Presentation: American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2015 (AIAN FACES 2015): Key Findings from Fall 2015 and Spring 2016

Publication Date: June 4, 2021
AIAN FACES 2015 cover image  (PDF)

 

American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2015 (AIAN FACES 2015): Key Findings from Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 - Presentation Slides (PDF)

Introduction

The American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2015 (AIAN FACES 2015) is the first national descriptive study of children and families enrolled in Head Start programs operated by federally recognized tribes. These programs are known as Region XI. Region XI programs incorporate their unique history, community traditions, and beliefs into their operations and integrate language and culture into the delivery of services to children and families. AIAN FACES 2015 was informed by a workgroup comprising Region XI Head Start directors, researchers from universities and Mathematica Policy Research (which conducted the study), and federal officials from the Administration for Children and Families (which funded the study).

Data collection with Region XI children, families, classrooms, and programs was conducted in the Fall of 2015 and Spring of 2016.  Twenty-one Region XI Head Start programs were included.  Procedures for tribal review and approval in each of those 21 communities were followed.  This brief provides visualizations of data from the Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 data collections.

Primary Research Questions

  1. What are the characteristics of Region XI Head Start children’s programs, centers, classrooms, staff, and families?
  2. How have these characteristics changed over a program year?

Purpose

These slides highlight key findings from the American Indian and Alaska Native Family and Child Experiences Survey 2015 (AIAN FACES 2015), including Fall 2015, Spring 2016, and Fall 2015-Spring 2016 change.

Key Findings and Highlights

The Key Findings slides highlight select descriptive findings from the AIAN FACES 2015 regarding:

  • Child characteristics and family environments
  • Children’s classroom, center, and program cultural and language environment
  • Children’s cognitive, social-emotional, and health and physical development
  • Children’s teacher characteristics

Methods

The American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2015 (AIAN FACES 2015) provides a national picture of Region XI Head Start programs, centers, families, and children. AIAN FACES 2015 was designed through extensive engagement and input from the Region XI Head Start community to better understand:

  • characteristics of Region XI Head Start programs, centers, staff, families, and children;
  • services that Region XI Head Start provides; and
  • instructional practices in Region XI Head Start classrooms.

Recommendations

The information in these slides may be important for Region XI Head Start programs to consider as they identify the best ways to serve their local children, families, and communities.

Citation

Walker, A. (2021). American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2015: Key Findings from Fall 2015 and Spring 2016, OPRE Report #2021-74, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Glossary

AIAN: American Indian and Alaska Native

OHS: Office of Head Start