110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1429
AN ACT 
To reauthorize the Head Start Act, to improve program 
quality, to expand access, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Improving Head Start Act of 2007’’
(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—The Congress—
(1) finds that—
(A) while the steady economic growth and 
low inflation in the United States has yielded 
unprecedented prosperity, many children and 
families in this country have not benefited from 
this 
prosperity 
and 
continue 
to 
be 
socioeconomically disadvantaged, 
(B) many community- and faith-based or-
ganizations have expertise in moving individuals 
and families from dependency to self-sufficiency 
by providing families with the tools and skills 
they need to participate in the community and 
contribute to our economy, 
(C) the Head Start Act was established to 
help prepare low-income young children to suc-
ceed in school and in life by addressing the 
needs of the whole child and providing com-
prehensive services such as health and nutri-
tion, 
(D) research confirms that children who 
attend Head Start programs enter school better 
prepared than low-income children who do not
attend the program, are less likely to need spe-
cial education services, to repeat a grade, or 
commit crimes in adolescence, and are more 
likely to graduate from high school, 
(E) community- and faith-based organiza-
tions have participated in Head Start programs 
since the enactment of the Head Start Act in 
1965 and continue to serve more than 90,000 
children and their families, 
(F) parents have an integral role in the de-
velopment and implementation of Head Start 
programs, community- and faith-based pro-
viders of Head Start services employ parents 
and encourage parents to volunteer in the pro-
grams because parents are children’s most im-
portant and influential teachers, 
(G) community- and faith-based providers 
of Head Start services not only serve the needs 
of low-income children and their families but 
enrich, strengthen and reflect the diversity of 
the communities wherein they reside, and 
(H) the Head Start Act is a critical com-
ponent of America’s civil rights platform, and 
community and faith-based organizations have
been leaders in the civil rights movement in the 
United States, 
(2) supports the continued role of community 
and faith-based organizations in Head Start pro-
grams as providers of comprehensive services to chil-
dren, families, and communities, and 
(3) extends its gratitude to community- and 
faith-based organizations that provide Head Start 
services, and to the employees and volunteers for 
their commitment to the education, health, and eco-
nomic well-being of low-income children and families. 
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 
Section 636 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 636. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 
‘‘It is the purpose of this subchapter to promote the 
school readiness of low-income children—
‘‘(1) by enhancing their cognitive, social, and 
emotional development in a learning environment 
that supports children’s growth in language, literacy, 
mathematics, science, social and emotional func-
tioning, physical skills, and approaches to learning; 
and 
‘‘(2) through the provision to low-income chil-
dren and their families of health, educational, nutri-
tional, social, and other services that are determined, 
based on family needs assessments, to be nec-
essary.’’. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 637 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9832) 
is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (16) and (17) 
as paragraphs (23) and (24), respectively, 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (15) as para-
graph (21), respectively, 
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (11) through 
(14) as paragraphs (16) through (19), respectively, 
(4) by redesignating paragraph (10) as para-
graph (14), 
(5) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 
(9) as paragraphs (3) through (10), respectively, 
(6) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(2) The term ‘deficiency’ means—
‘‘(A) systemic or significant material fail-
ure of a Head Start agency in an area of per-
formance that the Secretary determines in-
volves—
‘‘(i) a threat to the health, safety, or 
civil rights of children or staff;
‘‘(ii) a denial to parents of the exer-
cise of their full roles and responsibilities 
related to program governance; 
‘‘(iii) a failure to perform the require-
ments of section 641A(a), as determined 
by the Secretary; 
‘‘(iv) the misuse of funds received 
under this subchapter; 
‘‘(v) loss of legal status (as deter-
mined by the Secretary) or financial viabil-
ity, loss of permits, debarment from receiv-
ing Federal grants or contracts, or the im-
proper use of Federal funds; or 
‘‘(vi) failure to meet any other of Fed-
eral or State requirement; or 
‘‘(B) material failure of the board of direc-
tors of a Head Start agency to meet its legal 
and fiduciary responsibilities.’’, 
(7) by inserting after paragraph (10), as so re-
designated the following: 
‘‘(11) The term ‘homeless children’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 725(2) of the 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 11434a(2)).
‘‘(12) The term ‘homeless family’ means the 
family of a homeless child. 
‘‘(13) The term ‘inclusive classroom’ means a 
Head Start classroom that contains both children 
with disabilities and children without disabilities.’’, 
(8) by inserting after paragraph (13), as so re-
designated the following: 
‘‘(14) The terms ‘limited English proficient’ 
and ‘limited English proficiency’ mean with respect 
to an individual, that such individual—
‘‘(A)(i) was not born in the United States 
or has a native language that is not English; 
‘‘(ii)(I) is a Native American, an Alaska 
Native, or a native resident of a territory or 
possession of the United States; and 
‘‘(II) comes from an environment in which 
a language that is not English has had a sig-
nificant impact on such individual’s level of 
English language proficiency; or 
‘‘(iii) is migratory, has a native language 
that is not English, and comes from an environ-
ment in which a language that is not English 
is dominant; and 
‘‘(B) has difficulty in speaking or under-
standing the English language to an extent that
may be sufficient to prevent such individual 
from—
‘‘(i) successful achievement in class-
rooms in which the language of instruction 
is English; or 
‘‘(ii) fully participating in society.’’, 
(9) by inserting after paragraph (18), as so re-
designated the following: 
‘‘(19) The term ‘professional development’ 
means high quality activities that will improve the 
knowledge and skills of Head Start teachers and 
staff, as relevant to their roles and functions, in pro-
gram administration and the provision of services 
and instruction, as appropriate, in a manner that 
improves service delivery to eligible children and 
families, including activities that—
‘‘(A) are part of a sustained effort to im-
prove overall program quality and outcomes for 
eligible children and families; 
‘‘(B) are developed or selected with exten-
sive participation of administrators and teach-
ers from Head Start programs; 
‘‘(C) are developmentally appropriate for 
the children being served;
‘‘(D) include instruction in ways that Head 
Start personnel may work more effectively with 
parents, as appropriate; 
‘‘(E) are designed to give teachers and 
staff the knowledge and skills to provide in-
struction and appropriate support services to 
children of diverse backgrounds, as appropriate; 
‘‘(F) if a 1-day or short-term workshop or 
conference, must be as part of the professional 
development plan defined in section 648A(f) 
and be delivered by an institution of higher 
education or other entity with expertise in deliv-
ering training in early childhood development, 
family support, and other assistance designed to 
improve the delivery of Head Start services; 
‘‘(G) assist teachers with—
‘‘(i) the acquisition of the content 
knowledge and teaching strategies needed 
to provide effective instruction and other 
school readiness services in early language 
and literacy, early mathematics, early 
science, cognitive skills, approaches to 
learning, creative arts, science, physical 
health and development, and social and
emotional development linked to school 
readiness; 
‘‘(ii) meeting the requirements in 
paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 648A(a), 
as appropriate; 
‘‘(iii) improving classroom manage-
ment skills, as appropriate; 
‘‘(iv) advancing understanding of ef-
fective instructional strategies that are—
‘‘(I) based on scientifically based 
research; and 
‘‘(II) aligned with—
‘‘(aa) the Head Start Child 
Outcomes Framework developed 
by the Secretary and State early 
learning standards, as appro-
priate; and 
‘‘(bb) the curricula, ongoing 
assessments, and other instruc-
tion and services designed to help 
meet the standards described in 
section 641A(a)(1); 
‘‘(v) acquiring the knowledge and 
skills to provide instruction and appro-
priate language and support services to in-
crease the English language skills of lim-
ited English proficient children, as appro-
priate; or 
‘‘(vi) methods of teaching children 
with disabilities, as appropriate.’’, 
(10) by inserting after paragraph (20), as so 
redesignated, the following: 
‘‘(21) The term ‘scientifically based research’—
‘‘(A) means research that involves the ap-
plication of rigorous, systematic and objective 
procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowl-
edge relevant to education activities and pro-
grams; and 
‘‘(B) includes research that—
‘‘(i) employs systematic, empirical 
methods that draw on observation or ex-
periment; 
‘‘(ii) involves rigorous data analyses 
that are adequate to test the stated 
hypotheses and justify the general conclu-
sions drawn; 
‘‘(iii) relies on measurements or obser-
vational methods that provide reliable and 
valid data across evaluators and observers, 
across multiple measurements and observa-
tions, and across studies by the same or 
different investigators; 
‘‘(iv) is evaluated using experimental 
or quasi-experimental designs in which in-
dividuals, entities, programs or activities 
are assigned to different conditions and 
with appropriate controls to evaluate the 
effects of the condition of interest, with a 
preference for random assignment experi-
ments, or other designs to the extent that 
those designs contain within-condition or 
across-condition controls; 
‘‘(v) ensures that experimental studies 
are presented in sufficient detail and clar-
ity to allow for replication or, at a min-
imum, offer the opportunity to build sys-
tematically on their findings; and 
‘‘(vi) has been accepted by a peer-re-
viewed journal or approved by a panel of 
independent experts through a comparably 
rigorous, objective, and scientific review.’’, 
and 
(11) by amending paragraph (23), as so redes-
ignated, to read as follows:
‘‘(23) The term ‘State’ means a State, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Co-
lumbia, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands 
of the United States, the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of 
Palau.’’. 
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Section 639 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9834) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 639. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap-
propriated to carry out this subchapter $7,350,000,000 
for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may be necessary 
for fiscal years 2009 through 2012. 
‘‘(b) SPECIFIC PROGRAMS.—From the amount ap-
propriated under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make 
available to carry out research, demonstration, and evalua-
tion activities (including longitudinal studies under section 
649) not more than $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and 
such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 
2009 through 2012, of which not more than $7,000,000 
for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012 shall be 
available to carry out impact studies under section 
649(g).’’.
SEC. 5. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS; LIMITATION ON ASSIST-
ANCE. 
(a) ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.—Section 640(a) of the 
Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(a)) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(a) ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds appropriated 
under section 639, the Secretary shall allot such 
amounts in accordance with paragraphs (2) through 
(4), and subject to paragraphs (5) and (6). 
‘‘(2) THIRTEEN
PERCENT
SET-ASIDE.—The 
Secretary shall reserve 13 percent of the amount ap-
propriated for each fiscal year for use in accordance 
with the following order of priorities: 
‘‘(A) SPECIAL POPULATIONS.—For Indian 
Head Start programs, services for children with 
disabilities, and migrant and seasonal Head 
Start programs, except that—
‘‘(i) there shall be made available for 
each fiscal year for use by Indian Head 
Start programs and by migrant and sea-
sonal Head Start programs, on a nation-
wide basis, not less than the amount that 
was obligated for use by Indian Head 
Start programs and by migrant and sea-
sonal Head Start programs for fiscal year 
2007; 
‘‘(ii) migrant and seasonal Head Start 
programs shall receive not less than 5 per-
cent of the amount appropriated for each 
fiscal year until such time as the Secretary 
can make funding decisions to ensure ac-
cess to funding for eligible children of mi-
grant and seasonal farmworkers is com-
parable to access to funding for other eligi-
ble children based on the data collected 
and reported pursuant to section 648(l), 
except that no future reduction in funding 
shall result in the termination of Head 
Start services provided to any eligible child 
3 years of age or older who is participating 
in any such program on the date a reduc-
tion in funding occurs, and shall, to the ex-
tent possible, continue participation for 
children less than 3 years of age receiving 
services before such reduction in funding; 
and 
‘‘(iii) Indian Head Start programs 
shall receive not less than 3.5 percent of 
the amount appropriated for each fiscal
year until such time as the Secretary can 
make funding decisions to ensure access to 
funding for eligible Indian children is com-
parable to access to funding for other eligi-
ble children based on the data collected in 
accordance with the requirements of sec-
tion 648(k), except that no future reduc-
tion in funding shall result in the termi-
nation of Head Start services provided to 
any eligible child 3 years of age or older 
who is participating in any such program 
on the date a reduction in funding occurs, 
and shall, to the extent possible, continue 
participation for children less than 3 years 
of age receiving services before such reduc-
tion in funding. 
‘‘(B) PAYMENTS
TO
TERRITORIES
AND 
FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—Subject to para-
graph (7), for payments to Guam, American 
Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the 
United States, and the Republic of Palau, ex-
cept that payments to the Republic of Palau 
shall not be made after fiscal year 2009.
‘‘(C) TRAINING
AND
TECHNICAL
ASSIST-
ANCE.—Not less than 2 percent of the amount 
appropriated for such fiscal year for training 
and technical assistance activities to foster pro-
gram quality and management improvement as 
described in section 648, of which—
‘‘(i) not less than 50 percent shall be 
available to local Head Start agencies to 
make program improvements identified by 
such agencies to use for the training and 
technical assistance activities described in 
section 648(j); 
‘‘(ii) not less than 30 percent shall be 
available to the Secretary to support a 
State-based system or a national system, 
in the case of migrant and seasonal Head 
Start and Indian Head Start programs, of 
early childhood education training and 
technical assistance to local Head Start 
agencies as described in section 648(n); 
and 
‘‘(iii) the remainder of such amount 
shall be available to the Secretary to assist 
local Head Start agencies in meeting and 
exceeding the standards described in sec-
tion 641A(a)(1), including financial assist-
ance to help Head Start programs address 
weaknesses identified by monitoring activi-
ties conducted by the Secretary under sec-
tion 641A(c), except that—
‘‘(I) not less than $3,000,000 
shall be available to carry out the ac-
tivities described in section 648(c)(4); 
and 
‘‘(II) no more than $5,000,000 
shall be reserved to carry out the ac-
tivities described in section 642B(b). 
‘‘(D) MONITORING AND TERMINATIONS.—
For discretionary payments made by the Sec-
retary, including payments for all costs (other 
than compensation of Federal employees) of re-
views of Head Start agencies, programs under 
section 641A(c), and of activities carried out 
under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 
641A(d) related to correcting deficiencies and 
conducting proceedings to terminate the des-
ignation of Head Start agencies. 
‘‘(E) RESEARCH.—For payments for re-
search, demonstration, and evaluation activities 
under section 649.