Appendix B - Consent forms and advance letters 02

APPENDIX B

CONSENT FORMs AND ADVANCE LETTERs

P.O. Box 2393

Princeton, NJ 08543-2393

Telephone (609) 799-3535

Fax (609) 799-0005

www.mathematica-mpr.com

FACES-205

DATE

Dear [Center Director]:

Thank you for agreeing to help us conduct the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2009. The Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services contracted with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR), an independent policy research organization, to conduct the survey, which will focus on children’s development, family involvement, and program quality to identify strategies for improving program effectiveness.

To accomplish these goals, we will need to work with an On-Site Coordinator (OSC) enlisted by the program director. The OSC selected by your program director is [FILL OSC NAME]. The OSC will help coordinate activities between your center and our staff and will facilitate the work of the Mathematica team assigned to collect the data for this study. In fall 2009 and spring 2010 and again in spring 2011, MPR staff will spend two to three days in each center to administer a 45- minute assessment to each study child. During the fall visit, staff will interview you, your program’s education coordinator, and the teachers of the two or three classrooms in your center selected for the study. In spring 2010 and spring 2011, staff will interview teachers and observe the study classrooms. A parent or guardian of each child will also be interviewed at each program visit. This letter and the attached FACES fact sheet provide details on the study activities.

The following are the core activities with an approximate schedule for each:

YEAR ONE OF THE STUDY (fall 2009–spring 2010)

Sample Selection Activities

1. Center Selection. On average, two centers that were expected to have newly enrolled 3- and/or 4-year-olds in the fall were randomly selected from each program in the study.

2. Classroom Selection. An MPR field enrollment specialist (FES) will visit your program about 3 weeks prior to your data collection week. We will ask for a list of the classrooms in your center with 3- to 5-year-old children who are new to Head Start. In a typical center, three classrooms will be randomly selected for participation in FACES 2009.

3. Child Selection. After classrooms have been sampled, children will be randomly selected for the study. We will need the name and date of birth for each child in the sampled classrooms. We will also need to know whether or not each child is new to Head Start. Approximately 12 children from each class will be invited to participate.

4. Obtaining Consent. Once children have been sampled, MPR will work in partnership with you and the OSC to gain parental cooperation. While the FES is still on-site, they will distribute informational materials to selected families. The FES will be available to discuss the study with parents in person.

Data Collection Activities

5. Fall 2009: Interview the Education Coordinator, Center Director and Teachers. In the fall, the education coordinator interview will take about 30 minutes. We will talk with them about their background, program goals and philosophy, and curriculum. The teacher interviews and our interview with you will take about 30 minutes each. These interviews collect background information, as well as information on professional experience, program practices and classroom activities. We will need to schedule time for our team leader to conduct these interviews. Teachers will also be asked to complete short checklists for each selected child in their classroom. These take about 10-15 minutes and can be completed on the Web or on paper forms. Teachers are expected to complete the checklists on their own time and will receive a token of appreciation for doing so. Teachers will receive $7 for each checklist they complete on the Web. If they prefer paper forms, they will receive $5 for each checklist they complete.

6. Fall 2009 and Spring 2010: Administer Assessments to the Children in the Study. In the fall and again in the spring, a trained member of MPR’s team will administer a 45-minute assessment to each child. The assessments are designed to measure important school readiness skills identified by the Head Start Assessment Framework. Assessments will be conducted over the course of several days. The FACES team leader will work with you and the OSC to arrange the assessment schedule.

7. Fall 2009 and Spring 2010: Interview Parents or Guardians. In the fall and spring we would like to interview a parent or guardian for each child. We will interview parents by telephone, or in person at the Head Start center. We would like your help in scheduling appointments with parents in the afternoon or evening during the week of our visit. Parents will receive $35 for each interview and will receive a gift book worth $10 for their child.

8. Spring 2010: Interview Teachers and Observe Sampled Classrooms. In the spring, a trained member of MPR’s data collection team will interview FACES children’s teachers and observe their classrooms. When possible we will do this during the morning session. The center staff and teachers should do nothing special to prepare for these observations. We will work with you and the OSC to schedule the observations. Each classroom will receive a thank-you gift for its participation.

YEAR two OF THE STUDY (Spring 2011)

9. Activities with Children. The second year of the study will replicate the first, except that we will be assessing only those children who participated in the study in the first year, and there will be only a spring data collection. No new children will be enrolled in the study. We will assess the FACES students still in your program at their Head Start centers. Because we follow children through their kindergarten year, we will also assess those FACES students who have moved on to kindergarten. The kindergarten assessments will take place in the child’s home.

10. Teacher Survey. As in the first year, we will return to interview the teachers of the classrooms with FACES children that are still enrolled in your program. Teachers will also be asked to complete a short checklist for each selected child. For children who have moved on to kindergarten, we will contact their kindergarten teachers and ask them to complete a short survey and a checklist for each FACES child they teach.

11. Interview with Parents or Guardians. Parent interviews will be conducted by telephone with parents or guardians of FACES children who are still in your program or are enrolled in kindergarten. The interview will be about 45 minutes, and parents will again receive $35 and given a gift for their child.

12. Observe Sampled Classrooms. In spring 2011, we will again observe classrooms with FACES children.

YEAR three OF THE STUDY (Spring 2012)

13. Activities with Kindergarten Children. There will be no on-site data collection at the Head Start centers during year three. This last round of the study will involve the final set of FACES children who have moved on to kindergarten. These kindergarten assessments will take place in the child’s home.

14. Teacher Survey. In spring 2012, we will contact the kindergarten teachers of FACES children and ask them to complete a teacher survey and a short checklist for each selected child.

15. Interview with Parents or Guardians. Parent interviews will again be conducted by telephone with parents or guardians of the kindergarten students. The interview will be about 45 minutes.

You may contact me at [xxx-xxx-xxxx or EMAIL] if you have any questions about the study or your center’s participation. We very much appreciate your support and cooperation with this important study, and welcome any input you’d like to provide. More information about FACES 2009 can be found by accessing the ACF FACES website at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/faces.

Sincerely,

[FACES study coordinator]

P.O. Box 2393

Princeton, NJ 08543-2393

Telephone (609) 799-3535

Fax (609) 799-0005

www.mathematica-mpr.com

Cassandra Meagher

FACES Survey Director

FACES - 210

DATE

Dear [TEACHER]:

Welcome to the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2009). [ENTER PROGRAM NAME] has been selected to participate in this important study. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR), an independent research firm based in Princeton, New Jersey, is conducting FACES 2009 under contract with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).The study will follow a national sample of approximately 3,400 Head Start children and their families from the time they first enroll in Head Start through the end of kindergarten. We are excited about the study and we hope you will be too. As one of only a few hundred teachers participating nationwide, your help is vital to its success.

Your program director has selected [OSC NAME] to work with us to ensure that we can gain consent from the parents of new students and effectively schedule the data collection. We appreciate any help with obtaining consents from parents that you can offer to [OSC NAME] or to the members of MPR’s team.

In Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 and again in Spring 2011, MPR staff will spend two to three days in your center to administer a 45- minute assessment to children participating in the study. During the fall visit, staff will interview you, your program’s education coordinator, and your center director. In spring 2010 and spring 2011, staff will interview you and observe any classroom with FACES 2009 children. A parent or guardian of each child will also be interviewed at each program visit. The attached FACES fact sheet provides further details on the study activities.

During the interview, you will be asked questions about children’s classroom activities, the availability and use of books, computers, and televisions in the classroom, the use of different languages in the classroom and about the ways that you involve and interact with children’s parents. We will also ask you questions about your education and training, and about any professional development activities you may have participated in over the past year or so.

In addition to conducting an interview with you, and to enhance the information we obtain by assessing the children and interviewing their parents, we need for you to complete a Teacher Child Report (TCR) about each of the FACES children in your class. The TCR is a short form that asks you to report on the social skills, problem behaviors, and approaches to learning that you have observed.

Each report should only take a few minutes of your time to complete. We think you will enjoy completing these forms on the Web, and as a “thank you” we will send you $7 for each TCR you complete. If you do not have access to the Internet or prefer to complete these forms on paper, you may complete paper copies and return them in the envelope provided. We will send you $5 for each TCR you complete on paper.

Enclosed are some helpful tips to assist you in completing the online forms. When you visit the website, you will be asked for your personal LoginID and Password. The LoginID and Password below are secure and will not be shared with anyone at your center. Please visit the website and complete these forms as soon as you can.

Please be assured that all information you provide will be kept private. Using the LoginID and Password ensures that the information you provide to the study will be protected and will only be seen by selected members of the study team.

MPR staff will be happy to answer any questions you have about the teacher survey and TCR and to give you any assistance you need. If you should have any questions about the study, please contact FACES coordinator toll-free at 1-888-633-8349 or email us at [email protected]. Thank you in advance for your help with this important research.

Sincerely,

We encourage you to complete the Teacher Child Reports online at:

https://teacher.faces-2009.org

LoginID: 848794

Password: JcgHt39w

P.O. Box 2393

Princeton, NJ 08543-2393

Telephone (609) 799-3535

Fax (609) 799-0005

www.mathematica-mpr.com

FACES 2009 CONSENT FORM

We are inviting you and your child to participate in the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2009 that your child’s Head Start program is participating in. We are inviting you because your child has just enrolled in this Head Start program. The purpose of FACES is to learn more about families in Head Start and the kinds of services Head Start provides to children and families. Information from this study will be used to help Head Start better serve all children and their families. FACES is sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., an independent research company.

If you agree to participate…

We will interview you when your child is in Head Start and in the spring when your child is in kindergarten. We will ask you questions about the kinds of things your child can do, about some of your family’s activities and routines, about some of your feelings, and about your health. These interviews will take about 45 minutes and will be conducted in your language. We will give you $35 after each interview to thank you for your help.

We will do some activities with your child so we can find out how Head Start helps children learn and grow. Each time we interview you, we will ask your child to take part in some fun activities with a trained researcher. These activities take about 45 minutes. For example, we will find out in what language your child does his or her best and then ask your child to look at pictures, copy drawings, and answer some questions. We will give you a gift for your child as a special thank-you.

We will ask your child’s Head Start and kindergarten teachers some questions so we can learn more about the progress your child is making. We will want to learn about your child’s progress in Head Start and then in kindergarten.

You can choose whether you and your child will be part of the study. Your participation is completely voluntary. Your decision will not influence the Head Start services you and your child are receiving. No one from the Head Start program will see or hear your answers or be informed about how your child does on the activities. All of the study results will be reported for groups of parents and children, and no results will be reported for individuals. There is one exception—if we learn that a child has been abused or is endangered, we are required by law to report this to the appropriate authorities, which could result in official action in accordance with state law.

If you have any questions about the FACES study, please call us toll free at 1-888-633-8349. A member of our staff would be happy to talk with you. If you have any questions about your rights as a research volunteer, please call Margo Campbell toll free at 1-800-757-4778.

We hope you will help us with this important project by agreeing to participate. Please sign the consent form included and return it to your child’s teacher right away. Thank you!

I have read this consent form and understand what I am being asked to do. I agree to have my child participate in this study. I also agree to have FACES researchers collect some information from my child’s teachers in Head Start and kindergarten. I will receive $35 each time I am interviewed, and I will also receive a gift for my child each time my child is assessed. I may withdraw this consent at any time without penalty.

1. Parent/Guardian Signature Date 2. Parent/Guardian Name (Print) 3. Your Relationship to Child  Mother  Father  Grandmother  Other Guardian 4. Home Phone Cellular/Other Phone 5. Child’s Name (Print) 6. Child’s Gender  MALE  FEMALE 7. Child’s Birthday Month Day Year 8. What language does your child use most often at home?  English  Spanish  Other 9. Please interview me in:  English  Spanish  Other

please circle more than one time
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
7:00 AM – 10:00 AM	7:00 AM – 10:00 AM	7:00 AM – 10:00 AM	7:00 AM – 10:00 AM	7:00 AM – 10:00 AM
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM	10:00 AM – 1:00 PM	10:00 AM – 1:00 PM	10:00 AM – 1:00 PM	10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
1:00 PM – 5:00 PM	1:00 PM – 5:00 PM	1:00 PM – 5:00 PM	1:00 PM – 5:00 PM	1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM	5:00 PM – 7:00 PM	5:00 PM – 7:00 PM	5:00 PM – 7:00 PM	5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
After 7:00 PM	After 7:00 PM	After 7:00 PM	After 7:00 PM	After 7:00 PM

White Copy to MPR Yellow Copy to Center Liaison Pink Copy to Parent/Guardian

P.O. Box 2393

Princeton, NJ 08543-2393

Telephone (609) 799-3535

Fax (609) 799-0005

www.mathematica-mpr.com

FACES-XXX

DATE

<District Name>

<District Address>

Dear Superintendent:

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is conducting a national study called the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES). Mathematica Policy Research has been studying a sample of Head Start children and their families since fall 2009. The children have now left Head Start and are enrolled in kindergarten programs across the U.S. I am writing you because we believe that some of the children in our study will be enrolled in schools in your district in [Spring 2011/Spring 2012], which is the time we are scheduled to contact these children and their parents for the last time.

Starting in March [2011/2012], we will visit the homes of each of the children. We will interview their parents as we have in prior rounds of the study and will once again administer a set of assessments designed to measure children’s early reading and math knowledge and skills.

Because Head Start is interested in children’s education after they leave their program, we plan to contact each child’s kindergarten teacher and ask them to complete a brief survey. The child’s teacher will be asked a few questions about the child’s school and classroom experiences, how the child is doing in school, and a few questions about her/his own professional background and experience. Teachers will have the option of answering the questions using a Web instrument or completing it on paper. They will receive a token of appreciation for their time providing us with this information. Children’s parents have granted us permission in writing to contact the child’s kindergarten teacher.

We are in the process of obtaining information on the schools the study children will attend this spring. After the end of our data collection period in May [2011/2012], we will send you a list of the schools that we contacted in your district.

We want to bring some important points to your attention.

• There is no other burden to the school or other school personnel. We only need to ask the child’s kindergarten teacher to complete our brief survey.

• Teacher participation is voluntary, and they may skip any question they do not wish to answer.

• It will take teachers no more than 30 minutes to complete the survey, and it may be done at their convenience—either on the Web or on paper. They will receive a token of appreciation of $30 to $32 for completing the survey depending on whether they complete it on paper or online.

• We expect, on average, about one participating child per school and teacher. If teachers do have more than one of the study children in their classroom, they will receive an additional $5 to $7for answering questions about each additional child. These extra questions will take only about 5 to 10 minutes.

• We have parental permission to contact the child’s kindergarten teacher and to ask the teacher questions about the child’s school experience and performance. We will send a copy of this permission to the child’s teacher.

• The FACES Study procedures have been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget and by Mathematica’s Institutional Review Board. The information we obtain from the teachers will be used for research purposes only. We will not provide any information that identifies the teacher, school, child, or the child’s family except as required by law. The reports prepared for this study will summarize findings across study participants and will not associate responses with a specific individual or school.

More information about FACES can be found by accessing the ACF FACES website at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/faces. If you have any questions, please contact the FACES survey specialist, Annalee Kelly, at 609-275-2885 or [email protected].

If we do not hear from you by <Date + 14 days>, we will presume that you have no concerns and that we have permission to contact the schools identified by parents.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Jerry West

Project Director

P.O. Box 2393

Princeton, NJ 08543-2393

Telephone (609) 799-3535

Fax (609) 799-0005

www.mathematica-mpr.com

FACES - XXX

DATE

Principal

<School Name>

<Street Address>

<City>, <State> <ZIP>

Dear Principal:

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is conducting a national study called the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES). Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) has been studying a sample of Head Start children and their families since fall 2009. Many of these children have now left Head Start and are enrolled in kindergarten programs in many school districts across the nation. We contacted the superintendent’s offices regarding our plan to contact schools and teachers in their districts this spring.

I am writing you because we believe some of the children in our study are enrolled in your school. Head Start is interested in children’s education after they leave their program; therefore, we plan to contact each child’s kindergarten teacher and ask them to complete a brief survey. The child’s teacher will be asked a few questions about the child’s school, the child’s classroom experiences, how the child is doing in school, and the teacher’s own professional background and experience. Teachers will have the option of answering the questions using a Web or paper instrument, and they will receive a token of appreciation for the time they take to provide us with this information. The children’s parents have granted us permission in writing to contact the child’s kindergarten teacher.

In addition to asking children’s teachers to complete a questionnaire, we will also visit the homes of each of the children beginning in March [2011/2012]. As we have done in prior rounds of the study, we will interview their parents and once again administer a set of assessments designed to measure children’s early reading and math knowledge and skills.

• We would like to bring some important points to your attention:

• There is no other burden to the school or additional school personnel. We only need to ask the child’s kindergarten teacher to complete our brief survey.

• Teacher participation is voluntary, and they may skip any question they do not wish to answer.

• The survey may be done at the teachers’ convenience, and it will take no more than 30 minutes to complete it on the Web or on paper. They will receive a token of appreciation of $30 to $32 for completing the survey, depending on whether they complete it on paper or online.

• On average, we expect about one participating child per school and teacher. If teachers do have more than one of the study children in their classroom, they will receive an additional $5 to $7 for answering questions about each additional child. These extra questions will take only about 5 to 10 minutes.

• We have parental permission to contact the child’s kindergarten teacher and ask him or her questions about the child’s school experience and performance. We will send a copy of this permission to the child’s teacher.

• The FACES study procedures have been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget and MPR’s Institutional Review Board. The information we obtain from the teachers will be used for research purposes only. We will not provide any information that identifies the teacher, school, child, or the child’s family, except as required by law. The reports prepared for this study will summarize findings across study participants and will not associate responses with a specific individual or school.

More information about FACES can be found by accessing the ACF FACES website at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/faces.

We will be calling you in the next week to ask for your help in verifying the teacher names that have been provided by the parents of our study children. If you have any questions, please contact the FACES survey specialist, Annalee Kelly, at (609) 275-2885 or [email protected].

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Project Director

P.O. Box 2393

Princeton, NJ 08543-2393

Telephone (609) 799-3535

Fax (609) 799-0005

www.mathematica-mpr.com

Cassandra Meagher (609) 750-3192

FACES Survey Director

FACES - XXX

DATE

Dear [TEACHER]:

Welcome to the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES). Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) is conducting FACES 2009 under contract with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The study is following a national sample of approximately 3,400 Head Start children and their families from the time they first enroll in Head Start through the end of kindergarten. We are excited about the study, and we hope you will be too. As one of only a few hundred kindergarten teachers participating nationwide, your help is vital to its success

To enhance the information we obtain by assessing the children in their homes and interviewing their parents, we need for you to complete one brief Teacher Survey and a Teacher Child Report (TCR) about each of the FACES children in your class. The teacher survey will ask you questions about classroom activities, curriculum, general assessment of children, and your educational background and training. The Teacher Child Report is a short form that asks you to report on the social skills, problem behaviors, and approaches to learning that you have observed for a particular child.

Each report should only take a few minutes of your time to complete. We think you will enjoy completing these forms on the Web and as a “thank you” we will send you $25 for completing the teacher survey and $7 for each TCR you complete. If you do not have access to the Internet or prefer to complete these forms on paper, you may complete the enclosed paper copies and return them in the postage-paid envelope provided. We will send you $25 for completing the teacher survey and $5 for each TCR you complete on paper. Once you have completed your forms, we will send this token of appreciation to you at your school address. If you would like it sent to your home address, or some other location, please e-mail us at [email protected].

Enclosed are some helpful tips to assist you in completing the online forms. When you visit the website, you will be asked for your personal LoginID and Password. The LoginID and Password below are secure and will not be shared with anyone at your school. Please visit the website and complete these forms as soon as you can. We will need to have your forms completed within two weeks of receiving this letter.

Please be assured that all information you provide will be kept private. Using the LoginID and Password ensures that the information you provide to this study will be protected and will only be seen by selected members of the study team.

Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR), an independent research firm based in Princeton, New Jersey, is conducting the study. MPR staff will be happy to answer any questions you have about the teacher survey and TCR and to give you any assistance you need. If you should have any questions about the study, please contact us toll-free at 1-888-633-8349 or email us at [email protected]. Thank you in advance for your help with this important research.

Sincerely,

We encourage you to complete the Teacher Survey and Teacher Child Report online at:

https://teacher.faces-2009.org

LoginID:

Password: