The Head Start Designation Renewal System (DRS) was created in 2011 as an accountability system to determine whether Head Start grantees are delivering high quality and comprehensive services and to implement a competitive grant making process in communities where they are not. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the early implementation of DRS, describe the mechanisms by which DRS supports program quality improvement, examine how well DRS is able to identify grantees providing lower quality services, and describe the results of competitions. The evaluation uses a mixed-methods design that integrates administrative data and secondary data sources, observational assessments, and interviews to tap multiple dimensions of program quality and experiences with DRS at all phases of the process. (author abstract)