#1 - Grantee Census Survey Protocol Table

Grantee Census Survey_110411

Grantee Census Survey

[After clicking the survey link, below is the first thing respondents will see]

You are being invited to take this online survey as part of an evaluation of the federal Office of Head Start’s Early Learning Mentor Coaches (ELMC) Grant Initiative. This is an evaluation of the ELMC initiative, and not an evaluation of you, your Head Start/Early Head Start grantee or its centers.

In the survey, we ask about general professional development at your Head Start/Early Head Start grantee and details of the ELMC grant, such as hiring practices, which centers are participating, and monitoring. Therefore, this survey should be completed by the ELMC grant director, your grantee’s primary contact for your ELMC initiative, or someone else who can speak to grantee-level information about your ELMC grant. You can consult with other staff you work with at your grantee if needed.

Participation in this survey is voluntary and you may stop at any time without penalty. You also may skip any questions you don’t want to answer. The survey should take approximately 30 minutes to complete, depending on your responses. Completion of this survey is considered an agreement to participate.

All of your responses will be kept private. Your name will not be used in any summary reports that result from this survey and no comments will be attributable to you.

Your participation in this survey will contribute to the development of profiles of mentor-coaching approaches to inform policy, practice, and research. There are no risks to your participation.

If you have any questions, you may contact either Eboni Howard, Ph.D. (202-403-5533; [email protected]) or Fiona Helsel, Ph.D. (202-680-0870; [email protected]). For questions regarding your rights involving participation in this evaluation, please contact the chair of AIR’s Institutional Review Board at [email protected] or toll free at 1-800-634-0797.

Thank you for your time!

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is xxxx-xxxx.

I.Background Information

1. To be able to look at the Program Information Report data for your Head Start/Early Head Start grantee, we want to make sure we have the correct grantee name. So,

1. What is the name of the Head Start/Early Head Start grantee you are working for on the Early Learning Mentor Coach initiative? [text box; 100 character limit]

2. How many centers does the grantee run directly? [text box; numerical entry only]

3. What are the name(s) of any delegate agencies for this Head Start/Early Head Start grantee? [text box]

4. How many centers do the delegate agencies run? [text box; numerical entry only]

2. And your background basics….

1. What is your name? [text box; 50 character limit]

2. What is your job title? [text box; 50 character limit]

3. Please briefly describe your job role, including any responsibilities you have for the Early Learning Mentor Coach grant [text box; 200 character limit]:

II.Grantee Overall Approach to Professional Development

We would like to learn about your Head Start/Early Head Start grantee’s professional development activities in general. We consider professional development to include any activities that assist Head Start or Early Head Start staff to reach and exceed required standards and improve professional knowledge. Professional development includes consultants and mentor-coaching, training and workshops, support for attendance at professional conferences, support for continuing education, and similar assistance.

1. Approximately how many hours of professional development are required per year for your classroom staff, home visitors, or family child care staff? (please select one for each response option)

Classroom teachers [drop down menu to select from 0 through 40; 41+]

Assistant teachers [drop down menu to select from 0 through 40; 41+]

Home visitors [drop down menu to select from 0 through 40; 41+]

Family child care staff [drop down menu to select from 0 through 40; 41+]

Other staff (please specify) [drop down menu to select from 0 through 40; 41+]

2. Some grantees provide a range of supports for staff professional development, while others commit their resources elsewhere. Does your Head Start/Early Head Start grantee provide supports or resources to encourage staff to pursue professional development, training, and education?

YES	
NO		[GO TO Q3]

[IF YES] Please select all that apply:

Paid release time	
Unpaid release time	
Substitute teachers to cover classrooms	
Flexible schedule	
Tuition reimbursement	
Purchasing course books	
Transportation reimbursement	
Printed or electronic materials and resources (for example, articles, websites)	
Continuing education units (CEUs)	
Provide AA (Associate-level) and BA (Bachelor-level) courses onsite	
Other (please specify):	

3. Does your grantee have any efforts in place to help your staff obtain CDA credentials, AA degrees or BA degrees?

YES	
NO	

4. During your Early Learning Mentor Coach grant, have you received professional development support (such as feedback, resources, training, or problem-solving) from any of the following sources? (please select all that apply). For all sources that you received support from, please indicate how helpful it was.

		Helpfulness of Support Received
	Support Received	Very helpful	Moderately helpful	Somewhat helpful	Not helpful
Office of Head Start	YES  NO  DON’T KNOW 				
Regional Head Start Offices	YES  NO  DON’T KNOW 				
National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness	YES  NO  DON’T KNOW 				
Early Head Start National Resource Center	YES  NO  DON’T KNOW 				
National Center on Health	YES  NO  DON’T KNOW 				
National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement	YES  NO  DON’T KNOW 				
National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning	YES  NO  DON’T KNOW 				

III.Does your local community have any of the following resources for technical assistance and professional development? Which of these local resources does your grantee use for professional development, materials or trainings? (Please select up to two responses for each of the professional development resources)

	Present In Community	Utilized by Grantee/Centers
Community College(s)/Faculty		
Universities/Faculty		
Other Head Start/ Early Head Start Programs		
Early Childhood Resource and Referral Centers (State-Run or Local)		
Community Mental Health Centers/Mental Health Professionals		
Other Community Service Organizations (e.g., Domestic Violence or Homeless Shelters)		
Immigrant/Cultural Community Organizations		
Library		
Other (please specify):		
Other (please specify):		

5. Prior to receiving an Early Learning Mentor Coach grant in September 2010, did your grantee offer mentor-coaching to staff?

YES	
NO	
DO NOT KNOW	

[IF YES] Did the Early Learning Mentor Coaching supplement or replace the previous mentor-coaching efforts? (please select one)

SUPPLEMENT	
REPLACE	

6. At the start of the Early Learning Mentor Coach grant in September 2010, did you provide a formal orientation or training to your Early Learning Mentor Coaches?

YES	
NO	

7. Throughout the Early Learning Mentor Coach grant, did you provide any ongoing training to your Early Learning Mentor Coaches?

YES	
NO		[GO TO SECTION III]

[IF YES] What was the focus of the ongoing training? (Please select all that apply)

Goals and organization of the grantee	
A particular curriculum or curriculum supplement	
Particular content domains	
Particular assessments (please specify which assessments):	
Other topics (please specify):	

1. Grantee Goals, Objectives, and Needs

1. Have overarching grantee-level goals and objectives been identified for your Early Learning Mentor Coach Initiative?

YES	
NO		[GO TO SECTION IV]

[IF YES] Over the course of the Early Learning Mentor Coach Initiative, what overarching grantee-level goals have been in place for your mentor-coaches? Please read through the list and select up to 5 goals.

	Select Top 5
To improve already established mentor-coaching	
To train on improving teaching of school readiness topics (for example, literacy)	
To train on behavior management	
To train on a particular curriculum or curriculum supplement (please specify):	
To support administrative staff/supervisors in their roles	
To improve cultural responsiveness	
To improve service for dual language learners	
To improve service for children with disabilities	
To improve the quality of staff practice with their work with children	
To improve the quality of staff practice with their work with families	
To improve parent engagement	
To improve assessed child outcomes	
To improve CLASS assessment scores	
To improve other assessment scores (for example, ECERS)	
To provide training and support for using assessments for practice or program monitoring	
To support the use of new technology	
To provide support for continuing education and career development	
To reduce staff turnover	
Other (please specify):	

2. How were these goals identified? For example, did you use results from formal assessments or program monitoring, did you have requests from parents or staff, or did you have specific training needs? [text box]

2. Operationalization of the Early Learning Mentor Coach Grant

1. How many of your grantee’s centers are receiving mentor-coaching funded by the Early Learning Mentor Coach grant? [enter numerical value, three digits]

2. How did you select centers to receive mentor-coaching from the Early Learning Mentor Coach grant? (please select all that apply)

All centers are participating	
All participating centers volunteered	
Centers lack current mentor-coaching	
Center needs more staff degrees/certifications	
Formal assessments of needs of family and/or children	
Formal assessment of needs of staff	
Staff, child or family needs (no assessments used)	
High percentages of dual language learners	
Geographic location (close/shorter travel distance)	
Other selection approach (please specify) [40 character limit]	

3. When did the grantee hire its first mentor-coach for the Early Learning Mentor Coach initiative? (select one) [Select MONTH/Select YEAR]

4. Over the whole course of the Early Learning Mentor Coach initiative (since September 2010), approximately how many mentor-coaches have been hired with Early Learning Mentor Coach funds (include full and part-time)? [drop down menu to select from 0 to 40, 41+]

5. Right now, how many mentor-coaches are currently funded full-time (35 hours or more a week) by the Early Learning Mentor Coach grant? [program numerical value only valid entry]

6. Right now, how many mentor-coaches are currently funded part-time (less than 35 hours a week) by the Early Learning Mentor Coach grant? [program numerical value only valid entry]

7. When you had a mentor-coach job opening, how challenging was it to find qualified personnel to fill that job opening? (please select one)

Hardly ever challenging	
Sometimes challenging	
Often challenging	
Always challenging	

8. Some programs found mentor-coaches from staff who were already working for them, while other programs found mentor-coaches from outside their programs. Of all the mentor-coaches that you have hired with Early Learning Mentor Coach funds since September 2010:

   1. How many were already working for your grantee as a mentor-coach? [drop down menu to select from 0 to 40, 41+]

   2. How many were already working for your grantee in some other capacity? [drop down menu to select from 0 to 40, 41+]

   3. How many had worked previously for your grantee in some capacity? [drop down menu to select from 0 to 40, 41+]

9. When hiring mentor-coaches, what minimum education requirements did you have for your mentor-coaches? [text box]

10. What other qualifications were important to your hiring decisions for the Early Learning Mentor Coaches? (please select one for each option)

	Always important/ Necessary	Often important	Sometimes important	Never Important/ Not necessary	Don’t know
Experience with Head Start/Early Head Start Programs					
Experience Training, Teaching, Mentoring, or Coaching Adults					
Familiarity with Center/Staff or Program (worked there previously)					
Interpersonal Skills					
Language and Culture Match (with staff and/or families and children)					
Other qualifications (please specify):					
Other qualifications (please specify):					
Other qualifications (please specify):					

3. Mentor-Coaching Approach and Implementation

1. Over the whole course of the Early Learning Mentor Coach initiative (since September 2010), how many of your grantees’ staff members have been mentor-coached through the Early Learning Mentor Coach initiative? (please indicate the number of staff for each of the staff types)

   1. Classroom teachers: [program numerical value only valid entry]

   2. Assistant teachers: [program numerical value only valid entry]

   3. Home visitors: [program numerical value only valid entry]

   4. Family child care staff: [program numerical value only valid entry]

   5. Administrators (please specify job title): [program numerical value only valid entry]

   6. Supervisors (please specify job title): [program numerical value only valid entry]

   7. Other (please specify staff title): [program numerical value only valid entry]

   8. Other (please specify staff title): [program numerical value only valid entry]

2. How were staff selected to receive mentor-coaching? [text box]

3. Some Head Start and Early Head Start grantees provide direct supervision and oversight of mentor-coaches and their work, while other mentor-coaches work more independently.

   1. Does your grantee have staff assigned to supervise the mentor-coaches’ work?

YES	
NO		[GO TO Q4]

2. Do the mentor-coach(es) meet with the supervisor(s)?

YES, regularly	
YES, but not regularly	
NO		[GO TO Q4]

[IF YES] How often, on average, do those meetings occur per month? [starting with less than one time per month; program numerical value only valid entry per month]

IV.Does the Early Learning Mentor Coach grantee administrator or the Head Start grantee leadership receive information about the progress of the mentor coach programs?

YES	
NO		[GO TO SECTION VI]
DO NOT KNOW		[GO TO SECTION VI]

[IF YES] How do administrators or grantee leaders receive information about the progress of the mentor-coach programs? (please select all that apply)

Grantee uses management information system to document mentor-coaching	
Grantee/centers collect data to indicate progress	
Meetings are convened with mentor-coaches	
Mentor-coaches provide reports to the grantee	
Other (please specify):	

4. Effectiveness of Mentor-Coaching

1. Please rate your mentor-coaches’ overall success at training and supporting staff that they mentor-coached (please select one)

Very successful	
Moderately successful	
Somewhat successful	
Limited success	

2. Please rate your mentor-coaches’ overall success at increasing openness to learning in the staff they mentor-coached (please select one)

Large increase in staff openness to learning	
Moderate increase in staff openness to learning	
Some increase in staff openness to learning	
Limited increase in staff openness to learning	

3. Please rate your mentor-coaches’ overall success at improving the quality of practice of the staff they mentor-coached (please select one)

Large improvement	
Moderate improvement	
Some improvement	
Limited improvement	
Not worked on	

4. Please rate your mentor-coaches’ overall success at improving and increasing the use of assessment by staff they mentor-coached (please select one)

Large increase	
Moderate increase	
Some increase	
Limited increase	
Not worked on	

5. Please rate your mentor-coaches’ overall success at increasing career development and pursuit of education and training by staff they mentor-coached (please select one)

Large increase	
Moderate increase	
Some increase	
Limited increase	
Not worked on	

6. If your grantee had overarching grantee-level goals and objectives for your Early Learning Mentor Coach Initiative, how successful were the mentor-coaches at meeting those goals? (please select one)

Exceeded	
Made substantial progress	
Made some progress	
Did not make much progress	
Not applicable	

Please explain your rating [text box]

V.When considering the success of your mentor-coaches for your grantee, please list up to three qualifications of the mentor-coach that were most important for the success of mentor-coaching at your grantee [text box]

5. Reflections about Mentor-Coaching

1.Over the course of the Early Learning Mentor Coach grant, did you find any of the following factors relating to staff or staffing challenging to the success of the initiative? (please select one for each challenge)

	Never Challenging	Sometimes challenging	Often challenging	Always Challenging
Staff level of openness to self-improvement				
Staff level of engagement/interest				
Basic skill level of staff being mentor-coached				
Qualifications, skills, and abilities of mentor-coaches				
Number of staff per mentor-coach				
Demands on staff time interfering with scheduling				
Mentor-coach turnover				
Program staff turnover				
Other staff challenges to implementation (specify):				
Other staff challenges to implementation (specify):				

2.Over the course of the Early Learning Mentor Coach grant, did you find any other factors challenging to the success of the initiative? (please select one for each challenge)

	Never Challenging	Sometimes challenging	Often challenging	Always Challenging
Level of community buy-in to quality improvement in general				
Openness of community to trusting mentor-coach				
Ability to provide Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for participation				
Availability of supplies/resources				
Availability of space for mentor-coaching meetings				
Travel issues (distance between centers where mentor-coaching)				
Technological barriers (such as internet access)				
Availability of substitutes for staff				
Grantee-level administrative support and involvement				
Center-level administrative support and involvement				
Adequacy of financial support and resources				
Adequate supervision for mentor-coaches				
Other challenges to implementation (specify):				
Other challenges to implementation (specify):				

3.From your perspective, please describe up to three of the biggest challenges to the success of the Early Learning Mentor Coach initiative [text box]

1. What recommendations would you give to Head Start/Early Head Start grantees that are starting mentor-coaching for the first time, especially in regards to hiring, engaging staff, and monitoring/supervision of mentor-coaches? [text box]

6. Sustainability of Mentor-Coaching

1. When the Early Learning Mentor Coach grant funding ends, how likely is it that your Head Start/Early Head Start grantee will continue the mentor-coaching established with the Early Learning Mentor Coach grant? (please select one)

Very likely	
Moderately likely	
Somewhat likely	
Not at all likely		[GO TO Q3]
Don’t know		[GO TO Q3]

2. What steps have you taken towards sustaining the mentor-coaching program? (please select all that apply)

No steps have been taken yet	
Action plan has been developed	
Funding has been secured or budgeted to support ongoing mentor-coaching	
Staff has been secured to support ongoing mentor-coaching	
Infrastructure has been developed or assigned (such as facilities, meeting space, supplies)	
Other (please specify):	

3. Do you have any other comments that you would like to make? [text box; 100 character limit]

Thank you very much for your participation in this survey!

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