Quality of Family-Provider Relationships in Early Care and Education

OMB Control Number: ______

Expiration Date: _______

Length of time for instrument: 0.5 hours

APPENDIX H:

FPRQ Pilot Test Instruments for Eligible Parents

2/1/12

Instruments included:

• Pilot Test Screener

• FPRQ Parent Survey

• FPRQ Environmental Checklist

Family and Early Care and Education Provider Relationship Quality Study PARENT SCREENER

A) IF POTENTIAL RESPONDENT CALLS IN:

Thank you for calling me. As you may already know, Westat is conducting a study about how families and their children’s teachers or child care providers work together to care for children. As part of this study, Westat has developed a brief survey for parents to fill out about their relationship with their children’s teacher or child care provider.

The survey takes about 30 minutes to complete.

In order to make sure that you are eligible to participate in this study, I need to ask you a few questions. This will take less than 5 minutes. Do you have any questions before I begin?

Just in case we get disconnected, can I get the phone number that you are calling from?

_______________________

B) IF RETURNING A CALL:

Hello. My name is [WESTAT STAFF NAME]. I’m calling from Westat. May I speak with [POTENTIAL PARTICIPANT]?

verify that you are speaking to the correct person.

I’m calling about a study that Westat is conducting about how families and their children’s teachers or child care providers work together to care for children.

As part of this study, Westat has developed a brief survey for parents to fill out about their relationship with their children’s teachers or child care providers. We are currently recruiting parents to complete this brief survey.

The survey takes about 30 minutes to complete.

In order to make sure that you are eligible to participate in the study, I need to ask you a few questions. This will less than 5 minutes. Do you have any questions before I begin?

Before we start, I want to assure you that your participation is completely voluntary and that your responses will remain confidential. If we come to a question you do not wish to answer, please let me know and we will move on to the next question.

1. Do you have a child age 5 or younger who receives child care, attends a Head Start, Early Head Start, or preschool, or is cared for by someone other than a parent at least 15 hours per week on average?

• YES

• NO (GO TO INELIGIBLE TAB)

2. Can you tell me the name of the program your child attends?

• RESPONDENT NAMES A PROGRAM PARTICIPATING IN THE STUDY

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

• RESPONDENT NAMES A PROGRAM NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE STUDY (PROBE TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE NAMING THE PROGRAM AND NOT THE INDIVIDUAL TEACHER)

(GO TO INELIGIBLE TAB)

3. Can you tell me the name of the individual teacher that provides care for your child?

• RESPONDENT NAMES A TEACHER PARTICIPATING IN THE STUDY

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

• RESPONDENT NAMES A TEACHER NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE STUDY

(GO TO INELIGIBLE TAB)

4. What would you say was your household’s income last year? Your best guess is fine.

• LESS THAN $25,000

• $25,000-$34,999

• $35,000-$44,999

• $45,000-$54,999

• $55,000-$74,999

• $75,000 OR MORE

5. Are you of Hispanic or Latino origin?

• YES

• NO

6. What is your racial background? You may mark one or more.

• WHITE

• BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN

• AMERICAN INDIAN OR ALASKA NATIVE

• ASIAN

• NATIVE HAWAIIAN OR PACIFIC ISLANDER

• OTHER, SPECIFY__________________

Congratulations! Based on what you have told me, you are eligible for the study.

Within the next day, we will mail you the survey for you to complete. In order to send this to you, can I get your mailing address?

NAME: _____________________

STREET: _____________________ CITY: _____________________

STATE: _____________________ ZIP CODE: ___________________

After we have received your returned questionnaire, we will send your check for $25. How would you like your name to appear on the check?

NAME: _____________________

Should we send the check to the same address we are sending the questionnaire to, or would you like the check mailed to a different address?

___SAME ADDRESS

___DIFFERENT ADDRESS

NAME: _____________________

STREET: _____________________ CITY: _____________________

STATE: _____________________ ZIP CODE: ___________________

In case we need to reach you by phone, what is the best phone number to reach you?

___PHONE NUMBER ALREADY PROVIDED

___NEW PHONE NUMBER ___________________

Is there another phone number you can provide me in case I can’t reach you at this phone number?

___________________

Is there an email address we may use to contact you in case we need to reach you?

EMAIL ADDRESS:______________________________________

You should receive the survey to the mailing address you provided soon. Thank you for agreeing to participate in this study!

PARTICIPANT IS INELIGIBLE BASED ON ANSWERS PROVIDED

Unfortunately, you are not eligible to participate in our study. I’d like to thank you for your interest and time.

Parent Survey

In the following pages, we will ask questions about your child’s care and early education. We will ask about your child’s education and care provider and about your feelings towards that provider. Some of these questions will be about how you and your provider work together to care for your child.

1. We would like to know how often you communicate with THIS provider about various topics.

Since September, how often have you talked to your provider about the following regarding your child?

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

	Never	Rarely	Sometimes	Very often
a. Your child’s experiences in the education and care setting
b. Your child’s abilities
c. Your child’s behavior
d. Problems your child is having in the education and care setting
e. Problems your child is having at home
f. Health problems your child has
g. Goals you have for your child
h. Your priorities for your child
i. Your vision for your child’s future
j. What to expect at each stage of your child’s development

2. Since September, how often have you talked to your provider about the following regarding yourself?

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

	Never	Rarely	Sometimes	Very often
a. Your relationship with your child
b. Your parenting style
c. Your personal relationships
d. Your employment status
e. Your financial situation
f. Your work or family life

3. Since September, how often have you talked to your provider about the following regarding the education and care your child receives?

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

		Never	Rarely	Sometimes	Very often
a. Your provider’s expectations for your child
b. The rules your provider has for children in his or her care
c. How you feel about the care your child receives

4. How often do you have difficulty communicating with your provider because he or she speaks a different language than you?

[CHECK ONLY ONE BOX]

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Very often

5. Listed below are some things you may or may not share with your provider.

How comfortable do you feel sharing the following information with your provider?

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

	Very uncomfortable	Uncomfortable	Comfortable	Very comfortable
a. If your child has siblings
b. If you have other relatives living in your household
c. Your household schedule
d. Your marital status
e. Your employment status
f. Your financial situation
g. Your family’s culture, values, and beliefs
h. The role that faith and religion play in your household
i. What you do outside of the education and care setting to encourage your child’s learning
j. How you discipline your child

6. How often does your provider ask you questions about your child or your family?

[CHECK ONLY ONE BOX]

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Very often

7. If you had a problem with your provider, how comfortable would you feel talking to him or her about it?

[CHECK ONLY ONE BOX]

Very uncomfortable

Uncomfortable

Comfortable

Very comfortable

8. Listed below are some things your provider may or may not do.

How often does your provider:

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

	Never	Rarely	Sometimes	Very often
a. Help you say goodbye to your child when you drop him or her off?
b. Share information with you about your child’s day?
c. Offer you books and materials to support your child’s learning at home?
d. Suggest activities for you and your child to do together?

9. We would like to learn more about how you and your provider work together.

How often does your provider:

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

	Never	Rarely	Sometimes	Very often
a. Work with you to develop strategies you can use at home to support your child’s learning and development?
b. Set goals with you for your child?
c. Listen to your ideas about ways to change or improve the education and care your child receives?
d. Offer you feedback about your parenting?
e. Show interest in what is happening with your family
f. Provide you with opportunities to make decisions about your child’s education and care
g. Provide you with opportunities to give feedback on your provider’s performance
h. Remember personal details about your child or your family when speaking with you
i. Contradict you in front of your child

10. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

My provider has increased my confidence in my ability to help my child grow or develop.

[CHECK ONLY ONE BOX]

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly agree

11. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

My provider has my child’s best interests at heart.

[CHECK ONLY ONE BOX]

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly agree

12. We would like to know how flexible your provider is.

How much are the following statements like your provider?

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

	Not at all like my provider	A little like my provider	A lot like my provider	Exactly like my provider
a. My provider uses my feedback to adjust the education and care provided to my child
b. My provider is flexible in response to my work or school schedule

13. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

My provider is open to learning new ways to teach and care for children.

[CHECK ONLY ONE BOX]

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly agree

14. We would like to learn more about your provider. Please indicate how much the following words are like your provider.

My provider is…

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

	Not at all like my provider	A little like my provider	A lot like my provider	Exactly like my provider
a. Caring
b. Understanding
c. Rude
d. Flexible
e. Unreliable
f. Trustworthy
g. Impatient
h. Responsive
i. Unfriendly
j. Respectful
k. Judgmental
l. Available

15. How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

My provider sees this job as just a paycheck.

[CHECK ONLY ONE BOX]

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly agree

16. How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

I trust that my provider …

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

	Strongly disagree	Disagree	Agree	Strongly agree
a. Can protect my child from harm from others
b. Can maintain a safe environment for my child
c. Knows how to best care for my child

17. How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

My provider supports…

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

	Strongly disagree	Disagree	Agree	Strongly agree
a. The goals I have for my child
b. The way I discipline my child
c. The way I raise my child
d. The choices I make for my child

18. How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

I feel my provider judges my family because of our…

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

	Strongly disagree	Disagree	Agree	Strongly agree
a. Culture, values, and beliefs
b. Race/ethnicity
c. Financial situation

19. How easy or difficult is it for you to reach your provider during the day if you have a question or if a problem comes up?

[CHECK ONLY ONE BOX]

Very difficult

Difficult

Easy

Very easy

20. Teachers and other early care and education providers sometimes help families find needed services.

Since September, has your provider helped you or your family in any of the following ways:

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

	Yes	No
a. Helped you or your family get transportation to and from your child’s education and care program?
b. Offered you or your family information about community resources and services?
c. Encouraged you or your family to seek or receive services?
d. Made initial contacts to help you or your family arrange services?
e. Offered you information about employment or job training?

21. Since September, has your provider given you a referral for any of the following services in the community:

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

	Yes	No
a. Health screening (medical, dental, vision, hearing, or speech)?
b. Developmental assessments?
c. Counseling services for children?
d. Counseling services for parents?
e. Social services such as housing assistance, food stamps, financial aid, or medical care?

22. Since September, has your provider offered you any of the following:

[CHECK ONE BOX IN EACH ROW]

	Yes	No
a. Emergency or sick care?
b. Extended hours?
c. Flexibility to drop off early or pick up late, as needed?
d. Flexibility to pay program fees late?

23. On a scale of 0-10, where 0 is the worst you can imagine and 10 is the best you can imagine, how would you describe your relationship with your provider?

[CIRCLE THE NUMBER THAT BEST DESCRIBES YOUR RELATIONSHIP]

Worst Best

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

24. Does your program ask for parent feedback about the education and care children receive?

[CHECK ONLY ONE BOX]

Yes

No SKIP TO QUESTION 26

25. As far as you know, how often does your program use your feedback or feedback from other parents to make changes to the education and care children receive?

[CHECK ONLY ONE BOX]

Never

Rarely

Often

Very often

26. For how long has your current provider been teaching or caring for your child?

[CHECK ONLY ONE BOX]

Less than one month

One month

2-6 months

7-12 months

More than one year

27. What is your child’s birth order?

[CHECK ONLY ONE BOX]

First born

Second born

Third born

Later than third born

Last born

28. What is the primary language spoken in your household?

[CHECK ONLY ONE BOX]

English

Spanish

Some other language

Environmental Checklist

SECTION 1: This booklet contains some questions about your program’s physical environment, as well as some questions about information and services your program may offer parents of children in their care. This checklist will help us get to know your program better. The items in this section apply to .early care and education programs, including centers, Head Start, and family child care programs. Please check “yes” or “no” for each item. Section 1 continues on the back. Please complete all of Section 1 and then complete Section 2 if it applies to your program type.

At this center/Head Start/family child care program:	Yes	No
1. Parents and families members are allowed to visit at any time
2. The program greets family members and children at arrival and departure
3. There is easy access for drop-off and pick-up of children
4. There is a space for parents to talk to each other
5. There is adult-sized furniture that is available for parents’ use
6. The program offers a variety of opportunities for parent involvement, including:
a. Volunteering in program/care activities
b. Observing children in the program
c. Bringing in materials such as arts and crafts or snacks for snack time
d. Parent meetings
e. Parent workshops
f. Parent conferences
7. Parents are invited to shape the planning of the program
8. The program has suggestion boxes and/or surveys for family members to evaluate the program
9. The program extends specific invitations to fathers or other male members of the family to participate in program activities
10. The program offers special man-to-man activities for fathers or other male members of the family
11. Parents have telephone and e-mail access to providers
12. Families’ preferences for communication are maintained in a family record
13. Providers use the following methods to communicate with families:
a. Face-to-face at drop-off and pick-up
b. Telephone
c. Email
d. Texting
e. Written notes
f. Website
g. Newsletter
h. Calendar
i. Bulletin boards
j. Parent- teacher conferences
k. Parent meetings
14. Written information and materials are available in all languages spoken by the families
15. Written information and materials are available at the appropriate literacy level
16. The program provides a variety of information about community services
17. The program provides parenting information in a variety of ways
18. The program provides opportunities for families to get together

SECTION 1, continued
At this center/Head Start/family child care program:	Yes		No
19. The program gives information to families about:
a. General health and mental health services in their community
b. Substance abuse services
c. Tax credits, child care subsidies or vouchers, or employer child care benefits
d. Housing assistance
e. Energy or fuel assistance
f. Community events
g. Developmental screening services
h. Immigration services, legal services, or social services
i. Adult education, GED classes, ESL classes, or continuing education
j. Employment opportunities
k. Food pantries
l. Domestic violence programs
m. Homeless services
20. The program provides opportunities for family-to-family interaction through:
a. Field trips
b. Family picnics
c. Family events
21. The program provides parenting information through:
a. Parenting workshops
b. Parenting classes
c. Bulletin boards
d. Newsletters
e. Resource library with books, videos
f. Tip sheets

SECTION 2: For Center and Head Start Programs Only

Please check “yes” or “no” for each item.

At this center/Head Start program:	Yes	No
1. The program has a reception area
2. Signs and/or directions for locating classrooms and other spaces are posted in the center in languages parents understand
3 The program has a formal advisory committee
4. The program offers the following opportunities for parents:
Formal opportunities for parents to learn about how children develop
Opportunities to learn about good nutrition for their children
Opportunities to help parents with their own adult literacy goals
Peer mentoring/support opportunities
5. The program helps families to:
Find information and educational materials that are easy for them to understand
Understand how to access community services for their children
Advocate for services they need
Use their own skills and resources to solve problems they have with their child

FPRQ Pilot Test Instruments for Eligible Parents 9