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42 U.S. Code § 9843a. Staff qualifications and development
(a) Classroom teachers
(1) Professional requirementsThe Secretary shall ensure that each Head Start classroom in a center-based program is assigned 1 teacher who has demonstrated competency to perform functions that include—
(A)
planning and implementing learning experiences that advance the intellectual and physical development of children, including improving the readiness of children for school by developing their literacy, phonemic, and print awareness, their understanding and use of language, their understanding and use of increasingly complex and varied vocabulary, their appreciation of books, their understanding of early math and early science, their problem-solving abilities, and their approaches to learning;
(B)
establishing and maintaining a safe, healthy learning environment;
(C)
supporting the social and emotional development of children; and
(D)
encouraging the involvement of the families of the children in a Head Start program and supporting the development of relationships between children and their families.
(2) Degree requirements
(A) Head Start teachersThe Secretary shall ensure that not later than September 30, 2013, at least 50 percent of Head Start teachers nationwide in center-based programs have—
(i)
a baccalaureate or advanced degree in early childhood education; or
(ii)
a baccalaureate or advanced degree and coursework equivalent to a major relating to early childhood education, with experience teaching preschool-age children.
(B) Additional staffThe Secretary shall ensure that, not later than September 30, 2013, all—
(i) Head Start education coordinators, including those that serve as curriculum specialists, nationwide in center-based programs—
(I)
have the capacity to offer assistance to other teachers in the implementation and adaptation of curricula to the group and individual needs of children in a Head Start classroom; and
(II) have—
(aa)
a baccalaureate or advanced degree in early childhood education; or
(bb)
a baccalaureate or advanced degree and coursework equivalent to a major relating to early childhood education, with experience teaching preschool-age children; and
(ii) Head Start teaching assistants nationwide in center-based programs have—
(I)
at least a child development associate credential;
(II)
enrolled in a program leading to an associate or baccalaureate degree; or
(III)
enrolled in a child development associate credential program to be completed within 2 years.
(C) Progress
(i) ImplementationThe Secretary shall—
(I) require Head Start agencies to—
(aa)
describe continuing progress each year toward achieving the goals described in subparagraphs (A) and (B); and
(bb)
annually submit to the Secretary a report indicating the number and percentage of classroom personnel described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) in center-based programs with child development associate credentials or associate, baccalaureate, or advanced degrees;
(II)
compile and submit a summary of all program reports described in subclause (I)(bb) to the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and
(III)
not impose any penalties or sanctions on any individual Head Start agency, program, or staff in the monitoring of local agencies and programs under this subchapter not meeting the requirements of subparagraph (A) or (B).
(D) Construction
In this paragraph a reference to a Head Start agency, or its program, services, facility, or personnel, shall not be considered to be a reference to an Early Head Start agency, or its program, services, facility, or personnel.