Quality…Always Evolving
Programs are continually finding new and better ways of serving Head Start
children and their families and integrating these practices into their programming.
NHSA’s Quality Initiative will change from time to time to reflect the
most recent information about effective organizational performance and effective
practices in early care and education and services to families.
Each application period should be viewed as a new opportunity to examine
program practices. Achieving quality is an ongoing quest and an active, dynamic
process.
Changes in program leadership; staffing patterns; facility use; operating
procedures; community demographics; local, state, and national policies; and
many other
factors can influence the quality of services being offered to children and
families. Therefore, applicants that reapply to either level will be reviewed
based upon the quality of their current program practices and evidence of
current compliance with the Head Start Program Performance Standards.
Programs
that receive the Excellence designation are cautioned not to assume that
they will indefinitely remain in this category. Shifts in performance
occur naturally in all programs as they adapt and adjust to new challenges
and circumstances. | 
