Head Start Research Grants for Graduate Students

By Jason T. Hustedt

In its 1993 report, the Advisory Committee on Head Start Quality and Expansion called for an expanded role for research in Head Start. One of the initiatives that emerged from the renewed emphasis on research was the Graduate Student Head Start Research Grants program.

In this program, graduate students work with faculty members at their universities, as well as with Head Start practitioners and policy councils, to develop projects that are grounded in the research literature and responsive to local Head Start agencies' needs. Grantees are awarded a maximum of $20,000 per year for up to two years to carry out their research. Five to ten graduate students receive this prestigious award each year; they come from across the country and represent a variety of academic disciplines.

A primary goal of this research grants program is to invest in graduate students while they are still developing their skills as researchers. Head Start benefits from its investment by having a highly trained and diverse body of developing scholars working in local Head Start programs. Both local programs and the research community profit when new information is learned about the children being served by Head Start and about the effectiveness of specific practice initiatives. Also, by carrying out their funded projects, the graduate students are able to cultivate the skills necessary to develop new–and even more sophisticated–research studies.

Not only does the program provide funding for students' research projects, but it also covers expenses for travel to professional development meetings. All grantees participate in one of Head Start's biennial National Research Conferences, which provides opportunities to interact with more experienced researchers. Grantees also come to Washington, D.C. every year to give presentations on their research projects. At that time, they receive advice and constructive critiques from other Head Start researchers, including first- and second-year grantees and representatives from the Commissioner's Office of Research and Evaluation at ACYF.

The hope is that graduate students will use the talents, skills, and contacts that they developed through this program to continue to conduct research that benefits Head Start participants and programs throughout their professional careers. Through this professional development initiative, Head Start is nurturing a growing cadre of scholars committed to high quality Head Start research.

Jason T. Hustedt is a graduate student at Cornell University and a recipient of a Graduate Student Head Start Research Grant. He can be reached at T: 607-266-9345; E: jth14@cornell.edu.

For more information on the Graduate Student Head Start Research Grant, call Michael Lopez, Director of the Commissioner's Office of Research and Evaluation. He can be reached at T: 202-205-8212; E: mlopez@acf.hhs.gov.