OMB CARES_Appendix D_parent newsletter_v4

Appendix D: Parent Newsletter

OMB #: 0970-0364

Expiration Date: XX/XX/2013

Dear [Parent],

We are pleased to be in touch with you again! Your child, [student name], was a participant in the Head Start CARES (Classroom-based Approaches and Resources for Emotion and Social skill promotion) project in preschool.

What is the Head Start CARES Project?

The Head Start CARES Project is a research project to learn about ways to help young children succeed in preschool and later years. In the Head Start CARES project, we tested how adding curriculums focusing on bettering your child’s social, emotional, and behavioral skills may create better classroom environment and help children succeed. As part of the project, we had gathered information in the preschool year from teachers and families about children who had participated in Head Start. This project is being done by MDRC sponsored by the Office of Head Start and the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families. MDRC is a nonprofit education policy research organization based in New York.

What is Happening in Head Start CARES Today?

Right now, we are looking at the data that we have collected from you and your child’s teachers over your child’s preschool [and kindergarten] school year. We hope that the teachers and children who participated have been helped by the added lessons within Head Start classrooms on social, emotional, and behavioral skills that this project brought. We plan to let you know about the project findings through newsletters and briefs as soon as they are available and we look forward to publishing the final report for the Head Start CARES project in 2014. You can always look on the MDRC website (http://www.mdrc.org) for more information and updates about the project.

To get a complete picture of your child’s successes and well-being, we would like to continue to stay in touch and send you updates. Please feel free to contact us with any questions!

Do You Have Any Questions? Please ask! Contact information is provided below.

For questions about the survey, contact:

[Name] 1-888-292-2132

Research Coordinator, Survey Research Management

For questions about the Head Start CARES project, please contact:

Shira Mattera (800) 221-3165

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The Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: Public reporting burden for the associated telephone survey is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection of information. This collection of information is voluntary. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control number for this collection is 0970-0364 and it expires XX/XX/XXXX.

esearch Associate, Head Start CARES Project