ties and collaborate with the State agency re-
sponsible for administering the State program 
carried out under the Child Care and Develop-
ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 
et seq.), and other entities carrying out early 
childhood education and development programs, 
programs under subtitle B of title VII of the 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), Even Start programs 
under subpart 3 of part B of title I of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.), and programs under 
section 619 and part C of the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C 1419, 
1431 et seq.), serving the children and families 
served by the Head Start agency. 
‘‘(3) COLLABORATION.—A Head Start agency 
shall take steps to coordinate activities with the local 
educational agency serving the community involved 
and with schools in which children participating in 
a Head Start program operated by such agency will 
enroll following such program, including—
‘‘(A) collaborating on the shared use of 
transportation and facilities;
‘‘(B) collaborating to enhance the effi-
ciency of services while increasing the program 
participation of underserved populations of eli-
gible children; and 
‘‘(C) exchanging information on the provi-
sion of noneducational services to such children. 
‘‘(4) PARENTAL
INVOLVEMENT.—In order to 
promote the continued involvement of the parents of 
children that participate in Head Start programs in 
the education of their children upon transition to 
school, the Head Start agency shall—
‘‘(A) provide training to the parents—
‘‘(i) to inform the parents about their 
rights and responsibilities concerning the 
education of their children; and 
‘‘(ii) to enable the parents—
‘‘(I) to understand and work with 
schools in order to communicate with 
teachers and other school personnel; 
‘‘(II) to support the schoolwork 
of their children; and 
‘‘(III) to participate as appro-
priate in decisions relating to the edu-
cation of their children; and
‘‘(B) take other actions, as appropriate 
and feasible, to support the active involvement 
of the parents with schools, school personnel, 
and school-related organizations.’’; 
(3) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated—
(A) by striking ‘‘A’’ and inserting ‘‘Each’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting 
‘‘shall’’; 
(C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (A); and 
(D) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 
subparagraph (C); and 
(E) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 
the following: 
‘‘(B) collaborating to increase the program par-
ticipation of underserved populations of eligible chil-
dren; and’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) Head Start agencies shall implement a research-
based early childhood curricula that promotes young chil-
dren’s school readiness in the areas of language and cog-
nitive development, early reading and premathematics 
skills, socio-emotional skills, physical development, and ap-
proaches to learning. Such curricula should be—
‘‘(A) based on scientifically based research and 
have standardized training procedures and published 
curriculum materials to support implementation; and 
‘‘(B) comprehensive, balance child and teacher-
initiated activities, be outcomes based, and be linked 
to ongoing assessment with concrete instructional 
goals and objectives. 
‘‘(7) Head Start agencies shall use ongoing, research-
based assessment methods that are developmentally ap-
propriate, culturally and linguistically responsive, and tied 
to children’s daily activities in order to support the edu-
cational instruction of children in the program, including 
language skills, prereading knowledge and premathematics 
knowledge. Assessment instruments shall be those de-
signed and validated for making decisions about teaching 
and learning and aligned with the program’s curricula and 
Section 641A(a)(1). 
‘‘(8) For the purpose of meeting the performance 
standards, Head Start agencies shall use high-quality re-
search-based developmental screening tools that have been 
demonstrated to be standardized, reliable, valid, and accu-
rate for children from a range of racial, ethnic, linguistic, 
and cultural backgrounds.’’.
(d) ASSESSMENT.—Section 642 of the Head Start 
Act (42 U.S.C. 9837) is amended by striking subsection 
(e) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(e) ASSESSMENT.—Each Head Start agency shall 
adopt, in consultation with experts in child development 
and with classroom teachers, an assessment to be used 
when hiring or evaluating any classroom teacher in a cen-
ter-based Head Start program. Such assessment shall 
measure whether such teacher has mastered the functions 
described in section 648A(a)(1) and attained a level of lit-
eracy appropriate to implement Head Start curricula. 
‘‘(f) FUNDED ENROLLMENT; WAITING LIST.—Each 
Head Start agency shall enroll 100 percent of its funded 
enrollment and maintain an active waiting list at all times 
with ongoing outreach to the community and activities to 
identify underserved populations.’’.
SEC. 10. LOCAL AND STATE INTEGRATION OF EARLY 
CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. 
The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et. seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 642A the following: 
‘‘SEC. 642B. LOCAL AND STATE INTEGRATION OF EARLY 
CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. 
‘‘(a) LOCAL INTEGRATION.—In general, Head Start 
agencies shall enter into ongoing partnerships with local 
educational agencies, State-funded preschool and other
early childhood programs. Head Start agencies shall oper-
ate in a manner consistent with the goal of creating and 
expanding an efficient and effective system of early child-
hood and school readiness services in each State and com-
munity, while maintaining compliance with Standards 
under section 641A(a). 
‘‘(1) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING.—Each 
Head Start agency shall enter into a memorandum 
of understanding with any local educational agencies 
or local councils, responsible for managing publicly 
funded prekindergarten programs in the service area 
of the Head Start agency (or if such agencies and 
such councils are not applicable in the service area, 
with the largest provider of publicly funded pre-
kindergarten in the service area), that shall include 
plans to coordinate the following activities: 
‘‘(A) Educational activities, curricula, and 
instruction aligned to State developed K-12 
academic standards, as defined by section 
1111(b)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965. 
‘‘(B) Public information dissemination and 
access to programs for families contacting any 
of the early childhood programs.
‘‘(C) Selection priorities for eligible chil-
dren to be served by programs. 
‘‘(D) Service delivery areas. 
‘‘(E) Staff training, including opportunities 
for joint staff training on topics such as aca-
demic content standards and instructional 
methods. 
‘‘(F) Program technical assistance. 
‘‘(G) Provision of additional services to 
meet the child care needs of working parents. 
‘‘(H) Planning and parent education for 
smooth transitions to kindergarten as required 
in section 642A(3) and 642A(6). 
‘‘(I) Provision and use of facilities, trans-
portation, and other program elements, and 
‘‘(J) Other elements mutually agreed to by 
the parties to such memorandum. 
‘‘(2) TIMING
OF
MEMORANDA—Each Head 
Start agency shall enter into a memorandum of un-
derstanding under paragraph (1) not later than 1 
year after the effective date of this section. 
‘‘(3) 
SECRETARIAL
REVIEW.—Each 
memo-
randum of understanding entered into under para-
graph (1) shall be submitted to the Secretary not
later than 30 days after entering into such memo-
randum. 
‘‘(A) If a Head Start agency is unable to 
comply with the requirement in (1) the Head 
Start agency shall notify the Secretary and the 
chief executive officer of the State not later 
than 30 days after determining that they are 
unable to enter into such memorandum. The 
Secretary, in cooperation with the State Early 
Learning Council and the State Director of 
Head Start Collaboration, shall evaluate the 
causes of failure to enter into a memorandum 
of understanding under paragraph (1). With 
the assistance of the State Early Learning 
Council and the State Director of Head Start 
Collaboration, all parties shall again attempt to 
enter into a memorandum of understanding 
under paragraph (1). Then if no such memo-
randum of understanding is entered into, the 
Secretary shall make 1 of the following deter-
minations: 
‘‘(i) The local educational agency, 
local council, or other appropriate entity is 
unable or unwilling to enter into such a
memorandum despite reasonable efforts on 
the part of the Head Start agency. 
‘‘(ii) The Head Start agency has not 
engaged in reasonable efforts to success-
fully negotiate and enter into a memo-
randum of understanding pursuant to 
paragraph (1). 
‘‘(iii) There is an absence of publicly 
funded prekindergarten in the service area 
of the Head Start agency. 
‘‘(B) If the Secretary determines the Head 
Start agency is not making reasonable efforts 
to enter into a memorandum of understanding 
pursuant to paragraph (1), the Head Start 
agency shall be found deficient and shall be 
considered by the Secretary in the same manner 
as other deficiency findings. 
‘‘(C) If the Secretary concludes that the 
local educational agency, local council, or other 
appropriate entity is not making reasonable ef-
forts to reach such a memorandum of under-
standing, the Head Start agency shall not be 
found out of compliance with paragraph (1). 
‘‘(4) REVISION OF MEMORANDA—Each memo-
randum of understanding shall be revised and re-
newed annually by the parties to such memorandum, 
in alignment with the beginning of the school year. 
‘‘(5) ABSENCE OF PREKINDERGARTEN.—In the 
absence of publicly funded prekindergarten in the 
service area of a Head Start agency, the Head Start 
agency shall submit notice to the Secretary and the 
chief executive officer of the State and shall work 
with the State Early Learning Council and the State 
Director of Head Start Collaboration to improve co-
ordination in their service area. 
‘‘(b) STATEWIDE INTEGRATION.—From the amounts 
reserved and allotted in section 640(a)(4) and the 
amounts reserved in section 640(a)(2)(C)(ii), the Sec-
retary shall award an early learning collaboration grant 
to each State for the purposes of supporting a State Early 
Learning Council responsible for advancing the develop-
ment of a coordinated early childhood services delivery sys-
tem in the State. A State that receives a grant under this 
subparagraph shall—
‘‘(1) establish a State Early Learning Council, 
which shall include the State Director of Head Start 
Collaboration, representatives from the State pre-
school programs, representatives of local educational 
agencies, representatives of State child care pro-
grams, representatives of State preschool special
education programs, and representatives from Head 
Start agencies located in the State. The chief execu-
tive officer of the State may designate an existing 
entity to serve as the Early Learning Council if such 
entity includes representatives described in this 
paragraph; 
‘‘(2) ensure that allotted funds distributed to a 
State for a fiscal year to carry out this subsection 
may be used by the State to pay not more than 30 
percent of the cost of carrying out this subsection; 
‘‘(3) direct the Early Learning Council—
‘‘(A) to increase coordination and collabo-
ration among State preschool, Head Start pro-
grams, child care programs, early childhood 
special education, and other early childhood 
programs, including in the areas of outcomes 
and standards, technical assistance, coordina-
tion of services, cross-sector professional devel-
opment and training, outreach, communication, 
and better serving the needs of working families 
through provision of full-day and full-year early 
education services; 
‘‘(B) to work with State agencies respon-
sible for education, child care, and early inter-
vention to provide leadership and assistance to
local Head Start programs, school districts, and 
State and locally funded preschool and child 
care programs to increase integration among 
early childhood programs through adoption of 
local memoranda of understanding described in 
subparagraph (A) and other means; 
‘‘(C) to conduct periodic statewide needs 
assessments concerning early care and edu-
cation programs for children from birth to 
school entry; 
‘‘(D) to work to identify and address bar-
riers to and opportunities for integration be-
tween entities carrying out Federal and State 
child development, child care, and early child-
hood education programs; 
‘‘(E) to develop recommendations regard-
ing means of establishing a unified data collec-
tion system for early care and education pro-
grams operating throughout the State; 
‘‘(F) to address coordination of early 
learning programs with health care, welfare, 
family literacy and services for homeless chil-
dren; and 
‘‘(G) to support a State system of early 
childhood education, and training and technical
assistance that improves the quality of early 
learning programs and the capacity of such pro-
grams to deliver services pursuant to section 
648(b). 
‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be con-
strued to provide the Early Learning Council with 
authority to alter the provisions of this Act. 
‘‘(5) Funds made available under this section 
shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, other 
Federal, State, and local funds that would otherwise 
be expended to carry out the purposes of this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(c) STATE DIRECTOR OF HEAD START COLLABORA-
TION.—The chief executive officer of the State shall ap-
point an individual to serve as the State Director of Head 
Start Collaboration and shall ensure that the Director 
holds a position with sufficient authority and access to be 
capable of facilitating the coordination of programs de-
signed to benefit low-income children and their families. 
Such position shall be located within the State Early 
Learning Council and shall require the Director—
‘‘(1) to collaborate with entities involved in 
State and local planning processes to better meet the 
needs of low income families and children from birth 
to school entry;
‘‘(2) to assist Head Start agencies in coordi-
nating activities with the State agency responsible 
for administering the State program carried out 
under the Child Care and Development Block Grant 
Act of 1990 and entities that provide child care re-
source and referral services in the State to make 
full-day and full calendar year services available to 
children; 
‘‘(3) to align Head Start and State prekinder-
garten activities to meet shared goals of school read-
iness; and 
‘‘(4) to establish improved linkages between 
Head Start agencies and other children and family 
agencies, including agencies that provide health, 
mental health or family services or other child and 
family support services.’’. 
SEC. 11. HEAD START ALIGNMENT WITH K–12 EDUCATION. 
Section 642A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 
9837a) is amended—
(1) by amending the heading to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 642A. HEAD START ALIGNMENT WITH K–12 EDU-
CATION.’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)—
(A) by inserting ‘‘ongoing’’ after ‘‘estab-
lishing’’; and
(B) after ‘‘social workers,’’ by inserting the 
following: ‘‘McKinney-Vento liaisons as estab-
lished under section 722 (g)(1)(J)(ii) of the 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act,’’; 
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 
(7) as paragraphs (5) through (9), respectively; 
(4) by inserting the following after paragraph 
(2): 
‘‘(3) developing continuity of developmentally 
appropriate curricula between Head Start and local 
educational agencies to ensure an effective transition 
and appropriate shared expectations for children’s 
learning and development as they make such transi-
tion to school; 
‘‘(4) organizing and participating in joint train-
ing, including transition-related training for school 
staff and Head Start staff;’’; 
(5) by amending paragraph (7), as so redesig-
nated, to read as follows: 
‘‘(7) developing and implementing a family out-
reach and support program in cooperation with enti-
ties carrying out parental involvement efforts under 
title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 and family outreach and support efforts
under subtitle VII–B of the McKinney-Vento Home-
less Assistance Act;’’; 
(6) in paragraph (8), as so redesignated—
(A) by inserting ‘‘and continuity in paren-
tal involvement activities’’ after ‘‘developmental 
continuity’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (8), as so redesignated; 
(7) by amending paragraph (9), as so redesig-
nated, to read as follows: 
‘‘(9) linking the services provided in such Head 
Start program with the education services, including 
services 
relating 
to 
language, 
literacy, 
and 
numeracy, provided by such local educational agen-
cy;’’; and 
(8) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(10) helping parents to understand the impor-
tance of parental involvement in a child’s academic 
success while teaching them strategies for maintain-
ing parental involvement as their child moves from 
Head Start to elementary school; 
‘‘(11) developing and implementing a system to 
increase program participation of underserved popu-
lations of eligible children; and
‘‘(12) coordinating activities and collaborating 
to ensure that curricula used in the Head Start pro-
gram is aligned with State early learning standards 
with regard to cognitive, social, emotional, and phys-
ical competencies that children entering kinder-
garten are expected to demonstrate.’’. 
SEC. 12. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS AND STAND-
ARDS. 
Section 644 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 
9839(f)(2)) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) by inserting ‘‘(1) STANDARDS.—’’ 
after ‘‘(a)’’; and 
(B) by inserting after the 3d sentence the 
following: 
‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each Head Start agency 
shall make available to the public a report published at 
least once in each fiscal year that discloses the following 
information from the then most recently concluded fiscal 
year: 
‘‘(A) The total amount of public and private 
funds received and the amount from each source. 
‘‘(B) An explanation of budgetary expenditures 
and proposed budget for following fiscal year.