by Jerry Parr | Jul 22, 2026 | Early Childhood, Head Start
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to participate for the first time in the annual strategic planning meeting of the Calvert County Early Childhood Advisory Council. As someone relatively new to Calvert County—but certainly not new to early childhood systems—I arrived...
by Jerry Parr | Jul 17, 2026 | Early Childhood, Head Start
Conversations with early childhood leaders in other countries often begin with differences—policy, funding, culture, training, and expectations. But they quickly reveal how much the field shares. Across recent conversations in Kuala Lumpur, the same concerns surfaced...
by Jerry Parr | May 22, 2018 | Early Childhood, Head Start
Editor’s note, July 17, 2026: Nearly a decade after this reflection was written, the central lesson still holds: program models succeed or fail less because of what they are called or where they originated than because of how relationships, expectations, resources,...
by Jerry Parr | Apr 11, 2018 | Designation & Renewal System, Head Start
Editor’s note, July 17, 2026: This article was written during an earlier phase of the Head Start Designation Renewal System. Specific thresholds, procedures, and policy details have changed over time. The broader questions raised here—about incentives, workforce...
by Jerry Parr | Mar 29, 2018 | Classroom Monitoring, Early Childhood
Have we over-regulated our Early Childhood programs? Lessons I may have learned during my travels through Rwanda… Or maybe I am just longing for the good old days of play with more risk and where supervision was not defined as never allowing children to problem solve...
