Head Start Policy for School Readiness - Paper Example

Introduction

The introduction of the Head Start Policy Program for Schools Readiness Act of 2007 by George Bush as laws aimed at restoring the dignity of preschool learning as well as creating unified attention towards preschool learners. Head start program and other related projects apply an integrated approach which combines health, social and educational services for the preschool children and their families who live on low-income dependency. The program has been initially related to bringing poor children to the same level as their affluent counterparts upon arriving at school. Similarly, Head start provides numerous services to all eligible children who are coordinated and family-centered in the response to the United States to federal legislation on poverty issues. This policy program offers services to all small kids and toddlers between births to approximately thirty-six months of age. However, the program is coordinated by public-school districts and regional centers. This paper focuses on discussing the influence of Head Start Policy Program in sensitizing low-income families to obtain an education.

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According Bush, the policy will address numerous longstanding priorities in administration such competition among the head Start provision in a well-coordinated manner for childhood development in education performance. Through increasing competition among the providers, the policy helps in ensuring quality educational programs for vulnerable children in the United States. However, greater collaboration between the Head Star agencies, schools as well as other programs will enhance service delivery among young children living in poverty. Bush also affirms that the program will improve standards and performances in education through strengthening fiscal accountability on the number of funds to be used in the program (Mead & Mitchel, 2016). The policy recognizes that all young children who are poverty stricken need preschool education more than the rich to prepare them for elements ray school. Notably, the head start program uses a comprehensive approach to offer s mix of nutritional, social, health and educational services to children who are below five years as well as their low-income families. The inception of the program by Bush in law in the United States has adversely enabled disadvantaged children to get an education. However, an issue affecting the head start program has more significant implications for the policy of early childhood education in general.

The selection which is being done by this program in ensuring that all disadvantaged children from a given community receive elementary education is splendid. Conversely, the policy usually flops as the plan may lack enough money to run its errands for all the children living in poverty. Research shows that approximately sixty percent of the poverty stricken children are eligible for participation in the Head Start. Lack of enough funding has been the greatest challenge that the program is facing in trying to meet its goals in offering quality services to all children from low-income families.

Previously, before the inception of this program, most poverty-stricken families did not have the opportunity to give their children quality education as well as health services but was put under the policy; most children have gotten excellent opportunity to enjoy their development stages with easy (Walters, 2015). Similarly, parents have also found a chance to boost their children psychological for excellent performances in their school life in the United States. Currently, Head Start policy allows parent from the low-income families to consider the future benefits of the program for their children and well as the funding process. The justification of the Head Start policy from the federal government explains that the program will allow most children at preschool to benefit from the primary education which they freely obtain.

Another prudent advantage of Head Start concerns its focus on families. This trait has been shared by several other high-quality programs for early childhood development. Head Start has proved splendid of all the other programs as it creates a positive effect on the civic engagement of families and their ability to navigate the education system (Mead & Mitchel, 2016). Although many other parts of this policy have been seen as less than user-friendly, its demonstration as a public program help broader category of low-income families to be more personally empowered and civically active for great celebration and replication.

Arguments about the program reveal that Head start programs are available for less advantaged children to help them counter poverty challenges which bar them from achieving excellent education programs. The plan was established as a way of assisting children across the United States with elementary education for their future developments with attempts of eradicating poverty through raising the living standards of poor people. Other Head Start programs such as Teaching and Mentoring Communities (TMC) offers education assistance to all children in the United States without considering their races or skin color. The services offered by these programs are exemplary, and their aim is geared towards eradicating poverty while sensitizing the education sector to be affordable for all personalities. Many people in the United States are aware that the Head Start policy promotes learning and boost the economy system of the region; however, violation of this program may alter the whole process and makes it faulty. The program, through the federal government, provides adequate ways of counteracting any related problem that may hinder its functionality (Mead & Mitchel, 2016). Similarly, most information which is unknown about the policy may be incorporated for equality in service delivery among school-going children to allow them to be absorbed in the learning system. This makes all students regardless of their disabilities to be part of the education system for their improved developments.

Another challenge that is paramount in the policy is the frequency shift of family in and out of poverty occasionally. This makes it hard to obtain eligible children for the program at any given. Interestingly, low qualifications among teachers have reduced the intensity of the program and instead exposing it several debates about its credibility in service delivery in mixed activities. Some studies have also impacted the Head Start policy although some of them have suffered mild methodological problems which are related to making comparisons and interpreting the findings. As a result, evidence which supports the general conclusion about the position of the program in creating modest benefits is based on long and short term services offered.

Since most families are faced with different challenges which are related to lawlessness as well as vulnerability to poverty, the policy directly gives them the opportunity to feel part of the economic development. It also encourages more people to be part of the program as the support to the children in obtaining primary education is exemplary (Kline & Walters, 2016). However, some families are still at risk of being neglected because of the dependency of the program on the federal government's grants for funding. Besides, TMC operations have also been both directly and indirectly affected by the Head Start policy.

Other studies show that the comparison between Head Start participants and non-participant siblings, it reveals that the long term benefits which are associated with the program increase with attendance rates of college and high school graduates. On the other hand, the short term impact of Head Start policy reveals that it improves literacy skills among the children as parents read to them quite often throughout the program (Manfra, 2019). However, another study shows that the association between Head Start policy and service delivery has cognitive outcomes and positive health status among children.

The effect of the Head Start policy is that it leads to the provision of quality education and health services to the young across the United States. However, difficulties occur because most parents are not static in their levels of poverty. The constant shift i

n poverty among many families makes it hard to obtain a clear cut on the number of children to be supported by the program. The modest outcomes which are associated with Head Start participation reveal that the program is failing to reach its full potential because of the nature of educational services which are being offered. These services are too weak because of the low qualification among Head Start teachers.

Similarly, under the Head Start program, all eligible children are assigned a service coordinator who is mandated to coordinate their interventions as well as their developments (Joshi et al., 2016). Children and families who qualify for the intervention services at early stages are accorded other significant explicit attention which will not only favor the development process but also reduce complexities in dealing with any issue which may be realized. Notably, these services which are given to children are family-centered about the family priorities, resources as well as concerns which can be given to the young naturally.

Moreover, the main point of interest to a high-quality head start policy program among the young is incidences inside family kid care home or classroom where the association takes place especially between the child and the educator. Similarly, the program sensitizes that high-quality program requires educators to use different learning methodologies which are customized to a given stage of age in kids. Proper utilization of this educational module improves the structure of the learning experience (Jenkins et al., 2016). However, an assortment of backups is needed to encourage the association between instructor and learners for concrete and excellent learning process. In every much-resourced classroom, the instructor is compelled to saddle all assets of learning to equip learners with adequate knowledge regardless of the economic background. As a result, Head Start policy program gives instructors more power for their financial support in dealings with bolster guidance for proficient educational improvements among children.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Head start program provides all the needed non-profit services for supporting children with developmental disabilities across the United States especially in centers such as Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties which have a high number of low-income families. However, the fluctuations in the poverty levels the residence has dramatically interfered with the program as well as other policies which aimed at supporting children to obtain their natural learning. On the contrary, research has been conducted, and it reveals that the effectiveness of the program depends on the useful gaps which the sector leaves. For instance, in the United States, most people prefer elementary learning as opposed to technical although this faces several funding issues which make it more passive.

References

Jenkins, J. M., Farkas, G., Duncan, G. J., Burchinal, M., & Vandell, D. L. (2016). Head Start at ages 3 and four versus Head Start followed by state pre-k: Which is more effective?. Educational evaluation and policy analysis, 38(1), 88-112. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373715587965

Joshi, P., Geronimo, K., & Acevedo-Garcia, D. (2016). Head Start since the War on Poverty: Taking on New Challenges to Address Persistent School Readiness Gaps. Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk, 7(1), 11. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/cgi/v...