An Early Head Start teacher teaches infants and toddlers under 36 months in Early Head Start, the Office of Head Start's program for pregnant women and very young children.
Under the current Head Start standards, center-based classes run with two teachers and up to eight children, or three teachers and up to nine, and each teacher must hold at minimum a CDA or comparable credential with training or equivalent coursework focused on infant and toddler development.
An August 2026 proposal would replace those standards; it is not final.
What is an Early Head Start teacher?
Early Head Start is the part of the federal Head Start program that serves pregnant women, infants and toddlers — children under 36 months, in the language of the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS), which the Office of Head Start sets in 45 CFR 1302.
An Early Head Start teacher is the teaching staff member in that program's center-based option: a classroom teacher of infants and toddlers whose baseline qualifications, class sizes and annual hours are written into federal standards.
In fiscal year 2024, Head Start was funded to serve 715,873 children and pregnant women, and 181,049 of its funded enrollment slots were Early Head Start slots — a count that excludes AIAN and Migrant/Seasonal programs.
About 67% of funded Early Head Start services were center-based and about 28% were home-based in the 2023-24 program year, which is why this guide covers the classroom job and the home-based option side by side.
The classroom is small by design.
Under the current standards, an Early Head Start class of children under 36 months must have two teachers with no more than eight children, or three teachers with no more than nine, and each teacher is assigned consistent, primary responsibility for no more than four children.
Center-based programs must also provide 1,380 annual hours of planned class operations for all enrolled children.
The work appears under several titles — O*NET lists Infant Teacher, Toddler Teacher and Caregiver among the reported job titles for childcare workers in general — but this guide covers the role the Head Start standards define: teaching staff responsible for a class of children under 36 months.
How is Early Head Start different from Head Start?
Early Head Start and Head Start Preschool are one program family under the same performance standards, divided by the ages they serve.
Early Head Start covers pregnant women and children under 36 months, while Head Start preschool classes are composed mostly of 3-year-olds or mostly of 4- and 5-year-olds.
The table shows how the two classroom jobs differ under the current standards.
| Early Head Start (center-based) | Head Start preschool | |
|---|---|---|
| Ages served | Pregnant women plus children under 36 months | Classes mostly age 3, or mostly ages 4 and 5 |
| Class size | Two teachers with up to 8 children, or three teachers with up to 9 | Up to 20 children with a teacher and a teaching assistant or two teachers (17 in double session); up to 17 for classes mostly of 3-year-olds (15 in double session) |
| Teacher credential floor | CDA or comparable credential, plus training or equivalent coursework focused on infant and toddler development | At least an associate or bachelor's degree in child development or ECE, equivalent coursework, or the Head Start Act alternative |
| Assistant teachers | Classes are staffed with two or three teachers under the class-size rule | A CDA or a state certificate meeting or exceeding it, or enrollment in a CDA program (to finish within 2 years) or a degree program |
One caveat covers every number in this comparison: the standards themselves are proposed for replacement, so treat the table as the current rule, not a permanent one.
Proposed rule pending — this table is the current standards
On August 7, 2026, ACF published a proposal to rescind and replace the Head Start Program Performance Standards; comments were due October 6, 2026, and it is not final. It would replace federal ratio and group-size limits with state-established standards and drop qualification rules beyond the statute. Confirm the current rules with the Office of Head Start or the grantee you would work for.
What does an Early Head Start teacher do?
Early Head Start teaching is hands-on care and early learning at the same time.
The day runs on feeding, diapering, naps and responsive play, and O*NET — the Labor Department's occupational database — lists keeping records on individual children (daily observations, activities, meals served, medications given), dressing children and changing diapers, sanitizing toys, and communicating with parents about daily activities and behaviors among the core tasks it records for childcare workers, one of the occupational categories that cover infant and toddler care.
The skills the same data flags for that category fit the room: monitoring, active listening, critical thinking, speaking, active learning, learning strategies, reading comprehension and writing.
The federal standards add specific duties.
Programs must complete or obtain a developmental screening within 45 calendar days of when a child first attends (30 days for programs operating 90 days or less), using research-based standardized screening tools; the August 2026 proposal would rescind that section while keeping statutory screening duties with more timing flexibility.
Teaching staff complete at least 15 clock hours of professional development per year, plus annual mandated-reporter training and annual training on positive social-emotional strategies.
The 15 hours are also in the Head Start Act (§648A(a)(5)), so they would remain even if the August 2026 proposal is finalized.
The ratios are working rules, not paperwork.
They may lapse only for brief teacher absences of no more than five minutes, and during nap time one teaching staff member may be replaced by a staff member or trained volunteer who does not meet teaching qualifications.
Head Start center-based programs must also provide at least 35 square feet of usable indoor space and 75 square feet of usable outdoor play space per child — the environment you set up and keep safe every day.
Behavior guidance has its own federal frame: current standards prohibit expelling or unenrolling a child from Head Start because of behavior and limit suspension to a temporary, last-resort measure after consulting a mental health consultant.
The August 2026 proposal would remove that section entirely.
What credential does Early Head Start require?
The credential floor comes from 45 CFR 1302.91(e)(1) and Head Start Act §645A(h): Early Head Start center-based teachers of infants and toddlers must have at minimum a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or a comparable credential, and must have been trained or have equivalent coursework in early childhood development with a focus on infant and toddler development.
That is a credential-based entry route, not a degree-based one — a lower formal bar than Head Start preschool, where center-based teachers need at least an associate or bachelor's degree in child development or ECE, equivalent coursework, or the alternative route in Head Start Act §648A(a)(3)(B).
The credential the rule names is issued by the Council for Professional Recognition.
Its center-based Infant-Toddler CDA covers ages birth to 36 months — the exact Early Head Start band — and the Council also issues a Home Visitor CDA covering families of children birth to 5.
Earning the Infant-Toddler CDA takes, at minimum, three things:
- A high school diploma or GED — or enrollment as a high school junior or senior in an early childhood education career and technical program.
- 120 hours of formal early childhood education training, with at least 10 hours in each of the eight CDA subject areas.
- 480 hours of professional work experience with the setting's age group, earned within three years before applying — and for the Infant-Toddler credential those hours must include all three sub-age groups: young infants (birth to 8 months), mobile infants (9 to 17 months) and toddlers (18 to 36 months).
The Council sets the cost: the online assessment fee is $525 and is non-refundable, the credential is valid for three years, and renewal costs $250 and may be submitted up to six months before expiration, in the original setting only.
Individual grantees may still list qualifications above the federal floor in their postings, so read each job listing closely — the rule sets the minimum, not the market.
This requirement is statutory — other CDA rules are under proposal
The August 2026 proposal would drop staff qualification rules that sit only in regulation, but the statutory minimum for Early Head Start center-based teachers would remain. The CDA Council said on October 5, 2026 that the proposal could remove CDA requirements for home visitors and family child care providers. Confirm the current requirement with the Office of Head Start or the grantee you would work for.
Center-based vs home-based Early Head Start jobs
Early Head Start is not one workplace.
The Head Start standards allow center-based, home-based and family child care program options, plus an approved locally designed variation, and in the 2023-24 program year about 67% of funded Early Head Start services were center-based while about 28% were home-based.
Center-based is the classroom job described above: a two-teacher class of up to eight children or a three-teacher class of up to nine, with each teacher primarily responsible for no more than four children.
Home-based Early Head Start employs home visitors instead of classroom teachers.
Programs provide weekly 90-minute home visits — a minimum of 46 per year — plus 22 group socializations, and Head Start home-based programs keep an average caseload of 10 to 12 families per home visitor, with a maximum of 12.
The home visitor credential is its own track: at minimum a home-based CDA or comparable credential, or equivalent coursework within an associate or bachelor's degree.
That requirement sits in regulation rather than statute, and the August 2026 proposal would remove it.
The family child care option is the third setting: one provider caring for children in a family child care home.
Under the Head Start family child care rules, one provider caring for mixed ages including preschoolers has a maximum of six children, with no more than two under 24 months; one provider caring only for children under 36 months has a maximum of four, with no more than two under 18 months.
Those providers must have prior child care experience and be enrolled in a Family Child Care CDA (or a state equivalent) or an early childhood degree program before serving, earning the credential within 18 months — another qualification rule the August 2026 proposal would remove.
As a career choice, the trade-off is between a team classroom and independent home visiting.
Center teachers work inside a teaching team on a fixed class schedule; home visitors work one family at a time on a visit schedule and carry a caseload.
Both are federal Early Head Start roles with their own qualification tracks.
Find Early Head Start teacher jobs
Early Head Start teachers are hired by the grantee organizations that run Head Start and Early Head Start services locally.
In fiscal year 2024 the program was funded for 181,049 Early Head Start slots, excluding AIAN and Migrant/Seasonal programs — a count that includes home-based services as well as center-based classrooms.
Job titles in these postings vary, and federal occupation statistics split the same work across two categories: O*NET lists Infant Teacher and Toddler Teacher among childcare workers (SOC 39-9011) and lists those same two titles among preschool teachers (SOC 25-2011).
That split is one reason pay lookups for this title differ by source; our Early Head Start teacher salary page names the occupational category behind its figures.
On the pay rules themselves: under the 2024 standards, by August 1, 2031 each Head Start teacher must be paid at least comparably to public-school preschool teachers in the local school district, adjusted for qualifications, experience and hours.
A separate proposal published May 12, 2026 would remove those wage and benefit requirements, and neither it nor the August 2026 standards proposal is final — so treat the pay and ratio rules on this page as current but contested, not settled.
When you are ready to apply, our Early Head Start teacher jobs page collects open positions from centers and programs hiring for infant and toddler classrooms.
This is career information, not licensing or legal advice. Head Start standards are administered by the Office of Head Start; confirm current requirements with the Office of Head Start, the grantee you would work for, and your state child care licensing agency.