National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning
Forecasted
Head Start will award $8.8M for a National Center to provide training and support for early childhood development, teaching, and learning best practices.
Funder: Administration for Children and Families - OHS
Due Dates: June 2, 2025 (Head Start / Early Head Start Recipient - Multiple Communities in CO, DE, LA, NC, OK, OR, TN, TX)
Funding Amounts: Approximately $8,800,000 total funding for operating the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning.
Summary: Provides funding to operate a National Center delivering training and technical assistance to improve early childhood development, teaching, and learning practices in Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
Key Information: This center is part of a larger system of National Centers supporting Head Start programs with evidence-based, culturally responsive, and inclusive early childhood education practices.
Description
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Head Start (OHS) is offering approximately $8.8 million in funding to establish and operate the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning (NC ECDTL). This center will provide training and technical assistance (TTA) grounded in current research and best practices to support child development and education services for children from birth to age five enrolled in Head Start and Early Head Start (HS/EHS) programs.
The NC ECDTL will focus on:
- Effective teaching and home visiting practices that promote school readiness through inclusive, developmentally appropriate, play-based learning.
- Equitable learning opportunities that respect and respond to children's culture, language(s), and abilities.
- Implementation of evidence-informed early childhood and home-based curricula.
- Use of developmental screening and ongoing assessment tools aligned with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF).
- Designing engaging and inclusive learning environments.
- Promoting responsive adult-child interactions.
- Using positive behavioral supports to foster children's social and emotional development.
This center will join three other National Centers within the OHS TTA System, which collectively support Head Start programs nationwide.
