Policy Research Of Teachers’ Professional Development In American Head Start

The preschool education in our country is developing rapidly nowadays, In the pursuit of high quality in preschool education, the education-receiving problem of children from low-income families has become increasingly prominent. The level of preschool teachers’ professional development in underdeveloped areas is the key factor to restrict the development of children. American Head Start is a comprehensive program for preschool children from low-income families, which has been running for 50 years. The successful experience of it has put forward some feasible recommendations for the development of preschool education in our country. This paper makes a historical inquiry on American Head Start, and then compare it with the domestic, to seek the difference and the experience, mainly with the historical method, the comparison method and the literature method. Paper is divided into four parts, namely, the historical evolution of American Head Start, the policies and regulations of teachers’ professional development in Head Start, the policy characteristic of teachers’ professional development in Head Start and the inspiration to the preschool teachers’ professional development in our country.The first part, mainly, analyzes the historical evolution of Head Start. The evolution of history is divided into four stages, that is, Brewing stage, Initial stage, Reflection and rectification stage, overall revitalization stage. This part grasps the overall development of Head Start from the macro.The second part, mainly, investigates the policy of teachers’ professional development in Head Start. It is divided into three areas:The teacher qualification and training requirements in Head Start, Evaluation system for promoting teachers’ professional development, Guarantee system of teachers’ professional development.The third part, mainly, summaries the policy characteristic of teachers’ professional development in Head Start. Including a reasonable allocation of funds, a clear qualification requirements, a continuous career planning, a systematic evaluation of feedback and careful policy recommendations.The fourth part, provides suggestions for the professional development of teachers in underdeveloped areas in China, combining with the current situation and problems of teacher professional development in our country, Including allocating funds reasonably, improving the education and qualification of the preschool teacher in underdeveloped areas, providing feedback and policy guidance and support for teachers’ professional development timely.