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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: HHS Awards $3.2 Million To Educate Head Start Teachers The Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families today announced the award of grants to 22 institutions of higher learning to enhance the education of Head Start teachers. The grants total $3.2 million for five years. “Head Start children benefit when their teachers get the best possible education,” HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. “These grants are especially important because they will help previously underserved groups receive education that will lead to excellence in Head Start classrooms across the country.” The awardees are Tribally Controlled Land Grant Colleges and Universities (8 grants; $1,190,700), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (8 grants; $1,150,740), and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (6 grants; $898,000). All of the grantees will use their funds to help Head Start teaching staff complete course work for a two or four year degree in Early Childhood Education. Each group will work with Head Start and Early Head Start programs serving its target population to develop culturally appropriate models for teacher training. For example, the Tribally Controlled colleges will work with local Tribal Head Start programs that serve Native American children and families; the Hispanic Serving Institutions will collaborate with Head Start and Migrant Head Start programs serving Latino children and families, and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities will work with Head Start programs that serve African-Americans. “These grants are part of our effort to assure a high quality educational experience for each Head Start teacher and each Head Start child,” said Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., assistant secretary for children and families. “We recognize that Head Start teachers must not only receive higher education to do their jobs well, but also that their education must be appropriate for the culturally diverse population that Head Start serves.” The Head Start program, established in 1965, has an annual enrollment of over 900,000 children from birth to age five, and provides a comprehensive array of educational, social, health and child development services. The list of grantees and the amount of their awards follow:
Total Awarded: $898,000
Total Awarded: $1,150,740
Total Awarded: $1,190,700
### Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials
are available at www.hhs.gov/news
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