Umbrella organization recruitment approval call script

INSTRUMENT 2

Umbrella Organization Recruitment Approval Call Script

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Early Care and Education Leadership Study (ExCELS)

Umbrella Organization Recruitment Approval Call Script

Goals of the call:

1. Introduce yourself

1. Describe the purpose of the study

2. Give an overview of the study activities

3. Invite the organization’s contact to participate

4. If the organization’s contact agrees to participate, collect additional information

5. Summarize next steps

A. Introduction

Hello [ORGANIZATION CONTACT’S LAST NAME], my name is [LIAISON’S NAME], and I’m calling from Mathematica about the Early Care and Education Leadership Study, or ExCELS for short. It’s funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We are interested in having [NAME OF CENTER] in your [program/organization] participate in the study. We recently sent you an email and letter saying that [NAME OF CENTER] in your [program/organization] had been selected to be part of this study. We included a fact sheet with information about the study, and a brochure. Did you receive these materials, and if you did, have you had a chance to go over them?

[Have the letter available to provide information if the person is not familiar with the study.]

The Administration for Children and Families asked Mathematica and the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at the University of Massachusetts Boston to conduct ExCELS, which is an important study that will collect information about leadership in early care and education centers.

[IF CENTER DIRECTOR ASKED US TO REACH OUT TO UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION:] We spoke to [CENTER DIRECTOR’S NAME] at [NAME OF CENTER] a few days ago. They may be interested in participating in the study but suggested we speak with you to get approval. I’d like to give you a brief overview of the study, answer any questions you might have, and discuss any steps for approval for the center’s participation.

[IF WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO REACH CENTER DIRECTOR:] We have not been able to speak with the center director at [NAME OF CENTER], but we think the center would provide valuable insights for our study. I’d like to give you a brief overview of the study, answer any questions you might have, discuss any steps for approval for the center’s participation, and identify the best way to reach the center director if we have your approval to do so. This call should only take about 20 minutes.

Is now a good time to talk?

[If it isn’t a good time to talk, make an appointment to call later.]

Before we get started, let me read you the following statement for your information: “Your participation 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 number for this information collection is XXXX-XXXX and the expiration date is MM/DD/YYYY.”

B. Study purpose

First, I’d like to quickly tell you about the study. Leadership is important to how early care and education centers provide services to children and families. But, we don’t know a lot about how leadership works in centers and who participates in making decisions. The Early Care and Education Leadership Study (ExCELS) will help the early childhood field learn about the ways that center directors, managers and teaching staff contribute to decisions and practices that support quality. Through this study, we will gather information from many points of view to understand staffing and participation in leadership across a range of centers. And because we are interested in learning about leadership from many points of view, the study includes two surveys—one for center managers and one for teaching staff. This will help us gain a full picture of how leadership works across a range of centers.

C. Overview of study activities

I also want to describe the activities included in the center’s participation in the study. We’d work closely with the center to limit any disruption by participating in this study and we plan to offer centers that participate a $150 check. We’d like to conduct a few activities with [NAME OF CENTER] as part of this study including:

• A short, 20-minute telephone interview with the center’s primary site leader, or the person in the building who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis, to get some basic information about the center to help us confirm the center is eligible for the study.

• A 30-minute telephone interview with the primary site leader to get some information about the center’s staffing structure and leadership positions. During that interview we’d also ask for staff contact information to help us determine who should complete the surveys. From this conversation, we may learn that one or two staff in your [program/organization] may support the center as managers such as education program leads. Those individuals might be invited to complete a survey.

• A survey for some managers and all teaching staff at the center to complete. The survey will help us learn about the people in the center who make decisions about what happens in the center, center operations, how staff work together in the center, and how the center works with families and the community. To show our appreciation, we’ll offer a $25 gift card to center managers who complete a 25-minute survey, and a $50 gift card to teaching staff who complete a 60-minute survey.

• [IF ON-SITE VISIT GROUP: Finally, we would like to send a study representative to visit the center to invite staff to complete the survey, and distribute the gift cards for completed surveys. We expect the visit to take about four hours each day on two different days within a week.]

I also wanted to let you know that taking part in this study is voluntary. The purpose of this study is to learn about leadership in early care and education centers. There are no risks or direct benefits from taking part in the study. We will use the information the study collects only for research purposes and in ways that will not reveal the organization, the center, or its staff. We have a certificate of confidentiality from the National Institutes of Health. It helps us protect the privacy of the organization, the center, and its staff. This means no one can force the study team to give out information that identifies the organization, the center, and its staff, even in court. However, in some cases federal or state laws might require us to show information to government officials or sponsors who monitor the safety of the study. Publications about the study will not identify anyone from the center. Nor will they identify the center or organization. We will share some of the data the study collects with qualified individuals for research purposes Nothing we share will identify people, specific centers, or specific organizations. If you have questions about ExCELS, please contact Annalee Kelly, the survey director, at [STUDY PHONE] or by email at [STUDY EMAIL].

We value your time and the center staff’s time, and we’d appreciate any help you can give us to have [NAME OF CENTER] participate in this important study. We have extensive experience working in centers, and we understand the need for flexibility and making efficient use of everyone’s time.

Do you have any questions about the study’s purpose, any of the activities I described, or any concerns about [NAME OF CENTER]’s involvement in the study?

D. Confirm center participation

[IF CENTER DIRECTOR ASKED US TO REACH OUT TO UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION:] Would you allow us to begin working with [NAME OF CENTER] so they can participate in this important study?

[IF WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO REACH CENTER DIRECTOR:] Would you be willing for us to reach out to [NAME OF CENTER] to participate in this important study? Or would you prefer to reach out to them to ask for their participation?

• [If the answer is YES, Mathematica can reach out, continue to Section E.]

• [If the organization’s contact will reach out to the center, or if the organization’s contact needs additional time to decide.]

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today and for considering this request. We appreciate it. I’m always happy to answer any questions or concerns you might have. Are there any specific concerns that come to mind right now that we could talk about?

[Use the list of concerns in Table 1 below to help determine what their concerns are, then use the responses to address the concerns.]

When would be a good time for us to check in about the center’s participation in the study?

And please, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me at [LIAISON PHONE] or by email at [LIAISON EMAIL].

[Thank the director, end the call, and document the discussion.]

• [If the answer is NO, or if the organization’s contact is hesitant.]

I’d like to better understand why you are hesitant to participate. What are some of the concerns you have?

[Use the list of concerns in Table 1 below to help determine what their concerns are, then use the responses to address the concerns.]

[Continue to respond to concerns as needed. If the respondent agrees, continue to Section E.]

[If answer is still NO, thank them for their time and end the call.]

Table 1. Responses to concerns about participating

Concern	Response
Is the time involved or the number of activities one of your concerns?	Reiterate the study’s flexibility in scheduling a convenient time for data collection. Explain that the activities are broken up over time, so it’s never a lot at once. Explain that staff will have plenty of time to complete the surveys.
IF ON-SITE VISIT GROUP: Is the visit a concern?	Reiterate that we will be flexible in scheduling the visit, and that our field staff will be there only to invite staff to complete the surveys and to distribute gift cards.
IF ON-SITE VISIT GROUP: Is field staff security a concern?	Mention that field staff will not be interacting with children. Explain more about field staff hiring and screening: “To ensure the safety of our field staff and study participants, Mathematica’s hiring policy requires all newly hired and rehired field staff to pass a criminal background check. We’ll provide documentation of field staff clearances upon request.”
IF ON-SITE VISIT GROUP: Are you not allowing visitors at your center because of the COVID-19 pandemic?	Ask the center director what they would feel comfortable doing. Mention that you will speak with your supervisor to see if the study can come up with more tailored procedures for their center depending on their center’s current restrictions.
Do you have concerns about the study’s purpose? Do you have any additional questions about the study?	Give more explanation about the study’s purpose, and answer any questions they have.

E. Questions for the organization contact

Next, I want to collect some basic information about [CENTER NAME] and the name and contact information of the person who would help in the data collection.

• Please confirm the center’s name, physical address, mailing address, and phone number. [Read information we have on record.]

• The staff member we’d expect to be most involved with for this study, and the one I’d need to speak with about next steps is the center’s primary site leader. Again, the center’s primary site leader would be the person in the building who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis.

May I have the name and contact information for the center’s primary site leader? [Collect information—name, phone number, and email—for the primary site leader.]

F. Next steps

Thank you very much. In terms of next steps, I will reach out to the primary site leader to get the rest of the information I need. I plan to do that in the next two days.

In case I need to follow up with you for any reason, what’s the easiest way to contact you, by phone or email?

Do you have any questions or concerns for me at this point? If any questions or concerns do come up, please feel free to contact me at [LIAISON PHONE] or by email at [LIAISON EMAIL].

Thank you for participating in this important study. We appreciate your cooperation, and we look forward to working with [CENTER NAME].