments used in Head 

11 Start programs. 

12 ‘‘(D) Identification of existing, or rec13 ommendations for the development of, scientif14 ically-based, valid and reliable assessments that 

15 are capable of measuring child outcomes in the 

16 domains important to school readiness, includ17 ing language skills, prereading ability, 

18 premathematics ability, cognitive ability, sci19 entific ability, social and emotional develop20 ment, and physical development; 

21 ‘‘(E) Appropriate use and application of 

22 valid and reliable assessments for Head Start 

23 programs identified in accordance with subpara24 graph (D). 

25 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The panel described 

2 in paragraph (1) shall consist of multiple ex3 perts in each of the following areas: 

4 ‘‘(i) Child development (including cog5 nitive, social, emotional, and physical de6 velopment) and child education (including 

7 approaches to learning). 

8 ‘‘(ii) Professional development, includ9 ing preparation of individuals who teach 

10 young children. 

11 ‘‘(iii) Assessment of young children 

12 (including children with disabilities and 

13 limited English proficient children), includ14 ing screening, diagnostic, and classroom15 based instructional assessment. 

16 ‘‘(B) REPRESENTATIVES.—The panel de17 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be selected and 

18 appointed by the National Academy of Sciences, 

19 after consultation with the Secretary of Health 

20 and Human Services, and shall include, to the 

21 extent practicable, representatives of—

22 ‘‘(i) the Department of Health and 

23 Human Services, including representatives 

24 of—
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1 ‘‘(I) the Centers for Disease Con2 trol and Prevention; 

3 ‘‘(II) the National Institute of 

4 Mental Health; and 

5 ‘‘(III) the National Institute of 

6 Child Health and Human Develop7 ment; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the National Association for the 

9 Education of Young Children; 

10 ‘‘(iii) the National Center for Learn11 ing Disabilities; 

12 ‘‘(iv) the American Academy of Pedi13 atrics; 

14 ‘‘(v) the Institute of Education 

15 Sciences of the Department of Education; 

16 ‘‘(vi) the General Accounting Office; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(vii) other entities with noted experts 

19 in the fields of early care and early child20 hood education, including additional rep21 resentatives of Federal agencies. 

22 ‘‘(3) TIMING.—

23 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 

24 days after the date of enactment of the Head 

25 Start Improvements for School Readiness Act, 
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1 the Board on Children, Youth, and Families of 

2 the National Research Council, the Board on 

3 Testing and Assessments, and the Institute of 

4 Medicine, of the National Academy of Sciences 

5 shall establish the panel described in paragraph 

6 (1), including selecting and appointing the 

7 members of the panel. Representatives de8 scribed in paragraph (2) shall be selected and 

9 appointed after consultation with the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(B) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 

11 1 year after the panel described in paragraph 

12 (1) is established, the panel shall complete, and 

13 submit to the Secretary a report containing, the 

14 recommendations described in paragraph (1). 

15 The Secretary shall not implement the amend16 ments made to section 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii) by the 

17 Head Start Improvements for School Readiness 

18 Act until the panel submits the report. 

19 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION OF PANEL REPORT.—The 

20 Secretary shall use the results of the review and rec21 ommendations described in paragraph (1) to (where 

22 appropriate) develop, inform, and revise—

23 ‘‘(A) the educational standards, and the 

24 performance measures, described in section 

25 641A; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the assessments utilized in the Head 

2 Start programs. 

3 ‘‘(5) CONTRACT.—The Secretary shall ensure 

4 that the contract referred to in paragraph (1) pro5 vides that—

6 ‘‘(A) the National Academy of Sciences 

7 shall receive through the contract—

8 ‘‘(i)(I) a total amount if the panel de9 scribed in paragraph (1) submits the re10 port described in paragraph (3)(B) not 

11 later than the date that is 1 year after the 

12 panel is established; or 

‘‘(II) 1 13 ⁄2 of the total amount if the 

14 panel submits the report later than that 

15 date; and 

‘‘(ii)(I) not more than 1 16 ⁄2 of the total 

17 amount, prior to the date on which the 

18 panel is established; and 

19 ‘‘(II) the remainder of the sum de20 scribed in subclause (I) or (II) of clause 

21 (i), as appropriate, after the panel submits 

22 the report; and 

23 ‘‘(B) the Secretary may require additional 

24 penalties, including repayment of funds, as ap-
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1 propriate, for failure to submit the report or to 

2 carry out other duties under this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(i) SERVICES TO LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT

4 CHILDREN AND FAMILIES.—

5 ‘‘(1) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a 

6 study on the status of limited English proficient 

7 children and their families in Head Start or Early 

8 Head Start programs. 

9 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall prepare 

10 and submit to Congress, not later than September 

11 2008, a report containing the results of the study, 

12 including information on—

13 ‘‘(A) the demographics of limited English 

14 proficient children from birth through age 5, in15 cluding the number of such children receiving 

16 Head Start or Early Head Start services and 

17 the geographic distribution of children described 

18 in this subparagraph; 

19 ‘‘(B) the nature of Head Start or Early 

20 Head Start services provided to limited English 

21 proficient children and their families, including 

22 the types, content, duration, intensity, and costs 

23 of family services, language assistance, and 

24 educational services; 
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1 ‘‘(C) procedures in Head Start programs 

2 for the assessment of language needs and the 

3 transition of limited English proficient children 

4 to kindergarten, including the extent to which 

5 Head Start programs meet the requirements of 

6 section 642A for limited English proficient chil7 dren; 

8 ‘‘(D) the qualifications and training pro9 vided to Head Start and Early Head Start 

10 teachers serving limited English proficient chil11 dren and their families; 

12 ‘‘(E) the rate of progress made by limited 

13 English proficient children and their families in 

14 Head Start programs and Early Head Start 

15 programs, including—

16 ‘‘(i) the rate of progress of the limited 

17 English proficient children toward meeting 

18 the additional educational standards de19 scribed in section 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii) while 

20 enrolled in Head Start programs, meas21 ured between 1990 and 2003; 

22 ‘‘(ii) the correlation between such 

23 progress and the type of instruction and 

24 educational program provided to the lim25 ited English proficient children; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) the correlation between such 

2 progress and the health and family services 

3 provided by Head Start programs to lim4 ited English proficient children and their 

5 families; and 

6 ‘‘(F) the extent to which Head Start pro7 grams make use of funds under section 

8 640(a)(3) to improve the quality of Head Start 

9 services provided to limited English proficient 

10 children and their families.’’. 

11 SEC. 20. REPORTS. 

12 Section 650(a) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 9846(a)) is amended—

14 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

15 striking ‘‘Labor and Human Resources’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions’’; and 

17 (2) in paragraph (8), by inserting ‘‘homeless18 ness,’’ after ‘‘ethnic background,’’. 

19 SEC. 21. COMPARABILITY OF WAGES. 

20 Section 653 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9848) 

21 is amended—

22 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall take’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall take’’; 

24 (2) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by 

25 striking ‘‘or (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2) in excess of the 
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1 salary of the Secretary, in the case of an individual 

2 compensated with funds awarded under this sub3 chapter or the Community Services Block Grant Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 9901 et seq.); or (3)’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(b) If in any fiscal year the restriction described in 

7 subsection (a)(2) is violated, the Secretary shall withhold 

8 from the base grant of the Head Start agency involved 

9 (as defined in section 641A(f)(1)) for the next fiscal year, 

10 an amount equal to the aggregate amount by which the 

11 salary that resulted in the violation exceeded the salary 

12 of the Secretary.’’. 

13 SEC. 22. LIMITATION WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN UNLAW14 FUL ACTIVITIES. 

15 Section 655 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9850) 

16 is amended by inserting ‘‘or in’’ after ‘‘assigned by’’. 

17 SEC. 23. POLITICAL ACTIVITIES. 

18 Section 656 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9851) 

19 is amended—

20 (1) by striking all that precedes ‘‘chapter 15’’ 

21 and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 656. POLITICAL ACTIVITIES. 

23 ‘‘(a) STATE OR LOCAL AGENCY.—For purposes of’’; 

24 and
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1 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTIONS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A program assisted under 

5 this subchapter, and any individual employed by, or 

6 assigned to, a program assessed under this sub7 chapter (during the hours in which such individual 

8 is working on behalf of such program), shall not en9 gage in— 

10 ‘‘(A) any partisan or nonpartisan political 

11 activity or any other political activity associated 

12 with a candidate, or contending faction or 

13 group, in an election for public or party office; 

14 ‘‘(B) any activity to provide voters or pro15 spective voters with transportation to the polls 

16 or similar assistance in connection with any 

17 such election; or 

18 ‘‘(C) any voter registration activity. 

19 ‘‘(2) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—The Sec20 retary, after consultation with the Director of the 

21 Office of Personnel Management, may issue rules 

22 and regulations to provide for the enforcement of 

23 this section, which may include provisions for sum24 mary suspension of assistance or other action nec-
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1 essary to permit enforcement on an emergency 

2 basis.’’. 

3 SEC. 24. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR HEALTH 

4 SERVICES. 

5 The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 657A. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR NON8 EMERGENCY INTRUSIVE PHYSICAL EXAMINA9 TIONS. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—The term ‘nonemergency intru11 sive physical examination’ means, with respect to a child, 

12 a physical examination that—

13 ‘‘(1) is not immediately necessary to protect the 

14 health or safety of the child or the health or safety 

15 of another individual; and 

16 ‘‘(2) requires incision or is otherwise invasive, 

17 or involves exposure of private body parts. 

18 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT.—A Head Start agency shall ob19 tain written parental consent before administration of, or 

20 referral for, any health care service provided or arranged 

21 to be provided, including any nonemergency intrusive 

22 physical examination of a child in connection with partici23 pation in a program under this subchapter. 

24 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec25 tion shall be construed to prohibit agencies from using es-
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1 tablished methods, for handling cases of suspected or 

2 known child abuse and neglect, that are in compliance 

3 with applicable Federal, State, or tribal law.’’.
Calendar No. 413

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1940

[Report No. 108–208] 

A BILL

To reauthorize the Head Start Act, and for other 

purposes. 

NOVEMBER 24, 2003

Read twice and placed on the calendar