A few weeks ago, I had the honor of joining Head Start experts, advocates, and practitioners from across the country in Chicago for the second meeting of the Head Start Future Thinking Project Advisory Committee. Over the course of two days, we dug into some of the most pressing challenges facing Head Start today, and began the hard, meaningful work of envisioning what its future could look like. It is difficult to imagine a program that could have a greater impact on the lives of children who participate in Head Start, and we want to strengthen it for future generations of children and families.
Why is this critical right now? In the Head Start community, we share a common aspiration and a common conviction: every child, regardless of their family’s income, is endowed with infinite potential, and our goal is to create a trajectory for them to thrive long after they leave our programs. We also know that the early childhood landscape has shifted enormously since 1965; that researchers have provided sixty additional years of evidence about what practices in early childhood education most impact child outcomes; and that in the siloed worlds of publicly funded early childhood education (between Head Start, state child care subsidy and licensing systems, and state and school district pre-K programs), expectations for providers of public early childhood programs have multiplied without commensurate funding. And most of all, we know that the early childhood workforce remains unforgivably underpaid and underappreciated.
The Head Start Future Thinking Project, led by Start Early in collaboration with like-minded organizations from across the country, is a national initiative designed to generate a Blueprint for a stronger, more sustainable future for Head Start. To kick off the project, Start Early researchers engaged the field through focus groups and interviews with families, providers, alumni, and leaders.
Last month, the Advisory Committee convened in Chicago to reflect on the information gathered through this research to date and to begin building the Head Start Blueprint. The group discussed the future role of Head Start, highlighting local perspectives on multi-generational community programs and the evolving role of states in early childhood education. Participants also emphasized Head Start’s longstanding role as “the nation’s laboratory,” testing and refining innovative approaches that strengthen outcomes for children and families nationwide. Below are a few takeaways from our rich conversation:
- The work is urgent.
- This is a pivotal moment for Head Start. Operational pressures created by flat funding during a period of persistent inflation, alongside changes to program requirements, create significant stress for programs and the families who depend on them. The Committee discussions made clear that this is precisely the moment to think boldly – not just to defend what exists, but to articulate what Head Start should look like going forward. Well-meaning, thoughtful leaders in this field can and should have different perspectives. When dialogue is limited to “more regulation versus less regulation” or “change versus stasis,” we do not center the children who deserve this program to thrive. They need adults in the room to steer the course.
- Family engagement is still, and must remain, a core component of the Head Start model.
- The Committee was clear: Head Start’s model of partnering with families, not simply delivering services to them, is one of its greatest strengths. When families are genuinely engaged in the program and treated with the dignity and respect to make their own choices about what is best for their children, the results are transformative. As we think about Head Start’s future, ensuring that family engagement remains central to everything the program does isn’t up for debate; the question is how we strengthen and sustain it.
- We are grounded in a strong set of shared values.
- Two days of conversation among a diverse group of experts did not produce easy consensus. There was real and honest disagreement on important questions, and that is how it should be. Yet, despite our different perspectives, we are grounded in a shared set of values. We believe that Head Start must remain a community-driven, high-quality program that centers family engagement and offers a path for children who might otherwise not have access to an early childhood education experience that can change the course of their lives. Every child deserves that opportunity. These values are foundational to this work.
