USED Resource: U.S. Education Department and Department of Health and Human Services Release Joint Title I Preschool Guidance

Just before Christmas, USED and HHS released Non-Regulatory Guidance Supporting High-Quality Preschool with Title I Funds: Guidance to Local Educational Agencies and Schools on Implementing the Required Head Start Program Performance Standards for Title I-Funded Preschool Programs. 

 

This guidance, a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), provides information for local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools on the Head Start Performance Standards that apply when the LEA or school use Title I funds to support an early education program.  It supports high-quality, developmentally informed preschool instruction based on best practices in child development and early learning.  We encourage you to share this resource with your LEAs, schools, human services agencies, and other partners who work on early learning in your state. 

 

This guidance, along with the Title I preschool guidance issued in February 2024, may be especially helpful to LEAs and schools as they begin budget planning for the 2025-26 school year and explore alternative funding strategies for early education programs that were initiated or expanded using American Rescue Plan funds.