Professional Development - Head Start - U.S. Department of Health ...

The Head Start Quality Research
Center (QRC) Consortium was funded
by the Office of Head Start and the
Office of Planning, Research and
Evaluation (OPRE) to promote the
school readiness of Head Start preschool
children. Starting in 2001, five-year
grants funded partnerships between academic
researchers and Head Start programs.
Two Quality Research Centers
focus on professional development. One
intervention is literacy-based; the other
focuses on teacher training.
Program-Delivered Literacy Inservice
Training
This professional development
model was supported by Head Start
partners, Communities United, Inc.
(CUI), Waltham, Massachusetts, and
Action for Boston Community
Development, Inc. (ABCD), Boston,
Massachusetts. The grantees delivered
early literacy professional development
through training, materials, and technical
assistance.
Modules used for program delivery
included reading books, extending
conversations, phonological awareness,
children’s writing, print awareness,
and literacy-integrated curricula.
Using a range of qualitative and quantitative
research methods, Education
Development Center, Inc. (EDC) examined
the impact of the literacy program
on teachers’ literacy-related practices
and children’s literacy development.
Results showed consistent and sus-
Photo by S. Crecelius. Systems/Partnerships
Subject tk
HEAD START RESEARCH AND
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Participant taking notes at the 2nd National Head Start Hispanic Institute.
tained improvement in teachers’ literacy-related
practices across several
cohorts of teachers as well as
improved child outcomes in vocabulary
and early writing.
For more information, contact
Nancy Clark-Chiarelli, hclark@edc.org.
Individualized Learning
Intervention: A Structured
Mentoring Program for Head
Start Teachers
Three Head Start grantees implemented
a mentoring system involving
adult self-directed learning experiences
and collaborative support -– Ninth
District Opportunity Head Start in
Gainesville, Georgia; Coastal Area
Georgia Head Start in Brunswick,
Georgia; and Jefferson County committee
for Economic Opportunity in
Birmingham, Alabama. Mentor training
focused on developing trusting
relationships between sixteen mentor
teachers and sixteen protégé teachers.
Communication and leadership skills
were provided during coursework.
Mentors supported the protégés’
ability to individualize children’s learning
experiences based on developmental
assessments. Mentor teachers met
with protégé teachers throughout the
Head Start year. Initial results were
positive for the quality of the protégé
teacher’s classroom learning environment
and enhanced child outcomes
based on comparisons made between
treatment and control groups in the
fall and spring.
For more information, contact
Martha Abbott-Shim, masqcounts@bellsouth.net,
or Rich
Lambert, rglamber@email.uncc.edu.
Information about the Head Start
Quality Research Centers Consortium
is available at
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/qrc
_two/index.html ■
Head Start Bulletin 21