Print
About Us

Sharing Outcomes Across Alaska

The 3,500 children who attend Head Start programs in Alaska are scattered across a vast landscape, and many reside in communities that are separated by hundreds of miles without roads. About 50 percent of program sites are in settings so remote that they must be accessed by small plane, boat, four-wheeler, or snow mobile. The children, many of whom learn tribal languages before they learn English, represent one of the most linguistically diverse early childhood communities in the United States. More than two-thirds of the programs they attend are tribally run and serve enrollments with several tribal affiliations.

Ask Us Some Questions

The Community Action Project (CAP) of Tulsa County provides early childhood education services to more than 2,000 children ages birth to 5 across nine large and three small sites. For several years, the large agency monitored its programs with the Teaching Strategies GOLD child assessment tool and the CLASS assessment of classroom quality. The instruments were aligned with CAP's curriculum and informed teacher planning.

A Reflection on Succes

Deb, the Education Manager for a large grantee, has been asked to the Head Start Director’s office for a meeting. She knows that the director is getting ready for a walk through with representatives from the Regional Office and wonders if the meeting is regarding this. At the meeting it is shared that not only did the program not have any findings in its review, the review team identified School Readiness as an area of strength as well!

Head Start Program Facts: Fiscal Year 2013

Established in 1965, Head Start promotes school readiness for children in low-income families by offering educational, nutritional, health, social, and other services. Since its inception, Head Start has served more than 31 million children, birth to age 5, and their families. In 2013, Head Start was funded to serve nearly one million children and pregnant women in centers, family homes, and in family child care homes in urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout the nation.