Running since 1965, Head Start has reached more than 38 million children. In fiscal year 2024 it served 805,919 children on a budget of $12.27 bn. The most interesting part, though, is how it is monitored.
Head Start is a federal programme run by the Office of Head Start within the Administration for Children and Families at the US Department of Health and Human Services. It awards grants directly to local agencies — school districts, non-profits, faith-based bodies and tribal councils — and operates through roughly 1,600 agencies.
It is not simply a kindergarten. The programme covers children from birth to five and pregnant women, and delivers across five areas: education; health, including medical, dental, hearing, vision and behavioural screening; nutrition; family social support; and parent engagement. By the end of FY2024, 96% of children had health insurance and 87% had continuous dental care.
The most important lesson is the approach to quality control. The programme rests on the Head Start Program Performance Standards, codified at 45 CFR Part 1302. Within each five-year grant cycle an agency undergoes several reviews: a remote review of documentation and governance; an on-site review of compliance with the standards; and measurement of teacher-child interaction quality using the CLASS instrument. A separate mechanism triggers rapid reviews of child health and safety incidents.
Two conclusions for the Kazakhstani context. First, a standard is not finished when it is written: a review procedure, a measurement instrument and a timetable have to stand behind it. Second, note the role of CLASS: in US practice the quality of teacher-child interaction is treated as a more meaningful measure than the completeness of paperwork.
