97-10-01 College of Education Receives Funding for Head StartCenter

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION RECEIVES FUNDING FOR HEAD START QUALITY
IMPROVEMENT CENTER

     COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University’s College of Education
has received $2.18 million from the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services to operate a Head Start Quality Improvement
Center.

     The Quality Improvement Center will provide training,
consultation and organizational development services for 128 Head
Start agencies in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, said Dennis Sykes,
director of the center.

     “The center will be responsible for supporting the quality
improvement efforts of all the Head Start agencies in this
region,” Sykes said.  “We’ll use our staff and a pool of expert
consultants housed in all three states to achieve these goals.”

     The Ohio State center is part of a national network of 16
such centers.

     Head Start is a national program which provides
comprehensive developmental services for America’s low-income,
preschool children ages 3 to 5 and social services for their
families.  Specific services for children focus on education,
socio-emotional development, physical and mental health, and
nutrition.

     The center will be housed in the Center for Special Needs
Populations, a part of the School of Physical Activity and
Educational Services.  Larry Magliocca is director of the Center
for Special Needs Populations.

     Ohio State’s success in winning the Quality Improvement
Center was based upon its work as a Head Start Technical
Assistance Support Center since September 1993, Sykes said.  As a
technical assistance support center, Ohio State had a more
limited role in helping Head Start agencies, he said.

     “We only worked with about half the agencies per year and
for a limited time,” he said.  “With our new center, we’ll have a
lot more flexibility and responsibility in assisting the Head
Start agencies to enhance their efforts with low-income children
and families.”

     One role of the center will be to provide support and
assistance to Head Start agencies that are not in compliance with
federal regulations, Sykes said.  But more often, the center will
work with agencies that are already in compliance to make them
more efficient and effective.  The center also will offer
development and education opportunities to agency staff members.

     Ohio State has been awarded the grant to support the center
through 2002.  The $2.18 million will run the center from Sept. 1
through Aug. 31, 1998.  Funding for subsequent years is
anticipated.

     Co-principal investigators of the new center will be David
Fernie, professor of education, and Rebecca Kantor-Martin,
associate professor of family relations and human development.

                             #

Contact:  Dennis Sykes, 447-0844, ext. 133


[Submitted by: Von Vargas  (vargas.12@osu.edu)
               
Wed, 1 Oct 1997 15:41:16 -0400 (EDT)]
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