South Carolina State Head Start Association, works to help South Carolina children prepare for success in school–and in life. They focus on the earliest years in children’s lives, and strive to help their most important teachers–parents–and others who care for and teach them. The Association represents the 23 Head Start, Early Head Start, Migrant and Indian Nation agencies in the state that provide services to over 13,000 low-income pre-school children from birth through five years old (Home, n.d.).
The agency I decided to write my program evaluation paper on was the Orangeburg- Calhoun- Allendale-Bamberg Community Action Agency. I chose this agency because it dealt with Head Start. Head Start has played a role in the lives of my nieces and
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nephews, my sister began her career with Head Start, so I thought it would be a suitable organization to research. My future goal is to transition into a family service provider for children, which is one of the jobs that OCAB Community Action Agency have The mission of OCAB Community Action Agency, Inc. is to eliminate the causes and conditions of poverty in the service area by developing strategies to ensure a better quality of life for disadvantaged and underserved residents. Founded in 1966, OCAB is a private, nonprofit corporation which serves more than 19,000 individuals and families each year, with average annual funds of $7 million received from government and private sources (OCABAA, n.d.). From year to year, OCAB operates various demonstration programs which focus on innovative ways to achieve individual and family self-sufficiency; training and activities to help youth make responsible choices; prevention of health-related problems for community residents and other local needs. OCAB also collaborates with other public agencies, organizations, foundations and private sector businesses to address community concerns, enhance service delivery, and make the best use of available resources. Community partners include Claflin University, South Carolina State University, the Hollings Center for Cancer Prevention and Research, USDA Rural Development, The Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties, South Carolina Electric & Gas, Bank of America and others. These are vital resources in the community and for them to partake in the well-being of the future, is very admirable. Within OCAB Community Action Agency, they have a director and then they have a Head Start Director.
Mr. Calvin Wright is the director who is over not only the Head Start Program, but all the other programs he has within the agency. The Head Start director Mrs. Necole Stroman is responsible for the business that deals with Head Start. The agency does not make decision by themselves. They have a board which is made up member of the community. Public officials, the poor, and community organizations are equally represented on the agency’s governing Board of Directors, and all sectors of the community are involved in program planning, evaluation and coordination. I think this is an awesome ideal because it gives a variety of individuals who have lived different lifestyles the chance to be the voice for the many people in which this organization serves and not make them seemed biased. When problems arise the teaching staff at the centers have an Educational Manager they report to, she then reports to Mrs. Stroman, who then if need be reports the issue to Mr. …show more content…
Wright. I had the chance to sit down with Mrs. Stroman and ask about the organization that she served as director over. She was very pleasant and gave me great information about OCAB and the services in which they provide for their Head Start. What I will take from speaking with her most of all, is her passion. It is not rare that you have found someone who has been working in the field as long as she has and still have a zeal about the work she does. Mrs. Stroman informed me that OCAB Head Start meets the special needs of children with disabilities. The organization even has a program for infants and toddlers. The program is designed to help children grow mentally, emotionally, physically, and socially. The involvement of the parents are welcomes and are encouraged in the organization. Head Start grants are awarded directly to public or private non-profit organizations, including community-based and faith-based organizations, or for-profit agencies within a community that wish to compete for funds. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Head Start (OHS) posts funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) to solicit applications for grant funds to a specific service area, or a national competition (Grants, n.d.). Mrs. Stroman informed me that the OCAB Community Action Agency’s Head Starts go up for review every five years. If they pass their review, then they are given the grant money they need that will keep their program running. In order for them to pass their review, the centers have a review team from Washington D.C. come to the various centers and scores them one their CLASS performance. CLASS is an acronym for Classroom Assessment Scoring System. With CLASS, they are observing for behavior and emotional support, class organization, and instructional support. CLASS is not the only thing that is required for the organizations to receive funding, but it is a key component. When it comes to the well-being of children who come from different environments with different issues, it is important to provide each of those components (Teachstone, 2016). When the organization receives grant money to carry on and receives the news that they are able to go another five years, that is how they know that they are effective in what they are doing, as long as the doors remain open and they are upholding to their standards, then they will be supplied with what they need. The organization like any other has its’ highlights that show case their strengths as well as their weaknesses.
OCAB Head Start has an open-door policy, so I was able to ride around to some of the centers. I visited three of the centers and a building they once were in. The building they use to be in had faded out toy equipment, a small playground, not much running room for the children to run or explore in. The newest building which was built for the previous site, has a nice gate that you must enter, they have security cameras along with security badges that are required for entry into the building. They have a computer room with computers for the children as well as a library for them to go and read books. There is also a nurse on duty each school day and they have a dentist office, so when it is time for the dental checkups the parent doesn’t have to worry about getting the children to the dentist. This is the model center for the agency. No other center in the agency has the privileges as this center. I understand about the money being used where it is needed the most. I feel that every center should receive that same love and attention. The other centers are not as privileged to receive computer rooms, teachers with tablets to use within the class rooms, or even dated toys for the children. I visited one center where the teacher didn’t even have chairs in her house keeping area, the rest room within a class room was out of commission and the boys rest room in the
center was also out of commission. If I was a parent who came to orientation at the modeled center, but then had my child go to another center, I would feel some type of way because I would feel like my child was not receiving the same opportunities as the students at the modeled center. In the area of how the other centers looked compared to the modeled center, I believe that money should be put into place to fix the needed and necessary things that are currently in need of repair, and in the future if the buildings are not equipped with new items, then build more modeled centers to replace the current ones.
As a mandated reporter with the code of ethics we are required by law that if we know of any situation putting children in harm or danger we are to report it to the proper community authorities. When we know of an early education center who is failing to meet laws and regulations we shall report it to the proper authority's. When an agency, that is to protect children from harm, is failing we must also report them to the proper authorities.
My first observation was at Head Start. I talked to Tracey Claflin about some of the principles they use in their program and how they use them. I wasn’t able to observe the children directly because my TB skin test results came up positive. Tracey explained to me that because my results were positive I couldn’t meet children or be in the same room as the children. Due to this, I had to make some arrangements to instead speak with Tracey about some principles she has seen and that they follow. I met with her for an hour discussing the principles and how they were used in the Head Start program. One of the principles she said was highly important for Head Start was principle number 2. She explained that when there is enough time and opportunities to spend time with a child individually the caregiver puts full attention on one child. She explained that they like to focus attention on a child throughout the day so that the child doesn’t feel left out. She says that alone time for a child with a caregiver is usually tummy time. They allow the infants and toddlers to roll around and look at the carpet designs. Tracey explained to me how they asses each child through this quality time that the caregiver and the child have alone. This quality time the caregiver has with the child is important,
The purpose of this essay is to offer a concise description of the Head Start program, discuss the historical background of the policy, and analyze the economic and political forces that have influenced the development of the program. The essay also seeks to evaluate both the manifest and latent functions of the policy, consider the current debate around Head Start, describe the ideologies and values that have framed the debate around Head Start, and offer recommendations regarding the program.
Decker, C. A., Decker, J. R., Freeman, N. K., & Knopf, H. T. (2009). Planning and Administering Early Childhood Programs. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
This program will work in correlation with Head Start and Early Head Start standards, which include assessments carried out by Family Service workers and staff as outlined in the federal guidelines (Department of Human & Health Services, 2015).
Therefore due to previous interaction, I decided to study the leadership of the Brantwood Children’s Home here in Montgomery, Alabama. Brantwood is a well-known children’s home that provides a place of stability, safety, and structure for abused, neglected, and at-risk children (About Us: Brantwood Children's Home, 2013). There are several types of residential programs that are available through Brantwood such as the basic residential treatment program; the transitional living program; and the independent living program. For each individual program there are age group restriction along with other restrictions. Brantwood also have an on-site educational program for grades 5th through 8th grade. According to the text book from my understanding, Brantwood is an example of the fourth type of organization that was presented.
The Head Start program is extremely beneficial to communities across the United States of America. The program set goals, continues to accomplish them, remedies educational setbacks for low-income families and children and raises debates about the success of such programs which only pushes them to strive harder to reach their goals.
In the 1980s, child care was back on the national agenda due to the education reform movement (Tejada, 2010). Tejada further disclosed that several states even launched pre-kindergarten programs for disadvantaged children. Why the Need for Universal Preschool Two-thirds of 4-year-old children in the United States attend preschool, as well as 40% of 3-year-olds (Tejada, 2010). Half of those are enrolled in a public program, such as state prekindergarten (preK), Head Start, or special education, and the other half are in a private program (Adams, 2009). Despite such a large enrollment of children in these programs, there is still a handful of children who are missing out on obtaining a head start in obtaining a good quality education.... ...
Childcare or “daycare” is one of the most commonly used resources among Americans in the United States. There are many options for childcare that parents could choose from. They have many choices for childcare, ranging from: in-home care, childcare facilities, after school or government-funded Head Start programs. . “Head Start is a federally funded governmental program with the explicit goal of preparing underprivileged children for primary education” (Conley). This program is another option for the pre-k program. The cost of childcare has risen dramatically over the past year, and no one really knows whom to blame for it. The government offers families subsidies for childcare, but that is only if your income is low. But, what about the hard working, middle class families, that are still struggling to pay the high cost of childcare without government assistant? How will they provide childcare for their kids?
The announcement was given in the spring of 1965 that an official head start program had been developed and was going to be given a ...
Daycare’s focus is mainly on a child’s development through social interaction with children and caregivers. There are head start programs that are geared to give children a foot in the right direction in order to be ready for preschool or kindergarten. The right kind of childcare can be a wonderful opportunity to promote the profound learning children experience from birth through age five (Selecting Child Care, 2002). When selecting childcare for your child, the Foundation of Early Learning has offered some tips that they believe will be helpful in the process. The foundation says that parents have always known that a good early experience is important for their child.
For my psychology interview assignment, I had the privilege of interviewing Elaine, who is the Director of Preschool X, which is an educational institution. She reports that she has been in this position for 13 years since its inception. Elaine is a close friend of my aunt, which was how I was able to meet her. She explained that her responsibilities include; the hiring of all personnel related to the school, submission of criminal background checks, the medical reports for all staff and children must be current, and also developed a curriculum for the teachers to execute. She has parent meetings and she deals with parents on a daily basis. For any arising issues, Elaine conferences with parents at least once or twice a week. Have weekly staff meetings regarding the curriculum. She also plays the role as the educational event coordinator, where she would “invite people from the dinosaur museum or alley pond park to come over to her preschool, to enrich the children”.
While walking through the front gates of County elementary school, you see children of all ages playing while they wait for the school bell to ring. Walking to the classroom that I will be observing you see students with their parent’s line up waiting to get signed in. The students are to be signed in by a parent or guardian for safety precautions, and shows that the child was signed into school. As a visitor, I am to sign myself in, this shows I was in the classroom, at what time was I there, and reason for visiting the classroom.
I recently took the PECT exam. While studying for this exam, I took several online practice tests created by Pearson. Upon completion, I was able to review my answers as well as the rationale provided by the company who developed the practice test. For each of the early childhood questions, the test stressed the importance of family-centered services and collaboration between parents, teachers, and students to support children in their “natural environment.” They further explained that a child’s “natural environment” could be their home, their school, or their community.
Programme planning is a vital sector in diverse early childhood education (ECE) service to provide quality education and care for young children. There are many ways we could plan things. The planning will link to the document of desirable of objectives (DOPs), Te Whariki and the licensing criteria which provide by the government. Planning in ECE cycle has no beginning and no end; it is a continued cycle day after day, week after week and year after year. Play is basic element to learn and develop in child’s life.