The Head Start and Early Head Start workforce is in crisis. In response, NHSA has put together the Head Start Workforce Development Hub. The Hub is a comprehensive resource, set up to provide real solutions and support the development of a national workforce pipeline for Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
Our goal? Help with recruitment and retention of high quality staff. Read our Year One Impact Report!
The Workforce Development Hub
Invest in Entry-Level and In-Service Training
The Child Development Associate (CDA) Pathway is designed for educators working in the following settings: 1) preschool; 2) with infants and toddlers; 3) family child care; and 4) home visitor environments. In addition to meeting the Council for Professional Recognition’s coursework requirements, this training provides learners with everything they need to know to succeed in Head Start. With the right support, candidates can complete these excellent training modules in just four months!
Upon receiving the CDA credential, candidates will also receive six credits toward a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from National University. Candidates can complete the training on-demand or have access to the full pathway. Which program is right for you? Explore the options.
In 2021, NHSA and the HeadStarter Network partnered with Bellwether Education Partners to develop Broader, Deeper, Fairer: Five Strategies to Radically Expand the Talent Pool in Early Education. Since then, an expanding Apprenticeship Work Circle (work group) has been meeting to move this strategy forward. The group represents an interdisciplinary collaboration among Early Childhood Education leaders, philanthropy, government, higher education, and policy makers. Is an apprenticeship model right for your Head Start program? Use our Head Start and Early Head Start Apprenticeship Kick-Start Guide to find out.
Learn more about apprenticeships in Head Start here.
Academy+, powered by The Academy team at NHSA, offers instant access to dozens of Head Start-specific, engaging courses on-demand.
NHSA is exploring options to bring mentors and mentees together nationally, so that programs may learn from one another. As part of this effort, NHSA will launch eMentorMatch, a site for NHSA members to find mentors and build relationships. That platform will have something for everyone:
- Program-Level members of NHSA will have access for all employees
- Retired Head Start staff with Individual or Lifetime memberships can join as mentors
- New directors can find seasoned directors to learn from and aspiring leaders can match with someone who can show them the ropes
Supporting Migrant and Refugee Populations
Resources curated to help Head Start programs learn more about how working with and supporting refugee populations.
Apprenticeships in Head Start
This curated list of resources can help Head Start and Early Head Start programs introduce apprenticeship models into their centers.
Apprenticeship Kick-Start Guide
Curated Resources to Support Key Components Needed for Innovative, Successful Responses to the Early Learning Staffing Crisis
CDA Training Pathways
This program guides candidates through the entire CDA credentialing process. The self-paced coursework gives learners the flexibility to study on their own schedule while dedicated faculty provide one-on-one coaching and additional support to ensure all of our learners complete the entire CDA program.
Engage Unique Populations
For many years, Head Start has been providing parents a unique opportunity for training and employment. Many current Head Start staff started out as Head Start parents. NHSA has created a CDA training program with a cohort specifically for parents to learn alongside other parents and create strong, meaningful relationships. It includes all of the coursework, coaching, and administrative support necessary to successfully complete the CDA in about four months.
The Workforce Hub Steering committee includes a work group that is exploring pathways for high school students to enter the early childhood profession, potentially through career and technical programs and dual credit offerings. The work group aims to identify a scalable model and develop a pilot program that can serve as a national example for high schools to follow. Are you interested in starting a high school pilot program? Email theacademy@nhsa.org and we can help you get started!
Head Start can be a great landing spot for someone new to the U.S. New Americans have also been good recruits into the Head Start workforce. CDA preparation and other training can provide an onramp to career development. However, there are challenges to working specifically with a population that is new to the country, possibly learning English or less familiar with the English language and adjusting to new customs. Creating specific programs for refugee and immigrant populations would provide supports that are unique in this circumstance, and The Hub is dedicating resources to identifying solutions such as translation services or training delivered in multiple languages. Learn more about how your program can support refugees and immigrants in Head Start.
How Head Start Can Support the Refugee Community
Programs can use this toolkit and materials to help better understand refugee resettlement agency services, refugee community needs, and to increase enrollment and employment of people with refugee status in Head Start.
Supporting Migrant and Refugee Populations
Resources curated to help Head Start programs learn more about how working with and supporting refugee populations.
Recruitment and Retainment Campaigns
Finding the right candidates (or the right new position!) shouldn’t be a full-time job. There’s a better way for Head Start agencies and job seekers to find each other and make that perfect fit. Benefits include: targeted advertising exposure; easy listing management; automatic notifications when job seekers match your criteria; and NHSA member discounts! Visit careercenter.nhsa.org to learn more.
Enhance your workplace culture, retain valuable staff, and measure your progress with NHSA’s Workplace Index, a comprehensive staff retention tool designed specifically for Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Developed by industry expert Ellen Galinsky and powered by data analysis through Qualtrics with the University of Minnesota, the Workplace Index is your key to improving your organization's culture, retaining staff, and meeting FA2 Review requirements.
The National Head Start Association Digital Portfolio is a personalized digital space where early childhood professionals can store all their professional accomplishments, from credentials and certifications to professional webinars, conferences, and NHSA membership. Staff can then share their portfolios with their Head Start programs’ human resource offices to verify skills required for employment and promotion.
- The How to Engage with the Media to Spread Awareness Guide has tips for reaching out to media outlets, links to resources for highlighting Head Start’s impacts, and more.
- The Head Start Language Playbook—available in both English and Spanish—is designed to help the Head Start community have better, more effective conversations about our mission with the public.
NHSA Digital Portfolio
The NHSA Digital Portfolio is a personalized space where early childhood professionals can store all their professional accomplishments.
NHSA Career Center 101
NHSA’s Career Center offers professional services to help employers and job seekers hire and manage careers for long-term success.
Head Start Language Playbook
Created with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Language Playbook helps Head Start advocates have more effective conversations.
Drive Career Pathways
Every year, NHSA hosts six conferences to bring together Head Start thinkers and doers across a wide range of roles to help share new ideas. We're joined by prominent academics, educators, researchers, scientists, technologists, activists, innovators, and more! It’s a great opportunity to learn and network with peers.
The Academy at NHSA is Head Start's home for professional learning and is open to everyone who works in early childhood. The rich content is grounded in the Head Start Performance Standards, and the human-centered approach engages staff as they hone skills, expand knowledge, and increase in confidence. Academy+ is a new way of accessing high quality professional learning all year long through a subscription model.
Explore courses by role in our Course Catalog:
NHSA is proud to announce their partnership with National University to develop a new early childhood bachelor’s degree that has been developed specifically for Head Start. The degree is made up of five certifications, and includes nine credits for the CDA when CDA training is completed through one of The Academy at NHSA’s CDA pathways. The next phase of this new partnership will consider graduate school pathways, focusing on leadership development. Learn more.
In 2021, the HeadStarter Network partnered with Bellwether Education Partners to develop Broader, Deeper, Fairer: Five Strategies to Radically Expand the Talent Pool in Early Education. A Rethinking Credentials Work Circle (work group) then convened to discuss the need for a database of high-quality trainers for the CDA, as well as the possibility of creating a Child Development Professional that would stack on top of the CDA.
National Head Start Association members now qualify for Walden University tuition grants for course-based bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral programs, as well as grants for competency-based bachelor’s and master’s in Early Childhood Studies. Learn more about this benefit here.
Conferences
Every year, NHSA hosts six Head Start conferences to bring together thinkers and doers across a wide range of roles to help share new ideas.
The Academy
Prepare for tomorrow’s opportunities with practical tools, innovative strategies, and foundational standards and competencies taught by NHSA and leading experts in early childhood education.
The Academy+
Prepare for tomorrow’s opportunities with practical tools, innovative strategies, and foundational standards and competencies taught by NHSA and leading experts in early childhood education.
Prioritize Staff Wellness
Head Start and Early Head Start staff are better able to provide the care and nurturing children need to thrive when their own wellness needs are met. Staff wellness is so important that the Head Start Standards mandate creating wellness strategies that promote both physical and mental health for staff (Standard 1302.93). NHSA has two innovative tools that can reduce stress and increase well-being:
- Starling Minds Mental Fitness: A self-guided digital program that is available 24/7. It’s immediate, private, and tailored for Head Start staff (and their families) through NHSA membership. In three simple steps a day, you can proactively build daily habits that will help you better manage stress, anxiety, burnout, or depression and take control of your life and wellbeing—on a phone, tablet, or computer. Check it out.
- Financial Wellness: Financial stress is the most common and persistent form of stress Americans face, and also a key driver of staff turnover. To confront this challenge, The Academy at NHSA created Financial Wellness Essentials and Path to Financial Wellness in partnership with the Beans. Available live and on-demand, these courses support the Head Start workforce’s Money + Life Balance so staff can focus on what they love.
Starling Minds Mental Fitness also offers support for your physical well-being. The Wellness Wednesday series includes yoga sessions that are appropriate for all levels of fitness, and their Sleep workshop series, you will learn proven strategies to reverse poor sleeping habits with Mindfulness practices. Check it out.
NHSA is collaborating with the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University to create and test a wellness program for Head Start teaching staff. The research team is specifically looking into the factors that influence staff’s health and weight management behaviors and engagement in health and wellness activities at work, in order to ensure they develop a program that will best support the physical health of staff. While this work is ongoing and the intervention is not yet available, we’re looking forward to supporting staff’s physical health (and the potential cost-saving benefits to program budgets!)
Head Start and Early Head Start classrooms prioritize creating positive classroom environments, and that means prioritizing the emotional wellness of our educational staff. NHSA is proud to partner with the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and five Smithsonian museums to develop joyful, inspiring content for teachers that aligns with the Head Start Performance Standards (HSPPS, school readiness goals, and Early Learning Outcomes Framework). These materials are co-created with input from Head Start and Early Head Start staff to spark the joy of learning and wonder in children and adults alike in Head Start classrooms nationwide! Sign up to access these FREE resources here.
Financial Wellness Essentials supports your entire program with one year of effective financial care. Learners will be introduced to the principles of Money + Life Balance, build their own cash flow plan using a hands-on, evidence-based technique called Visual Financial Planning, receive one year of access to The Beans financial care app, and have access to monthly office hours with trained financial professionals.
This course consists of one self-paced learning module that lays the groundwork to break free from financial stress and one live workshop where your staff will create their own visual financial plan. All participants will be mailed a personalized kit with materials necessary for the workshop.
Enhance your workplace culture, retain valuable staff, and measure your progress with NHSA’s Workplace Index, Research is clear. Retaining staff requires focus on establishing a healthy workplace environment. When staff feel supported and welcome and safe in their workspace. The Hub is partnering with Dr. Ellen Galinsky at the Families and Work Institute to develop an assessment program that will be able to identify strengths and areas for growth. This opportunity for Continuous Quality Improvement is key to staff retention.
Starling Minds Mental Fitness
Starling Minds Mental Fitness is a self-guided digital program that is available 24/7. Take control of your life and wellbeing—on a phone, tablet, or computer.
Financial Wellness Essentials
This Financial Wellness course introduces money smart strategies for the Head Start workforce so staff can focus on what they love.