University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Policies from practice: The stories of the Whitewater Head Start program

Ceglowski, Deborah Ann

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/20074

Description

Title
Policies from practice: The stories of the Whitewater Head Start program
Author(s)
Ceglowski, Deborah Ann
Issue Date
1995
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Daniel J. Walsh
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Early Childhood
Language
eng
Abstract
  • This study explored how the Whitewater Head Start staff defined, interpreted and implemented policies. For two years the author joined the four-member staff as a volunteer in a rural, and recently relocated, Minnesota Head Start program. The study utilized short stories about the mundane daily events and special occurrences at Whitewater to understand how staff interpreted policies.
  • The study found that Head Start history and social, economic, and political trends affect staff's policy interpretations. The Whitewater staff worked at the intersection of their interpretive understandings of official policies, the day to day realities of the program, and their relationships with the children, parents, each other, and the other building staff. The Whitewater staff displayed a range of perspectives on policies and policy practices. Staff negotiated official federal, state, and agency policies by complying with procedural regulations, preparing for monitors' visits, and completing paperwork. Staff, based on their working knowledge of official policies, developed policies from practice in response to a complex set of demands including: providing comprehensive services to children and families, maintaining facilities, and responding to emergency situations.
  • This project demonstrates the significance of local interpretations in policy implementation and development and points out the social processes staff employ in understanding policies. This study points to the need for policy analysis to examine policy from both top-down and bottom-up perspectives.
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/20074
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1995 Ceglowski, Deborah Ann

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Graduate Dissertations and Theses at Illinois PRIMARY
Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois
Dissertations and Theses - Education
Dissertations and Theses from the College of Education