Abstract

Designed for San Diego County Head Start staff; we provided college courses, a training program, academic counseling, and tutoring that developed and implemented models of Latino cultural competency development.

Issue

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES Survey, U.S. Dept of Health & Human Services, June, 2000) found that nationwide, Head Start Centers rated in "insufficient multicultural awareness (75 percent rated lower)." "The Secretary [of the DHHS] shall ensure that not later than Sept. 30, 2003, at least 50 percent of Head Start teachers ¦have an associate, baccalaureate, or advanced degree in early childhood education [or related field]" (1998 Head Start Act, Sec 648A1A). To address both issues, I headed grant 90-YP-0003 at California State University San Marcos (2000-2004) to develop Latino cultural competency skills that led to concrete steps for Head Start teacher degree completion. The training program is relevant to childcare providers who work directly with Latino children. We are also publishing our work in scholarly journals to address the dearth of scholarly knowledge on Latinos in pre-K education.

Response

Focus Group Data Collection was completed and we feel we have a good sense of the barriers that impede Head Start teaching staff progress towards degree completion. Most, if not all, are external to their own self-imposed limitations. Scheduling, course offerings, changing degree requirements, impacted programs, cost, and other familial and personal obligations are all major factors that impede degree completion. We offered Sociology 486 and Sociology 345 a total of 11 times. The total course enrollment is 162 staff.

Three Proyecto Informar (Project to Inform) training sessions were conducted in the summers of 2002 to 2004. A total of 200 Head Start staff participated in five areas of San Diego County. We conducted six mini-Proyectos to a total of 120 participants. In sum, we trained 384 Head Start staff in Latino cultural competencies via Proyecto Informar.

Total number of Head Start staff counseled was 515. Total number of counseling sessions estimated between 850 and 1250. We have 12 students who have earned their associates, two with bachelors, and 14 who are within one semester of graduating with associates and seven with bachelors degrees. Due to attrition, we've lost approximately 10 college graduates to other positions outside of Head Start. We fulfilled requests for on-going tutoring services in the form of writing workshops (112) and 14 intensive tutoring sessions in basic writing skills.

Impact

Changes include the development of Latino cultural competencies among Head Start staff in San Diego County. We had smaller yet key impacts on assisting Head Start teachers reach their educational goals and meet the Head Start mandate that 50 percent of teachers have a college degree in a childhood education field. Head Start in San Diego County is well over the 50 percent mark, but our efforts have both identified sources of attrition among the degreed staff as well as the barriers that teachers are meeting when they attempt to meet their educational goals. We see our impact twofold in the classroom where Latino children are impacted by a training program that generates proficiencies in cultural awareness and competencies as well as ensuring a Head Start staff is trained to fulfill the mission of Head Start.

Funding Sources

• Other Federal non-USDA (e.g., NSF, NIH, DOA, DOD)
• DHHS-ACYF

Topic Description

• Latino Cultural Competency and Head Start

Collaborators

• Alfonso Rodriguez, Ph.D. Neighborhood House Association. San Diego, CA. Head Start Grantee-San Diego County.
• MAAC Project. Head Start Grantee-North County.
• Episcopal Community Services, Head Start Subgrantee-South County.
• National Latino Research Center, California State University San Marcos.
• Patricia Worden, Ph.D. California State University San Marcos.

Key Personnel

• Staff Members on DHHS Funded Training Grant:
• Silverio Haro, Ph.D. Candidate, Harvard School of Education
• Claudia Huiza, Ph.D. Candidate Literature, University of California San Diego
• Anthony Navarrete, Ph.D. Candidate Literature, University of California San Diego