Columbia University Head Start Quality Research Center (HSQRC)

In 2000, five-year grants were awarded to eight Head Start Quality Research Centers (HSQRC), partnerships between academic researchers and Head Start programs created to implement and evaluate an intervention to improve child outcomes. The Center collaborated with two Head Start partners in Connecticut to launch an innovative and holistic observational assessment system. The intervention involved training Head Start staff to observe and assess children, classrooms and programs; interpret and share results with parents, teachers, and staff; and collectively make improvements based on assessment results. This project equipped Head Start staff with a proven system of assessments to critically examine their own work and empowered them to improve program quality and school readiness for Head Start children.

Funding Source: Administration on Children, Youth and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Contact: Sharon Lynn Kagan, Ed.D.