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SEC. 10. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGEN-
CIES.
Section 642 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837)
is amended—
(1) by striking all that precedes ‘‘In order’’ the
first place it appears and inserting the following:
‘‘SEC. 642. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGEN-
CIES.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’; and
(2) by striking subsections (b) through (e) and
inserting the following:
‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In order to be des-
ignated as a Head Start agency under this subchapter, a
Head Start agency shall also—
‘‘(1) establish a program with all standards set
forth in section 641A(a)(1), with particular attention
to the standards set forth in subparagraphs (A) and
(B) of such section;
‘‘(2) demonstrate the capacity to serve eligible
children with scientifically based curricula and other
interventions and support services that help promote
the school readiness of children participating in the
program;
‘‘(3) establish effective procedures and provide for
the regular assessment of Head Start children, includ-
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ing observational and direct formal assessment, where
appropriate;
‘‘(4) establish effective procedures, for deter-
mining the needs of children, that include high qual-
ity research based developmental screening tools that
have been demonstrated to be valid, reliable, and ac-
curate for children from a range of backgrounds;
‘‘(5) establish effective procedures for timely re-
ferral of children with disabilities to State and local
agencies providing services under section 619 and
part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.), and collaboration
with those agencies;
‘‘(6) establish effective procedures for providing
necessary services to children with disabilities prior
to an eligibility determination by the State or local
agency responsible for providing services under sec-
tion 619 or part C of such Act;
‘‘(7) require each delegate agency to create a pol-
icy committee, which shall—
‘‘(A) be comprised of members of the com-
munity to be served, including parents of chil-
dren who are currently enrolled in the Head
Start programs of the Head Start agency; and
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‘‘(B) serve in an advisory capacity to the
delegate agency, to make decisions and rec-
ommendations regarding program planning and
operation and parental involvement.
‘‘(8) seek the involvement of parents, area resi-
dents, and local business in the design and implemen-
tation of the program;
‘‘(9) provide for the regular participation of par-
ents and area residents in the implementation of the
program;
‘‘(10) provide technical and other support needed
to enable such parents and area residents to secure,
on their own behalf, available assistance from public
and private sources;
‘‘(11) establish effective procedures to carry out
subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 641(f)(8);
‘‘(12) conduct outreach to schools in which Head
Start children will enroll, local educational agencies,
the local business community, community-based orga-
nizations, faith-based organizations, museums, and li-
braries to generate support and leverage the resources
of the entire local community in order to improve
school readiness;
‘‘(13) establish effective procedures to carry out
section 641(f)(8)(C);
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‘‘(14) establish effective procedures to carry out
section 641(f)(8)(D);
‘‘(15) establish effective procedures to carry out
section 641(f)(8)(E);
‘‘(16) establish effective procedures to carry out
section 641(f)(8)(F);
‘‘(17) consider providing services to assist young-
er siblings of children participating in its Head Start
program, to obtain health services from other sources;
‘‘(18) perform community outreach to encourage
individuals previously unaffiliated with Head Start
programs to participate in its Head Start program
as volunteers;
‘‘(19)(A) inform custodial parents in single-par-
ent families that participate in programs, activities,
or services carried out or provided under this sub-
chapter about the availability of child support serv-
ices for purposes of establishing paternity and acquir-
ing child support; and
‘‘(B) refer eligible parents to the child support
offices of State and local governments;
‘‘(20) provide parents of limited English pro-
ficient children outreach and information in an un-
derstandable and uniform format and, to the extent
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practicable, in a language that the parents can un-
derstand; and
‘‘(21) at the option of such agency, partner with
an institution of higher education and a nonprofit or-
ganization to provide college students with the oppor-
tunity to serve as mentors or reading partners to
Head Start participants.
‘‘(c) TRANSITION ACTIVITIES TO FACILITATE CONTIN-
UED PROGRESS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each Head Start agency
shall collaborate with the entities listed in this sub-
section, to the maximum extent possible, to ensure the
successful transition of Head Start children to school,
so that such children are able to build upon the devel-
opmental and educational gains achieved in Head
Start programs in further schooling.
‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—
‘‘(A) LOCAL
EDUCATIONAL
AGENCY.—In
communities where both public prekindergarten
programs and Head Start programs operate, a
Head Start agency shall collaborate and coordi-
nate activities with the local educational agency
or other public agency responsible for the oper-
ation of the prekindergarten program and pro-
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viders of prekindergarten, including outreach ac-
tivities to identify eligible children.
‘‘(B) ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.—Head Start
staff shall, with the permission of the parents of
children enrolled in Head Start programs, regu-
larly communicate with the elementary schools
such children will be attending to—
‘‘(i) share information about such chil-
dren;
‘‘(ii) collaborate with the teachers in
such elementary schools regarding teaching
strategies and options; and
‘‘(iii) ensure a smooth transition to el-
ementary school for such children.
‘‘(C) OTHER PROGRAMS.—The head of each
Head Start agency shall coordinate activities
and collaborate with the State agency responsible
for administering the State program carried out
under the Child Care and Development Block
Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.), other
entities providing early childhood education and
care, and the agencies responsible for admin-
istering section 106 of the Child Abuse Preven-
tion and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a),
parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security
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Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq. and 670 et seq.), pro-
grams under subtitle B of title VII of the McKin-
ney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
11431 et seq.), Even Start programs under sub-
part 3 of part B of title I of the Elementary 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, in appropriate
cases;
‘‘(B) collaborating to reduce the duplication
of services while increasing the program partici-
pation of underserved populations of eligible
children; and
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‘‘(C) exchanging information on the provi-
sion of noneducational services to such children.
‘‘(4) PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.—In order to pro-
mote the continued involvement of the parents of chil-
dren that participate in Head Start programs in the
education of their children, 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, upon the
transition of their children to school—
‘‘(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.
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‘‘(d) ASSESSMENT
OR
EVALUATION.—Each Head
Start agency shall adopt, in consultation with experts in
child development and with classroom teachers, an assess-
ment or evaluation to measure whether classroom teachers
have mastered the functions described in section 648A(a)(1)
and have attained a level of literacy appropriate to imple-
ment Head Start curricula.
‘‘(e) 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.
‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING PLAN.—
In order to receive funds under this subchapter, a Head
Start agency shall develop an annual technical assistance
and training plan. Such plan shall be based on the agency’s
self-assessment, the communitywide needs assessment, and
the needs of parents to be served by such agency.’’.
SEC. 11. HEAD START TRANSITION.
Section 642A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837a)
is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 642A. HEAD START TRANSITION AND ALIGNMENT
WITH K–12 EDUCATION.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each Head Start agency shall
take steps to coordinate activities with the local educational
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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,
which may include—
‘‘(1) developing and implementing a systematic
procedure for transferring, with parental consent,
Head Start program records for each participating
child to the school in which such child will enroll;
‘‘(2) establishing ongoing channels of commu-
nication between Head Start staff and their counter-
parts in the schools (including, as appropriate, teach-
ers, social workers, health staff, and local educational
agency 
liaisons 
designated 
under 
section
722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless As-
sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii))) to—
‘‘(A) facilitate coordination of programs;
‘‘(B) develop continuity of developmentally
appropriate curricular objectives and practices,
in order to ensure an effective transition to
school and appropriate shared expectations for
the learning and development of children as they
make the transition to school; and
‘‘(C) provide appropriate linkages between
the Head Start program and educational serv-
ices, including services related to language, lit-
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eracy, and numeracy, provided by such local
educational agency;
‘‘(3) establishing comprehensive transition poli-
cies 
and 
procedures 
that 
support 
children
transitioning to school, including by engaging the
local education agency in the establishment of such
policies;
‘‘(4) conducting outreach to parents, elementary
school (such as kindergarten) teachers, and Head
Start teachers to discuss the educational, develop-
mental, and other needs of individual children;
‘‘(5) organizing and participating in joint train-
ing, including transition-related training of school
staff and Head Start staff;
‘‘(6) 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 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), and family out-
reach and support efforts under subtitle B of title VII
of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), taking into consideration the
language needs of parents of limited English pro-
ficient children;
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‘‘(7) assisting families, administrators, and
teachers in enhancing educational and developmental
continuity and continuity of parental involvement in
activities between Head Start services and elementary
school classes;
‘‘(8) helping parents understand the importance
of parental involvement in a child’s academic success
while teaching the parents strategies for maintaining
parental involvement as their child moves from the
Head Start program to elementary school;
‘‘(9) helping parents understand the instruc-
tional and other services provided by the school in
which their child will enroll after participation in the
Head Start program; and
‘‘(10) coordinating activities and collaborating
to ensure that curricula used in the Head Start pro-
gram are aligned with the Head Start Child Out-
comes Framework and, as appropriate, State early
learning standards, with regard to cognitive develop-
ment 
(including 
language, 
pre-literacy, 
and
premathematics competencies), and social, emotional,
and physical competencies that children entering kin-
dergarten are expected to demonstrate.
‘‘(b) CONSTRUCTION.—In this section, a reference to
a Head Start agency, or its program, services, facility, or