FACES2014_2018 Recruitment OMB_Appendix A Program Information Package_02

APPENDIX A

PROGRAM INFORMATION PACKAGES

APPENDIX A-1

OFFICE OF HEAD START MEMORANDUM
(pROGRAMS FOR CHILD-LEVEL DATA COLLECTION)

TO: [DIRECTOR NAME]

FROM: ann linehan, acting Director, Office of Head Start

DATE: [Date]

RE: Program Director Notification

I am writing to let you know your Head Start program has been selected to participate in an important study, the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey, known as FACES 2014–2018. It is designed to gather information about the characteristics, experiences, and outcomes of children and families served by Head Start and to observe the relationships among family and program characteristics, classroom quality, and school readiness. The programs, children, and families chosen for previous rounds of FACES have, by participating, provided a tremendous service to all children and families of Head Start. Since 1997, the information collected has taught us a great deal about Head Start classrooms, staff, families, and children. It is very important to the Office of Head Start and the Administration for Children and Families to continue to gather information about the children and families who attend Head Start and about the programs that serve them.

The new round of FACES (FACES 2014–2018) is currently being launched, with a nationally representative sample of approximately 180 different Head Start programs. The selection of your program to be one of the study sites for this important effort with implications for the continuation and improvement of Head Start was random. Programs that participated in the first five rounds of FACES-- in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009-- found the experience to be a positive one, without undue intrusion on program operations. FACES 2014–2018 is again being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, with assistance from Juarez and Associates and Educational Testing Service.

In the fall of 2014, a nationally representative sample of approximately 2,400 3- and 4-year-old Head Start children and their families will be asked to participate in FACES 2014–2018. Your program has been randomly selected as one of the 60 sites to provide information about the characteristics, experiences, and outcomes of children and families served by Head Start. Out of your entire program, only about four classrooms will be included in the study. As part of this effort, during a one-week visit in the fall of 2014 and spring of 2015, Mathematica data collectors will work with teachers, parents, and children. Approximately 40 children in your program will be assessed, their parents will be surveyed, and about four teachers will be asked to complete, on their own time, ratings of the study children. Participants will receive thank you gifts. In the spring of 2015 and again in the spring of 2017, program directors, center directors, and teachers will be surveyed, and selected classrooms will be observed.

All information collected during the course of FACES 2014-2018 will be kept private to the extent permitted by law and will not be shared with anyone outside the research team, including your program staff or parents. Programs, Head Start staff, and families will never be identified by name in any reports of the study’s findings.

Mathematica will send an email soon to provide more details about the assistance that will be needed from you and your staff. A member of Mathematica’s research staff will call you soon after that email arrives to explain the study in more detail and answer any questions you have.

On behalf of the Office of Head Start, I would like to thank you in advance for agreeing to participate in this extremely important study of our programs. If you have any concerns regarding your program’s participation in the study, please contact the study project officer, Maria Woolverton (202-205-4039), at the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services.

APPENDIX A-1

OFFICE OF HEAD START MEMORANDUM
(pROGRAMS FOR PROGRAM AND CLASSROOM DATA COLLECTION ONLY)

T O: [DIRECTOR NAME]

FROM: ann linehan, acting Director, Office of Head Start

DATE: [Date]

RE: Program Director Notification

I am writing to let you know your Head Start program has been selected to participate in an important study, the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey, known as FACES 2014–2018. It is designed to gather information about the characteristics, experiences, and outcomes of children and families served by Head Start and to observe the relationships among family and program characteristics, classroom quality, and school readiness. The programs, children, and families chosen for previous rounds of FACES have, by participating, provided a tremendous service to all children and families of Head Start. Since 1997, the information collected has taught us a great deal about Head Start classrooms, staff, families, and children. It is very important to the Office of Head Start and the Administration for Children and Families to continue to gather information about the children and families who attend Head Start and about the programs that serve them.

The new round of FACES (FACES 2014–2018) is currently being launched, with a nationally representative sample of approximately 180 different Head Start programs. The selection of your program to be one of the study sites for this important effort with implications for the continuation and improvement of Head Start was random. Programs that participated in the first five rounds of FACES-- in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009-- found the experience to be a positive one, without undue intrusion on program operations. FACES 2014–2018 is again being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, with assistance from Juarez and Associates and Educational Testing Service.

During a one-week visit in spring of 2015 and spring of 2017, selected classrooms will be observed by a visiting team of professional Mathematica data collectors. Out of your entire program, only about four classrooms will be included in the study. Gifts will be given to each participating classroom. Program and center directors and teachers will be surveyed.

All information collected during the course of FACES 2014-2018 will be kept private to the extent permitted by law and will not be shared with anyone outside the research team, including your program staff or parents. Programs, Head Start staff, and families will never be identified by name in any reports of the study’s findings.

Mathematica will send an email soon to provide more details about the assistance that will be needed from you and your staff. A member of Mathematica’s research staff will call you soon after that email arrives to explain the study in more detail and answer any questions you have.

On behalf of the Office of Head Start, I would like to thank you in advance for agreeing to participate in this extremely important study of our programs. If you have any concerns regarding your program’s participation in the study, please contact the study project officer, Maria Woolverton (202-205-4039), at the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services.

APPENDIX A-2

MATHEMATICA PROJECT DIRECTOR MEMORANDUM
(PROGRAMS FOR CHILD-LEVEL DATA COLLECTION)

M EMORANDUM 1100 1st Street, NE, 12th Floor

Washington, DC 20002-4221

Telephone (202) 484-9220

Fax (202) 863-1763

www.mathematica-mpr.com

TO: <<Head Start Program Director>>

FROM: Jerry West, Project Director DATE: 2014

FACES-

SUBJECT: Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2014–2018

You recently received notification in an email from the Acting Director of the Office of Head Start that your program has been selected to participate in an important study—the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey, or FACES 2014–2018, as it is known. Mathematica Policy Research is conducting FACES 2014–2018 under contract with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). ACF launched the first FACES study in 1997 to obtain information about the children and families served by Head Start. Through FACES, Mathematica has collected data from five nationally representative cohorts in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009, and has disseminated the information, through a series of reports, to ACF, OHS, Congress, and the early childhood research community. The information gathered and analyzed through FACES describes the characteristics, experiences, and outcomes of children and families served by Head Start. FACES has also been designed to observe the relationships among family and program characteristics, classroom quality, and school readiness.

Mathematica will not judge or report on the performance of individual programs, staff, or children. We are a policy research firm with extensive experience conducting Head Start and other early childhood research. The information that is provided by participants from your program will be combined with information from all other FACES 2014–2018 participants and summarized in descriptive reports.

Your program was selected to participate in FACES 2014–2018 through a random process. Participation is not mandatory, but it is very important for all of the programs in the sample to take part in the research in order to ensure the accuracy of the data. As will be described below, we will randomly select for study approximately two classrooms from each of two centers in your program, and then we will randomly select a sample of about 24 children from each center. Working with staff from your program, we will invite the families of these children to participate in FACES 2014–2018. All participating parents, children, and classrooms will receive a token of appreciation for participating.

A FACES liaison will call you in the next two weeks to discuss your program’s participation in this research and to answer any questions. To give you a better sense of what your participation will entail, we describe in this letter activities we would like to complete during our visit to your program, and the process we will follow to work with you to schedule and prepare for the visit.

Site Data Collection Activities

FACES 2014–2018 involves collecting data at three points in time: fall 2014, spring 2015, and spring 2017. In the fall of 2014 and spring of 2015, Mathematica staff will spend about one week at your program to administer an assessment to each selected child whose parents have agreed to let him/her participate. No data collection is planned for the 2015-2016 program year; however, in the spring of 2017, we will conduct classroom observations and staff surveys only. In 2014 and 2015, the child’s parent or guardian will be invited to complete a survey on the web or by phone, whichever the parent finds most convenient. We will also ask the child’s classroom teacher to complete a report about the child. In the spring of 2015, you, the center directors, and teachers will be asked to complete a survey on the web. Also in the spring of 2015, research staff will observe selected classrooms. Each of the observations will take about three hours.

In the box below, we provide an overview of the activities that will take place during the site visit as well as an estimate of how much time we will need to complete each one. We have also enclosed a FACES 2014–2018 fact sheet with additional information about the study.

Fall 2014/Spring 2015 Site-Visit Activities

Child assessment battery. During the visit, we will administer a 45-minute assessment to approximately 40 children in your program. The assessment aims to measure important knowledge, skills, and behaviors that are typical of Head Start children. The assessments are administered individually to each child by a trained Mathematica staff member.

Teacher reports of children. Teachers will complete short checklists about each sampled child’s cognitive and social development. These can be completed on paper or on the web. Each report requires about 10 minutes to complete. In FACES 2009, the completion rate for these reports was more than 96 percent.

Parent survey. We will invite the parent or guardian of each study child to complete a 15-minute survey by telephone with a Mathematica interviewer or on the web. This survey will focus on parent and child activities, experiences with community agencies, health care, and parents’ feelings and attitudes about themselves.

Spring 2015/ Spring 2017 Site-Visit Activities

Classroom observations. Site visitors will conduct observations in the study children’s classrooms to measure classroom practices and instructional content. Each observation will take about three hours.

Individual staff surveys. Program directors, center directors, and teachers of the selected classrooms will be asked to complete surveys via the web or on paper. We will ask these individuals about their employment and educational background, program goals and philosophy, and curriculum and classroom activities.

All information will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. All information collected during the course of FACES will be kept private to the extent permitted by law and will not be shared with anyone outside the research team, including your program staff or parents. Programs, Head Start staff, and families will never be identified by name in any reports of the study's findings.

Next Steps In Planning The Visit

The FACES liaison responsible for working with your program will contact you soon to answer any questions you have about the study and to begin planning the visit to your program. During that conversation, he or she will discuss the process for selecting centers to participate in the study. The liaison will also ask you to identify someone from your program to serve as the on-site coordinator (OSC). That person will work with Mathematica’s FACES liaison to help organize the data collection.

Choosing an OSC. The OSC will help us put together the information we need to select our sample and schedule visits to Head Start centers. If the randomly selected centers are not close to each another, we may have to ask you to identify two coordinators. We suggest that you identify a back-up OSC, regardless of the size of your program, to ensure there are at least two staff to fill the role. The OSC will receive an honorarium of $500 for helping us in fall 2014. If there are two coordinators, each will receive $250. The honorarium amounts for the spring of 2015 and spring of 2017 are $250. If you wish, this token of appreciation can be made directly to the program.

Selecting centers and classrooms. As a first step in selecting centers and classrooms, we will ask you during our call for the following information:

• The program option(s) you offer (full day, part day, center, and home-based)

• The names and zip codes of your centers

• Your best estimate of the number of classrooms in each of the centers in your program

• Your best estimate for the number of Head Start children you will serve at each of the centers in your program in fall 2014.

The next step in the process involves randomly selecting centers based on the information you provided. An average of two centers per program will be selected. Once a center is randomly selected, we will, with your permission, inform that center of its selection and describe participation in the study.

After the centers have been selected, approximately two classrooms per center will be randomly selected. This process will be facilitated by a field enrollment specialist (FES) who will visit each center a few weeks before data collection starts. The FES visit will last approximately 2 days per center. We will ask the OSC to give the field enrollment specialist a list of the classrooms and the number of children in each. If a center has two or fewer classrooms, we will include all of them.

Selecting children. A multistep process is used to select the children who will participate in the study, and this will also require the assistance of the OSC and center staff. After classrooms have been selected for the sample, the FES will ask the OSC to provide a list of all Head Start children in the selected classrooms. Approximately 12 children will be randomly selected from the rosters of each classroom and invited to participate in the study.

Obtaining consent. Once children have been chosen for the sample, Mathematica will work with the OSC to gain parental consent. While the FES is still on site, he or she will distribute informational materials to selected families. The FES will be available to discuss the study in person with parents.

Scheduling the visit. We hope to conduct all of our assessments at your program within a one-week time frame. As a first step in scheduling, we would like to discuss your program’s operating schedule and how our visit can fit into it. We will make every effort to conduct the visit at a convenient time for your program.

We are looking forward to visiting your program. Your participation will be important for helping the OHS assess how well the system is fostering children’s school readiness. If you have questions about the site visit before we call you, please contact [FACES LIAISON] at Mathematica [xxx-xxx-xxxx, EMAIL ADDRESS].

APPENDIX A-2

MATHEMATICA PROJECT DIRECTOR MEMORANDUM
(PROGRAMS FOR PROGRAM AND CLASSROOM DATA COLLECTION ONLY)

M EMORANDUM 1100 1st Street, NE, 12th Floor

Washington, DC 20002-4221

Telephone (202) 484-9220

Fax (202) 863-1763

www.mathematica-mpr.com

TO: <<Head Start Program Director>>

FROM: Jerry West, Project Director DATE: 2014

FACES-

SUBJECT: Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2014–2018

You recently received notification in an email from the Acting Director of the Office of Head Start that your program has been selected to participate in an important study—the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey, or FACES 2014–2018, as it is known. Mathematica Policy Research is conducting FACES 2014–2018 under contract with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). ACF launched the first FACES study in 1997 to obtain information about the children and families served by Head Start. Through FACES, Mathematica has collected data from five nationally representative cohorts in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009, and has disseminated the information, through a series of reports, to ACF, OHS, Congress, and the early childhood research community. The information gathered and analyzed through FACES describes the characteristics, experiences, and outcomes of children and families served by Head Start. FACES has also been designed to observe the relationships among family and program characteristics, classroom quality, and school readiness.

Mathematica will not judge or report on the performance of individual programs, staff, or children. We are a policy research firm with extensive experience conducting Head Start and other early childhood research. The information that is provided by participants from your program will be combined with information from all other FACES 2014–2018 participants and summarized in descriptive reports.

Your program was selected to participate in FACES 2014–2018 through a random process. Participation is not mandatory, but it is very important for all of the programs in the sample to take part in the research in order to ensure the accuracy of the data. As will be described below, we will randomly select for study approximately two classrooms from each of two centers in your program. All participating classrooms will receive a token of appreciation for participating.

A FACES liaison will call you in the next two weeks to discuss your program’s participation in this research and to answer any questions. To give you a better sense of what your participation will entail, we describe in this letter activities we would like to complete during our visit to your program, and the process we will follow to work with you to schedule and prepare for the visit.

In the box below, we provide an overview of the activities that will take place during the site visit as well as an estimate of how much time we will need to complete each one. We have also enclosed a FACES 2014–2018 fact sheet with additional information about the study.

Spring 2015/Spring 2017 Site-Visit Activities

Classroom observations. Site visitors will conduct observations in the study children’s classrooms to measure classroom practices and instructional content. Each observation will take about three hours.

Individual staff surveys. Program directors, center directors, and teachers of the selected classrooms will be asked to complete surveys via the web or paper. We will ask these individuals about their employment and educational background, program goals and philosophy, and curriculum and classroom activities.

All information will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. All information collected during the course of FACES will be kept private to the extent permitted by law and will not be shared with anyone outside the research team, including your program staff or parents. Programs, Head Start staff, and families will never be identified by name in any reports of the study’s findings.

Next Steps In Planning The Visit

The FACES liaison responsible for working with your program will contact you soon to answer any questions you have about the study and to begin planning the visit to your program. During that conversation, he or she will discuss the process for selecting centers to participate in the study. The liaison will also ask you to identify someone from your program to serve as the on-site coordinator (OSC). That person will work with Mathematica’s FACES liaison to help organize the data collection.

Choosing an OSC. The OSC will help us put together the information we need to select our sample and schedule visits to Head Start centers. If the randomly selected centers are not close to each another, we may have to ask you to identify two coordinators. We suggest that you identify a back-up OSC, regardless of the size of your program, to ensure there are at least two staff to fill the role. The OSC will receive an honorarium of $250 for helping us. If there are two coordinators, each will receive $125. The honorarium amount for 2017 is also $250. If you wish, this token of appreciation can be made directly to the program.

Selecting centers and classrooms. As a first step in selecting centers and classrooms, we will ask you during our call for the following information:

• The program option(s) you offer (full day, part day, center, and home-based)

• The names and zip codes of your centers

• Your best estimate of the number of classrooms in each of the centers in your program

The next step in the process involves randomly selecting centers based on the information you provided. Two centers per program will be selected. Once a center is randomly selected, we will, with your permission, inform the center director of the selection and describe participation in the study.

After the centers have been selected, approximately two classrooms per center will be randomly selected. This process will be facilitated by a field enrollment specialist (FES) who will visit each center at the beginning of the data collection week. Both FES visits, during spring 2015 and spring 2017, will last one half day. We will ask the OSC to give the field enrollment specialist a list of its classrooms and the number of children in each. If a center has two or fewer classrooms, we will include all of them.

Scheduling the visit. We hope to conduct all of our observations at your program within a one-week time frame. As a first step in scheduling, we would like to discuss your program’s operating schedule and how our visit can fit into it. We will make every effort to conduct the visit at a time convenient for your program.

We are looking forward to visiting your program. Your participation will be important for helping the OHS assess how well the system is fostering children’s school readiness. If you have questions about the site visit before we call you, please contact [FACES LIAISON] at Mathematica [xxx-xxx-xxxx, EMAIL ADDRESS].

APPENDIX A-3

FACES FACT SHEET

	FACT SHEET
	Since its founding more than four decades ago, Head Start has served as the nation’s premier federally funded early childhood intervention. Focusing on children—often from families engendering multiple risks—before they begin formal schooling, Head Start has served as a natural national laboratory for a wide range of basic, prevention and early intervention research.1 The Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), first launched in 1997 as a periodic, longitudinal study of program performance, remains Head Start’s flagship research initiative. FACES is designed to be a reliable source of data for describing the experiences of Head Start children and their families. This national study is sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families.
The Research Team	The study is being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, a respected, independent policy research organization whose studies of education initiatives and other programs have been used to inform national policymakers for more than 40 years. Researchers from Juarez and Associates and Educational Testing Service are assisting Mathematica in this round of FACES. Our study design will ensure high quality and timely FACES data, and the new elements being added will enhance its potential to provide a valuable profile of the Head Start program and its participants. We are committed to translating research findings into formats that policymakers and programs can use.
Selecting Programs	The study includes 180 Head Start programs from around the country. The programs are selected from all eligible Head Start programs listed on the Head Start Program Information Report database for program year 2012–2013. All programs will participate in classroom and staff level data collection. Sixty programs will be sub-selected for child-level data collection.
Selecting Children	We will work closely with staff at these programs to randomly select children and families for the study. Random selection ensures that all 3- and 4-year-old children will have a chance to be part of the study.
Collecting Information	A team of Mathematica staff will visit the programs and collect the data for this study. The team will spend about one week—in both the fall of 2014 and the spring of 2015—at programs selected for child assessment data collection to administer an assessment to each child in the study. We will also ask their teachers to complete a brief form about each child’s social and cognitive development. The parent or guardian of each child will be surveyed in the fall of 2014 and spring of 2015. In the spring of 2015 and the spring of 2017, staff will observe each of the study classrooms and Head Start staff will be surveyed in all 180 programs. Head Start staff will also be surveyed.
On-Site Assistance	We will establish a cooperative partnership with an on-site coordinator (OSC) from each Head Start program. We will ask the OSC to help schedule site visits and, if applicable, help get consent from families for their children to participate in the study. Mathematica staff will work with the OSC to create a document that details the logistics of our site visits.
Privacy	Mathematica is committed to respecting and protecting the privacy of respondents and the data entrusted to us. Having conducted many studies involving disadvantaged populations, including the two most recent rounds of FACES, Mathematica has vast experience implementing stringent security procedures. Study results will be reported only in group form; we will not present data on child performance by teacher, by class, or by program. In this way, the privacy of children and families, teachers, and programs, will be carefully guarded. At the beginning of the study, we will tell participants about the study and our privacy policies. If a parent signs a form allowing their child to participate in the study, he or she will have also be able to remove their child from the study if they choose. Mathematica senior project staff will be responsible for making sure that interviewers and assessment staff understand the necessity of maintaining strict privacy of the information they collect. All staff involved with the study will sign privacy pledges.
To Find Out More	Contact: Dr. Jerry West, the project director, at Mathematica Policy Research, (202) 484-4516, [email protected]. More information about FACES can be found by accessing the Administration for Children and Families FACES website at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/faces.

APPENDIX A-4

LETTER TO ON-SITE COORDINATOR
(PROGRAMS FOR CHILD-LEVEL DATA COLLECTION)

1100 1st Street, NE, 12th Floor

Washington, DC 20002-4221

Telephone (202) 484-9220

Fax (202) 863-1763

www.mathematica-mpr.com

FACES-

DATE

Dear [OSC]:

Thank you for agreeing to help us conduct the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2014–2018. The Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has contracted with Mathematica Policy Research, an independent policy research organization, to conduct the survey. FACES will provide details about the characteristics, experiences, and outcomes of children and families served by Head Start. It will also provide observations about the relationships among family and program characteristics, classroom quality, and school readiness.

Your program director has chosen you to help us put together the information we need to select our sample of children and schedule visits to Head Start centers in your program. FACES 2014–2018 involves collecting data at three points in time: fall 2014, spring 2015, and spring 2017. In the fall of 2014 and spring of 2015, Mathematica staff will spend about one week at your program to administer an assessment to each selected child whose parents have agreed to let him/her participate. In the spring of 2017, we will again select two centers in your program—for classroom observations and staff surveys only. In 2014 and 2015, the child’s parent or guardian will be invited to complete a survey on the web or by phone. We will also ask the child’s classroom teacher to complete a report about the child. In the spring of 2015 and spring of 2017, you, the center directors, and teachers will be asked to complete a survey on the web. Also in the spring of 2015, research staff will observe selected classrooms. Each of the observations will take about three hours.

Your role is integral to the success of the study and will require that you spend some time outside of your regular duties helping us. In recognition of this effort, we have budgeted $500 per program for the fall 2014 round of data collection. You will receive an additional $250 for each subsequent round of data collection.

This letter and the attached FACES fact sheet provide details on the study activities. The following are the core activities for which we will need your help and an approximate schedule for each:

Sample Selection Activities

1. Center selection. In the fall of 2014, two centers will be randomly selected to participate in FACES. If a program has only two centers, both will be included in the study.

2. Classroom selection. Approximately two classrooms will be randomly selected in each center. If a center has two or fewer classrooms, we will include all of them. A Mathematica field enrollment specialist (FES) will visit your program about three weeks before our fall data collection begins. The FES visit will last approximately 2 days per center. During the fall 2014 FES visit, the FES will ask you to provide a list of all classrooms in your center. The FES will visit again just prior to our spring 2017 data collection.

3. Child selection (Fall 2014 only). After classrooms have been chosen for the sample, children will be randomly selected for the study. The FES will ask for a list of the names and date of birth for each child in the selected classrooms. We will select approximately 12 children per classroom and will invite these children and their families to participate.

4. Obtaining consent (Fall 2014 only). Once children have been selected, Mathematica will work with you and the teachers to gain parental consent. While the FES is still on site, he or she will distribute informational materials to the families who have been selected. The FES will be available to discuss the study in person with teachers and parents.

Data Collection Activities

Fall 2014 and Spring 2015

1. Administer assessments to children in the study. In the fall and again in the spring, a trained member of Mathematica’s team will administer a 45-minute assessment to each child. The assessments are designed to measure important school readiness skills identified by Head Start’s Child Development and Early Learning Framework. Assessments will be conducted over the course of several days. The FACES study team leader will work with you to arrange the assessment schedule.

2. Ask classroom teachers to complete reports on each child. Teachers will be asked to complete short checklists for each selected child in their classroom. Each will take 10 to 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 be paid $10 for each form they complete.

3. Survey parents or guardians. In the fall and spring we want to survey a parent or guardian for each study child—via the web or over the telephone (whichever the parent finds more convenient). Parents will receive $25 for completing the survey on the web or $10 for completing it by telephone. Also, parents will be given a children’s book worth $10.

Spring 2015 and Spring 2017

4. Surveys for the program director, center directors, and classroom teachers. The program director, center directors, and teachers of each selected classroom will each be asked to complete a short survey. These surveys will collect background information as well as information on professional experience, program practices, and classroom activities.

5. Conduct classroom observations. Mathematica staff will conduct observations in selected classrooms to collect information on classroom practices and instructional content. We will work with you to schedule them. Each observation will take approximately three hours. The center staff and teachers should make no special preparations for them. Each classroom will receive a gift for participating.

I will call you in the next few days to discuss the study and answer any questions you have. You may also contact me at [xxx-xxx-xxxx or EMAIL]. We very much appreciate your support and cooperation with this important study, and we welcome any input you would like to provide. More information about FACES 2014–2018 can be found by accessing the Administration for Children and Families FACES website at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/faces.

Sincerely,

[FACES Liaison]

APPENDIX A-4

LETTER TO ON-SITE COORDINATOR
(PROGRAMS FOR PROGRAM AND CLASSROOM DATA COLLECTION ONLY)

1100 1st Street, NE, 12th Floor

Washington, DC 20002-4221

Telephone (202) 484-9220

Fax (202) 863-1763

www.mathematica-mpr.com

FACES-

DATE

Dear [OSC]:

Thank you for agreeing to help us conduct the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2014–2018. The Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has contracted with Mathematica Policy Research, an independent policy research organization, to conduct the survey. FACES will provide details about the characteristics, experiences, and outcomes of children and families served by Head Start. It will also provide observations about the relationships among family and program characteristics, classroom quality, and school readiness.

Your program director has chosen you to help put together the information we need to select our sample of classrooms and schedule visits to Head Start centers. FACES 2014–2018 involves collecting data at two points in time: spring 2015 and spring 2017. At both points, directors and teachers will be asked to complete a brief survey on the web or on paper, and research staff will conduct classroom observations. The observations each take about three hours.

The assistance you provide will help us to effectively schedule data collection activities in your program. Your role is integral to the success of the study and will require that you spend some time outside of your regular duties helping us. In recognition of this effort, we have budgeted $250 per program for the spring 2015 round of data collection. You will also receive an additional $250 for the subsequent round of data collection at the Head Start centers, in spring 2017.

This letter and the attached FACES fact sheet provide details on the study activities. The following are the core activities for which we will need your help and an approximate schedule for each:

Sample Selection Activities

Center selection. In spring 2015, two centers in your program will be randomly selected to participate in FACES. If a program has only two centers, both will be included in the study.

Classroom selection. Two classrooms will be randomly selected in each center. If a center has only one or two classrooms, we will include all classrooms. A Mathematica field enrollment specialist (FES) will visit your program at the start of each data collection period. Both FES visits, during spring 2015 and spring 2017, will last one half day.

Data Collection Activities

1. Surveys for the program director, center directors, and classroom teachers. The program director, center directors, and teachers of each selected classroom will each be asked to complete a short survey. These surveys will collect background information as well as information on professional experience, program practices, and classroom activities.

2. Conduct classroom observations. Mathematica staff will conduct observations in selected classrooms to collect information on classroom practices and instructional content. We will work with you to schedule them. Each observation will take approximately three hours. The center staff and teachers should make no special preparations for them. Each classroom will receive a gift for participating.

I will call you in the next few days to discuss the study and answer any questions you have. You may also contact me at [xxx-xxx-xxxx or EMAIL]. We very much appreciate your support and cooperation with this important study, and welcome any input you would like to provide. More information about FACES 2014–2018 can be found by accessing the Administration for Children and Families FACES website at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/faces.

Sincerely,

[FACES Liaison]

APPENDIX A-5

LETTER TO CENTER DIRECTOR
(PROGRAMS FOR CHILD-LEVEL DATA COLLECTION)

1100 1st Street, NE, 12th Floor

Washington, DC 20002-4221

Telephone (202) 484-9220

Fax (202) 863-1763

www.mathematica-mpr.com

FACES-

DATE

Dear [Center Director]:

Thank you for agreeing to help us conduct the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2014–2018. The Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services contracted with Mathematica Policy Research, 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 the effectiveness of Head Start.

To accomplish these goals, we will be working 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 the study.

Data Collection Activities

FACES 2014–2018 involves collecting data at three points in time: fall 2014, spring 2015, and spring 2017. In the fall of 2014 and spring of 2015, Mathematica staff will spend about a few days at your center to administer an assessment to each selected child whose parents have agreed to let him/her participate. No data collection is planned for the 2015-2016 program year; however, in the spring of 2017, we will conduct classroom observations and staff surveys only. In 2014 and 2015, the child’s parent or guardian will be invited to complete a survey on the web or by phone, whichever the parent finds most convenient. We will also ask the child’s classroom teacher to complete a report about the child. In the spring of 2015, you and selected teachers will be asked to complete a survey on the web. Also in the spring of 2015, research staff will observe selected classrooms. Each of the observations will take about three hours.

Sample Selection Activities

1. Classroom selection. Approximately two classrooms will be randomly selected in each center. If your center has two or fewer classrooms, we will include all of them. A Mathematica field enrollment specialist (FES) will visit your center about three weeks before our fall data collection begins. The FES visit will last approximately 2 days per center. During the fall 2014 FES visit, the FES will ask you to provide a list of all classrooms in your center. The FES will visit again just prior to our spring 2017 data collection.

2. Child selection (Fall 2014 only). After classrooms have been chosen for the sample, children will be randomly selected for the study. The FES will ask for a list of the name and date of birth for each child in the selected classrooms. We will select approximately 12 children per classroom and will invite these children and their families to participate.

3. Obtaining consent (Fall 2014 only). Once children have been selected, Mathematica will work with The OSC and the teachers to gain parental consent. While the FES is still on site, he or she will distribute informational materials to the families who have been selected. The FES will be available to discuss the study in person with teachers and parents.

Data Collection Activities

Fall 2014 and Spring 2015

1. Administer assessments to children in the study. In the fall and again in the spring, a trained member of Mathematica’s team will administer a 45-minute assessment to each child. The assessments are designed to measure important school readiness skills identified by Head Start’s Child Development and Early Learning Framework. Assessments will be conducted over the course of several days.

2. Ask classroom teachers to complete reports on each child. Teachers will be asked to complete short checklists for each selected child in their classroom. Each will take 10 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 be paid $10 for each form they complete.

3. Survey parents or guardians. In the fall and spring we want to survey a parent or guardian for each study child—via the web or over the telephone (whichever the parent finds more convenient). Parents will receive $25 for completing the survey on the web or $10 for completing it by telephone. Also, parents will be given a children’s book worth $10.

Spring 2015 and Spring 2017

1. Surveys for the program director, center directors, and classroom teachers. The program director, center directors, and teachers of each selected classroom will each be asked to complete a short survey. These surveys will collect background information as well as information on professional experience, program practices, and classroom activities.

2. Conduct classroom observations. Mathematica staff will conduct observations in selected classrooms to collect information on classroom practices and instructional content. We will work with you to schedule them. Each observation will take approximately three hours. The center staff and teachers should make no special preparations for them. Each classroom will receive a gift for participating.

You may contact me at [xxx-xxx-xxxx or EMAIL] if you have 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 would like to provide. More information about FACES 2014–2018 can be found by accessing the Administration of Children and Families FACES website at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/faces.

Sincerely,

[FACES study liaison]

APPENDIX A-5

LETTER TO CENTER DIRECTOR
(PROGRAMS FOR PROGRAM AND CLASSROOM DATA COLLECTION)

1100 1st Street, NE, 12th Floor

Washington, DC 20002-4221

Telephone (202) 484-9220

Fax (202) 863-1763

www.mathematica-mpr.com

FACES-

DATE

Dear [Center Director]:

Thank you for agreeing to help us conduct the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2014–2018. The Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services contracted with Mathematica Policy Research 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 the effectiveness of Head Start.

To accomplish these goals, we will be working 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 the study.

This letter and the attached FACES fact sheet provide details on the study activities. The following are the core activities for which we will need your help and an approximate schedule for each:

Classroom Selection

Two classrooms will be randomly selected in each center. If your center has only one or two classrooms, we will include all classrooms. A Mathematica field enrollment specialist (FES) will visit your center at the start of each data collection period. Both FES visits, during spring 2015 and spring 2017, will last one half day.

Data Collection Activities

1. Staff surveys. The program director, center directors, and teachers of each selected classroom will each be asked to complete a short survey. These surveys will collect background information as well as information on professional experience, program practices, and classroom activities.

2. Conduct classroom observations. Mathematica staff will conduct observations in selected classrooms to collect information on classroom practices and instructional content. We will work with you to schedule them. Each observation will take approximately three hours. The center staff and teachers should make no special preparations for them. Each classroom will receive a gift for participating.

You may contact me at [xxx-xxx-xxxx or EMAIL] if you have 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 would like to provide. More information about FACES 2014–2018 can be found by accessing the Administration of Children and Families FACES website at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/faces.

Sincerely,

[FACES study liaison]

1J. M. Love, L. B. Tarullo, H. Raikes, and R. Chazan-Cohen, “Head Start: What Do We Know About Its Effectiveness? What Do We Need to Know?” in Handbook of Early Childhood Development, ed. K. McCartney and D. Phillips, Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006.