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42 U.S. Code § 9836a. Standards; monitoring of Head Start agencies and programs
(a) Standards
(1) Content of standardsThe Secretary shall modify, as necessary, program performance standards by regulation applicable to Head Start agencies and programs under this subchapter, including—
(A)
performance standards with respect to services required to be provided, including health, parental involvement, nutritional, and social services, transition activities described in section 9837a of this title, and other services;
(B) scientifically based and developmentally appropriate education performance standards related to school readiness that are based on the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework to ensure that the children participating in the program, at a minimum, develop and demonstrate—
(i)
language knowledge and skills, including oral language and listening comprehension;
(ii)
literacy knowledge and skills, including phonological awareness, print awareness and skills, and alphabetic knowledge;
(iii)
mathematics knowledge and skills;
(iv)
science knowledge and skills;
(v)
cognitive abilities related to academic achievement and child development;
(vi)
approaches to learning related to child development and early learning;
(vii)
social and emotional development related to early learning, school success, and social problemsolving;
(viii)
abilities in creative arts;
(ix)
physical development; and
(x)
in the case of limited English proficient children, progress toward acquisition of the English language while making meaningful progress in attaining the knowledge, skills, abilities, and development described in clauses (i) through (ix), including progress made through the use of culturally and linguistically appropriate instructional services;
(C)
administrative and financial management standards;
(D) standards relating to the condition and location of facilities (including indoor air quality assessment standards, where appropriate) for such agencies, and programs, including regulations that require that the facilities used by Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies and any delegate agencies) for regularly scheduled center-based and combination program option classroom activities—
(i)
shall meet or exceed State and local requirements concerning licensing for such facilities; and
(ii)
shall be accessible by State and local authorities for purposes of monitoring and ensuring compliance, unless State or local laws prohibit such access; and
(E)
such other standards as the Secretary finds to be appropriate.
(2) Considerations regarding standardsIn developing any modifications to standards required under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—
(A)
consult with experts in the fields of child development, early childhood education, child health care, family services (including linguistically and culturally appropriate services to non-English speaking children and their families), administration, and financial management, and with persons with experience in the operation of Head Start programs;
(B) take into consideration—
(i)
past experience with use of the standards in effect under this subchapter on December 12, 2007;
(ii)
changes over the period since October 27, 1998, in the circumstances and problems typically facing children and families served by Head Start agencies;
(iii)
recommendations from the study on Developmental Outcomes and Assessments for Young Children by the National Academy of Sciences, consistent with section 9844(j) of this title;
(iv)
developments concerning research-based practices with respect to early childhood education and development, children with disabilities, homeless children, children in foster care, and family services, and best practices with respect to program administration and financial management;
(v)
projected needs of an expanding Head Start program;
(vi)
guidelines and standards that promote child health services and physical development, including participation in outdoor activity that supports children’s motor development and overall health and nutrition;
(vii)
changes in the characteristics of the population of children who are eligible to participate in Head Start programs, including country of origin, language background, and family structure of such children, and changes in the population and number of such children who are in foster care or are homeless children;
(viii)
mechanisms to ensure that children participating in Head Start programs make a successful transition to the schools that the children will be attending;
(ix)
the need for Head Start agencies to maintain regular communications with parents, including conducting periodic meetings to discuss the progress of individual children in Head Start programs; and
(x)
the unique challenges faced by individual programs, including those programs that are seasonal or short term and those programs that serve rural populations;
(C)
(i)
review and revise as necessary the standards in effect under this subsection; and
(ii)
ensure that any such revisions in the standards will not result in the elimination of or any reduction in quality, scope, or types of health, educational, parental involvement, nutritional, social, or other services required to be provided under such standards as in effect on December 12, 2007; and
(D)
consult with Indian tribes, including Alaska Natives, experts in Indian, including Alaska Native, early childhood education and development, linguists, and the National Indian Head Start Directors Association on the review and promulgation of standards under paragraph (1) (including standards for language acquisition and school readiness).
(3) Standards relating to obligations to delegate agencies
In developing any modifications to standards under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall describe the obligations of a Head Start agency to a delegate agency to which the Head Start agency has delegated responsibility for providing services under this subchapter.