Texas State Center

Texas Head Start State Collaboration Office (THSSCO)
Head Start is a Federal-State partnership begun in 1965 to promote healthy development in young children. In 1990, the Texas Head Start State Collaboration Office was created and funded to improve collaboration among Texas schools, social service agencies and other community programs related to or involved with early childhood education. There are seven priorities: education, family literacy, children with disabilities, health, childcare, community service, and welfare.

Texas Pre-K Guidelines
Learning experiences of the preschool years provide a foundation that guide children academically, socially, and emotionally. Children’s learning and intellectual growth are affected by the specific experiences they have in a preschool classroom. These experiences can influence the rest of a child's life. The 2008 Texas Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) Guidelines were developed to help educators provide all preschool children with the proper foundations for school success.

Texas Pre-Kindergarten Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Program
The Texas Pre-kindergarten Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Pilot Program is a two year program aimed at enhancing school readiness for English language learners. The purpose of the Texas Pre-kindergarten Limited English Proficiency (LEP grant is to implement, evaluate and document a successful multi-age program serving prekindergarten children (3-, 4-, and 5-year olds), using the Texas Early Education Model (TEEM) to provide research-based professional development, mentoring and  instructional activities to prepare ELL children to succeed in school

Texas School Ready!™
Texas School Ready!™ is a program that certifies preschool education classrooms that effectively prepared their students for kindergarten. Texas School Ready! is administered by the Texas State Center for Early Childhood Development. We are very excited to be able to announce the first group of Texas School Ready!™ certified preschool classrooms!

Texas Early Education Model (TEEM)
The State Center directs the Texas Early Education Model (TEEM) initiative. TEEM encourages shared resources among government-funded public and private child-care programs including non-profit and for-profit childcare centers, public school districts and Head Start. Key ingredients include: a partnership among childcare and early education programs, implementing a teacher training program (CIRCLE Professional Development), using research-based, state approved curriculum, and implementing a quality rating system to certify early childhood education programs as getting children ready for formal schooling.