Chronic Homelessness, Head Start, and Changing Federal Policies: Teaching and Learning at Hawthorne House

• In Event: Poster Session 3
  In Poster Session: Head Start and Pre-Kindergarten Issues

Abstract

The purpose of this case study is to illustrate, in light of recent policy changes, the challenges faced when Head Start reaches out to the most disadvantaged families and young children in America, the chronically homeless. Interview data from Head Start teachers (n=3), administrators (n=6) and parents (n=8), along with classroom observations, portray what teaching the children of the chronically homeless entails and suggest how otherwise well-intentioned policies, which might be effective with some populations of children, may prove punishing to others.

Authors

• Robert V. Bullough, Brigham Young University

• Kendra Hall-Kenyon, Brigham Young University