Head Start Programs and Teaching Staff in 2005

This document presents a summary of 2005 data on Head Start programs and Head Start teaching staff. As a group, Head Start teachers, assistant teachers, family child care providers, and home visitors, are racially and ethnically diverse. Sixty-nine percent of Head Start teachers hold an associate degree or higher. While the level of education among Head Start teaching staff continues to improve, salaries remained virtually unchanged in 2005. Overall, Head Start teachers earned an average of $24,608 in 2005, compared to $24,211 the previous year. As Congress takes up the issue of reauthorizing Head Start, an increased investment in enhancing teacher qualifications and pay should figure as an essential element of delivering high-quality comprehensive early childhood services.