Report on Preschool Programs articles from June 2005

Report on Preschool Programs archives from June 2005

New leadership.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... NEW LEADERSHIP. The Windy Hill era at the federal Head Start Bureau is over. The embattled associate commissioner at the Department of Health and Human Services resigned May 27, effective immediately. The decision comes as the Health and Human...

More audits.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... MORE AUDITS. The OIG's office is setting tough conditions for a Kansas City, Mo., organization with a long history of running Head Start programs. The inspector general is requesting $953,245 from KCMC Child Development Corp. due to excessive...

Under review.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... UNDER REVIEW. Debate over the Head Start National Reporting System is heating up. In addition to action on Capitol Hill and critical reports from a federal watchdog agency, a new Advisory Committee on Head Start Accountability and Educational...

House Bill increases head start, but others face funding freeze.
June 15, 2005... Head Start would receive a $55 million increase but child care would face a funding freeze under a 2006 spending bill pending in the House of Representatives. The bill approved by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and...

Corporation awards new grants.(Corporation for National and Community Service)(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... The Corporation for National and Community Service is providing $14 million in new grants to 43 organizations. Grants will support 9,552 AmeriCorps members for the 2005-2006 program year. Members who complete their terms of service will be...

Senate's head start bill proposes new accountability measures.
June 15, 2005... A Senate panel has approved a bill to increase future Head Start funding and promote accountability through more re-competition of grants. The Senate bill, S. 1107, would not mandate more state control of the preschool program, a divisive...

Teachers face new requirements under committee-approved bill.(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... The Senate's Head Start reauthorization bill would set ambitious new guidelines for Head Start teachers and assistants, if the measure becomes law. By 2010, all Head Start teachers would have to possess at least an associate degree,...

Food insecurity poses threat to children, families: CDF.(Children's Defense Fund)(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... Nearly one of every five children face hunger and lack of quality food, says the Children's Defense Fund. About 18 percent of children were food insecure in 2003, and part of the reason is financial, the study says. Low-income families...

Impact study shows some gains, challenges for head start children.
June 15, 2005... First-year results are out in the long-awaited Head Start impact study, but the Bush administration and Head Start advocates don't see eye-to-eye on its findings. While advocates cited impressive gains in pre-literacy and the number of...

Ed. dept. fills two senior slots with 'no child' law oversight.(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... The Bush administration is filling two key slots at the U.S. Education Department with oversight of the No Child Left Behind Act. President Bush has nominated Henry Johnson to become assistant secretary for elementary and secondary...

NAEYC selects new board chair.(National Association for the Education of Young Children appoints Josue Cruz, Jr.)(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... Josue Cruz, Jr. is the new president of the governing board at the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Cruz is a professor and dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Bowling Green State University in...

NHSA seeks links with feds following Hill's departure.(National Head Start Association; Windy Hill)
June 15, 2005... Head Start advocates are calling for a truce with the Bush administration following the abrupt resignation in late May of the preschool program's associate commissioner. Windy Hill resigned May 27, citing a need to spend more time with...

White House offers new funds for healthy marriage projects.
June 15, 2005... The Bush administration is providing nearly $2 million for new grants under its Healthy Marriage initiative, including funding targeted at Indian comunities. The Department of Health and Human Services has $1 million available for five to...

Head Start advocates seek changes in house, Senate Head Start plans.
June 15, 2005... House and Senate bills to renew Head Start would weaken parent input in the operation of the program, program grantees and their families say. Both bills would alter the structure of Head Start Policy Councils, whose members are mainly...

Allergens pose health hazards in N.C. child care facilities.(North Carolina)(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... Child care facilities may be a major source for indoor allergens, if a study from the southern U.S. is any indication. The National Institute of Environmental Health Studies found seven common allergens from fungus, cats, cockroaches, dogs,...

Calendar.(Calendar)
June 15, 2005... The National Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality will meet July 8 in Washington, D.C. For more information, contact Peter van Dyck, Health Resources and Services Administration, Room 18-05, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD...

At a Loss for Words: How America Is Failing Our Children and What We Can Do About It.(Resources)(Book Review)(Brief Review)
June 15, 2005... At a Loss for Words: How America Is Failing Our Children and What We Can Do About It is a new book from Temple University Press that examines the importance of getting parents, policymakers and child care providers to recognize the role of...

Leading the Way to Quality Early Care and Education is a technical assistance CD organized into themes such as professional development, literacy and early learning and supporting quality.(Resources)(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... Leading the Way to Quality Early Care and Education is a technical assistance CD organized into themes such as professional development, literacy and early learning and supporting quality. The CD is free from the National Child Care Information...

High/Scope's Key Preschool Experiences: Classification, Seriation, and Number is a booklet and video with strategies for adults to explore math with children.(Resources)(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... High/Scope's Key Preschool Experiences: Classification, Seriation, and Number is a booklet and video with strategies for adults to explore math with children. The resource is $34.95 from High/Scope at (734) 485-2000, www.highscope. org.

The Child Care Bureau has issued FY 2006 Tribal Application Plan Procedures for CCDF Grantees.(Resources)
June 15, 2005... The Child Care Bureau has issued FY 2006 Tribal Application Plan Procedures for CCDF Grantees. For more information, visit the Web at www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb.

Help in transit.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... HELP IN TRANSIT. Many in Congress want to give Head Start agencies more time to deal with troublesome transportation regulations. Head Start agencies, particularly those connected to public schools, can participate in a waiver of these rules...

House approves 2006 spending bill amid criticism about lack of funds.
June 29, 2005... The House of Representatives has approved a fiscal 2006 education spending bill that largely holds the line on early childhood services, with funding freezes or small increases for preschool programs. While the bill calls for a Head Start...

House Panel wants more answers on national reporting system.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... In recommending a small Head Start increase next year, the House of Representatives is seeking more answers about the controversial National Reporting System used to assess 4-year-olds in the preschool program. In a report accompanying its...

NHSA: senate should boost, not cut, parent involvement in Head Start.(National Head Start Association)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... Critics of a Senate Head Start bill marked the annual Father's Day celebration with a call to preserve the right for men to participate actively in their child's preschool programs. The Senate legislation would limit the role of Head Start...

Full house approves measure to increase CACFP Funding.(Child and Adult Care Food Program)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... The full House has approved a 2006 agriculture spending bill with more funding for the Child and Adult Care Food Program. The bill, H.R. 2744, has $2.17 billion for CACFP, up from $2.06 billion this year for the program that reimburses...

HHS offers communities new funds for early childhood coordination.(Funding Opportunities)(Department of Health and Human Services)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... Communities can receive funds to build their preschool infrastructure through a new Department of Health and Human Services grant competition. The Administration on Children, Youth and Families is providing $35.7 million in new grants...

Feds' new grants will support services to abandoned infants.(Funding Opportunities)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... The federal government has $2.8 million available to support comprehensive service projects to help abandoned infants. Program services are designed for high-risk infants abandoned at hospitals, particularly those with the HIV virus,...

New Head Start innovation grants promote good start, grow smart.(Funding Opportunities)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... The Bush administration is awarding $2.2 million in Head Start innovation and improvement grants that follow goals outlined by the president's Good Start, Grow Smart early childhood initiative. Among other priorities, the Administration for...

Vilsack signs new bill expanding early childhood, teacher funds.(Funding Opportunities)(Tom Vilsack)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... Iowa is getting a major new pre-k initiative with Gov. Tom Vilsack's (D) endorsement of new legislation creating a Strong Start early childhood program. Vilsack this month signed House File 761, which he said will support a goal to offer...

Plan seeks more head start access for homeless, foster care children.(Funding Opportunities)
June 29, 2005... Two U.S. senators want to improve Head Start access for homeless, abused and foster children, who they claim are underserved by the federal preschool program. Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Mike De-Wine (R-Ohio) would insert language...

Head Start programs provide gains for disabled children.(Funding Opportunities)
June 29, 2005... Head Start agencies go "above and beyond" their duties to serve disabled children, according to a report that urges Congress to retain services for these youngsters when it takes up renewal of the program this year. Children with...

Ed. Dept. offers new funding for campus-based child care.(Funding Opportunities)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... The U.S. Education Department is offering $10.3 million in new grants to help provide child care to the children of low-income college students. Applications are due July 22 for the latest round of funding under the Child Care Access Means...

Plan funds child care partnerships.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) has proposed a new bill in the House of Representatives with $25 million for public-private partnerships in child care. Her plan, H.R. 2097, would create a business incentive grant program to pay the startup costs,...

Pre-K programs have greatest reach in poor schools, southern states.(Funding Opportunities)
June 29, 2005... More than one-third of all elementary schools have pre-k programs, with the South taking the lead in both the number of programs and the length of time children spend in the classroom, the Education Department reports. In The Condition of...

Head Start seeks presentations for 2006 research conference.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... The federal Head Start Bureau is seeking presentations for Serving Children through Partnership and Collaboration, Head Start's 8th National Research Conference scheduled June 26-28 in Washington, D.C. Proposals are due no later than Aug. 15....

Reiner plans 2006 ballot initiative on preschool for 4-year-olds.(Funding Opportunities)(Rob Reiner)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... Actor/director Rob Reiner is leading a coalition of business and education leaders that want to place a June 2006 initiative on the California ballot supporting preschool for all 4-year-olds. To pay for the services, the initiative would...

The Bush administration.(George W. Bush )(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... The Bush administration has awarded $23 million in new grants to improve a broad range of maternal and child health services. Included in the awards is $3.8 million for 18 small grants to improve services to infants with sickle cell disease....

Rep. Fred Upton.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2005... Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) has introduced new legislation to reduce infant mortality and preterm labor through additional federally funded research. The Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who Deliver Infants Early Act, or...

Calendar.(Calendar)
June 29, 2005... The State Child Care Administrator's Conference is scheduled Aug. 8-10 in Washington, D.C. Contact: Z-Tech Corp., (301) 315-2825, www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb. Executive Training 2005 is the title of a National Head Start Association...