‘‘(ix) oversee and approve the agency’s 
applications to receive funds made available 
under this subchapter; and 
‘‘(x) to establish, adopt and periodi-
cally update written standards of conduct 
that establish standards and formal proce-
dures for disclosing, addressing, and resolv-
ing— 
‘‘(I) any conflict of interest, and 
any appearance of a conflict of inter-
est, by members of the governing body, 
officers, employees, consultants and 
agents who provide services or furnish 
goods to the Head Start agency; and 
‘‘(II) complaints, including inves-
tigations, when appropriate. 
‘‘(2) POLICY COUNCIL.— 
‘‘(A) COMPOSITION.—The Policy Council or 
Policy Committee, as appropriate, shall be com-
posed as follows: 
‘‘(i) Members of the Policy Council 
shall be either parents of children currently 
enrolled in the Head Start agency’s (or del-
egate’s) Head Start or Early Head Start 
program or that are parents of children who 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:43 Mar 23, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00087
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1429.RH
H1429
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
were enrolled in the program in the pre-
vious year (Parent Members) or shall be 
members of the community served by the 
Head Start agency or delegate (Community 
Members). 
‘‘(ii) Parent members of the Policy 
Council shall constitute a majority of the 
members of the Policy Council and shall be 
elected by parents of currently enrolled chil-
dren. 
‘‘(iii) Parent members shall represent, 
proportionately, all program options and 
settings operated by the Head Start agency 
or delegate. 
‘‘(iv) The term of a Policy Council 
member shall be no more than 2 years and 
no Policy Council member shall serve longer 
than 6 years. 
‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES OF POLICY COUN-
CIL.—In order to be designated as a Head Start 
agency, an entity or delegate of such an entity 
shall have a Policy Council which shall approve 
and submit to the governing body decisions about 
the following activities: 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:43 Mar 23, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00088
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1429.RH
H1429
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
‘‘(i) The strategic direction of the pro-
gram, including long and short-term plan-
ning goals and objectives (such planning 
and goals shall take into account the an-
nual community assessment and self-assess-
ment). 
‘‘(ii) Selection of delegate agencies and 
their service areas. 
‘‘(iii) Recruitment, selection and en-
rollment priorities. 
‘‘(iv) 
Funding 
applications 
and 
amendments to funding applications for 
Head Start or Early Head Start prior to 
submission of such applications. 
‘‘(v) Budget planning for program ex-
penditures. 
‘‘(vi) Bylaws for the operation of the 
Policy Council including procedures by 
which Policy Council members are chosen. 
‘‘(vii) Program personnel policies, in-
cluding standards of conduct for program 
staff, contractors and volunteers. 
‘‘(viii) Decisions regarding employ-
ment of Head Start staff other than the di-
rector and executive director. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:43 Mar 23, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00089
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1429.RH
H1429
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
‘‘(ix) Activities to support the active 
involvement of parents in supporting pro-
gram operations. 
‘‘(x) Program responsiveness to com-
munity and parent needs. 
‘‘(C) TRAINING.—Appropriate training and 
technical assistance shall be provided to the 
members of the Policy Council to ensure that the 
members understand the information the mem-
bers receive and effectively oversee and partici-
pate in the programs of the Head Start agency 
or delegate. 
‘‘(3) IMPASSE POLICY.—The Secretary shall de-
velop policies and procedures describing how Head 
Start agencies will implement shared decision-mak-
ing, including a process for resolving any impasse be-
tween the Governing Body and the Policy Council. 
‘‘(d) COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION.—To be so 
designated, a Head Start agency must collaborate and co-
ordinate with public and private entities to improve the 
available services to Head Start children and families, in-
cluding the following activities: 
‘‘(1) Conduct outreach to schools in which chil-
dren participating in Head Start programs enroll, 
local educational agencies, the local business commu-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:43 Mar 23, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00090
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1429.RH
H1429
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
nity, community-based organizations, faith-based or-
ganizations, museums, and libraries to generate sup-
port and leverage the resources of the entire local com-
munity in order to improve school readiness. 
‘‘(2) In communities where both public pre-
kindergarten programs and Head Start programs op-
erate, a Head Start agency shall collaborate and co-
ordinate activities with the local educational agency 
or other public agency responsible for the operation of 
the prekindergarten program and providers of pre-
kindergarten, including outreach activities to identify 
eligible children, as possible. 
‘‘(3) Head Start agency staff shall, with the per-
mission of the parents of children enrolled in Head 
Start programs, regularly communicate with the ele-
mentary schools such children will be attending— 
‘‘(A) to share information about such chil-
dren; and 
‘‘(B) to ensure a smooth transition to ele-
mentary school for such children. 
‘‘(4) Each Head Start agency shall collaborate, 
as appropriate, with providers of social and commu-
nity services available to children and families par-
ticipating in Head Start programs, and may support 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:43 Mar 23, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00091
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1429.RH
H1429
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
such partnerships with financial agreements, when 
applicable, for the provision of such services. 
‘‘(5) A Head Start agency shall take steps to co-
ordinate activities with the local educational agency 
serving the community involved and with schools in 
which children participating in a Head Start pro-
gram 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 efficiency 
of services while increasing the program partici-
pation of underserved populations of eligible 
children; and 
‘‘(C) exchanging information on the provi-
sion of noneducational services to such children. 
‘‘(6) The Secretary, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of Education, shall— 
‘‘(A) evaluate the effectiveness of the projects 
and activities funded under section 642A; 
‘‘(B) disseminate to Head Start agencies in-
formation (including information from the eval-
uation required by subparagraph (A)) on effec-
tive policies and activities relating to the transi-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:43 Mar 23, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00092
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1429.RH
H1429
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
tion of children from Head Start programs to 
public schools; and 
‘‘(C) provide technical assistance to such 
agencies to promote and assist such agencies to 
adopt and implement such effective policies and 
activities. 
‘‘(e) QUALITY STANDARDS, CURRICULA AND ASSESS-
MENT.—To be so designated, each Head Start agency 
shall— 
‘‘(1) take steps to ensure, to the maximum extent 
possible, that children maintain the developmental 
and educational gains achieved in Head Start pro-
grams and build upon such gains in further school-
ing; 
‘‘(2) establish a program with standards set forth 
in section 641A(a)(1), with particular attention to 
the standards set forth in subparagraphs (A) and (B) 
of such section; 
‘‘(3) implement a research-based early childhood 
curriculum that promotes young children’s school 
readiness in the areas of language and cognitive de-
velopment, early reading and premathematics skills, 
socio-emotional development, physical development, 
and approaches to learning. Such curricula shall be— 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:43 Mar 23, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00093
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1429.RH
H1429
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
‘‘(A) based on scientifically based research 
and have standardized training procedures and 
curriculum materials to support implementation; 
‘‘(B) comprehensive, linked to ongoing as-
sessment, with developmental and learning goals 
and measurable objectives; and focused on im-
proving the learning environment, teaching prac-
tices, family involvement, and child outcomes 
across all areas of development; and 
‘‘(C) aligned to the Head Start Child Out-
comes Framework developed by the Secretary 
and to State early learning standards, as appro-
priate; 
‘‘(4) use ongoing, research-based assessment 
methods that are developmentally appropriate, cul-
turally and linguistically responsive, and tied to chil-
dren’s daily activities in order to support the edu-
cational instruction of children in the program, in-
cluding language skills, prereading knowledge and 
premathematics knowledge. Assessment instruments 
shall be those designed and validated for making deci-
sions about teaching and learning and aligned with 
the programs curricula and section 641A(a)(1); 
‘‘(5) use high-quality research-based develop-
mental screening tools that have been demonstrated to 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:43 Mar 23, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00094
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1429.RH
H1429
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
be standardized, reliable, valid, and accurate for chil-
dren from a range of racial, ethnic, linguistic, and 
cultural backgrounds, for the purpose of meeting the 
relevant performance standards; 
‘‘(6) adopt, in consultation with experts in child 
development and with classroom teachers, an assess-
ment to be used when hiring or evaluating any class-
room teacher in a center-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 literacy appro-
priate to implement Head Start curricula; 
‘‘(7) use the information provided from the as-
sessment conducted under section 640A(C)(2)(H) to 
adopt a professional development plan that leads to 
improved teacher effectiveness; 
‘‘(8) establish measurable objectives for the provi-
sion of health, educational, nutritional, and social 
services related to the program mission and to school 
readiness and provided under this subchapter; and 
‘‘(9) develop procedures for identifying children 
as limited English proficient, and inform the parents 
of such children as to the instructional services used 
to help children make progress towards acquiring the 
knowledge 
and 
skills 
described 
in 
section 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:43 Mar 23, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00095
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1429.RH
H1429
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS