Instrument 13: Key Informant Interviews with BSC Center Administrators Discussion Guide

 

Instrument 13: Key Informant Interviews with BSC Center Administrators Discussion Guide

Culture of Continuous Learning Project: A Breakthrough Series Collaborative for Improving Child Care and Head Start Quality

Respondents	Time of Data Collection
BSC Team Members - Center Administrators	Midpoint (T2) Follow-up (T4)

Note: Respondents are implementation center administrators. Specific questions and probes in this guide are illustrative; different questions or follow-up questions may be asked during an interview depending on the nature and flow of participants’ responses. This interview guide was pulled from CCL Phase I instruments and has been adapted to meet the needs of the current project.

Questions will be selected based on relevance at time of data collection such that the length of the interview is no more than 60 minutes.

Thank you very much for agreeing to participate in this discussion. Your participation is very important to our research.

1. We are conducting a research study for the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation at the Administration for Children and Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The purpose of this study is to learn about the options for integrating a Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) into early care and education quality improvement systems. The BSC is a specific training approach designed to support learning and improvement among practitioners at all levels of an organization, from directors to teachers who work in a classroom with children. This BSC aims to support children's social and emotional learning practices among staff who work in child care and Head Start settings. The intended use of the information collected is to study whether a BSC can enhance existing Head Start and child care training and technical assistance activities to support social and emotional learning practices.

2. Our conversation will last approximately one hour and we will ask about your experiences participating in the BSC as well as what change you’ve seen in your center through BSC participation.

3. You will receive a $50 gift card as a thank you for your participation.

4. There is a chance that you may feel uncomfortable answering some of our questions. Being part of this discussion is completely voluntary. You can choose to skip any question or stop the conversation at any time. Additionally, there is no direct benefit to participating in this interview. We hope the information you provide will benefit the early child care and education field.

5. We would like to record this conversation for note-taking purposes only. We will delete the recordings after the notes have been cleaned. We will separate your name and personal information from our notes and transcripts. Your identity and the information you share will be kept private by the research team. Our report will describe the experiences and viewpoints expressed, but comments will not be attributed to specific individuals. No individuals will be quoted by name. Information shared during this conversation may be made available to other researchers for future study. However, your identity will be kept private and no comments will be able to be attributed to you.

6. Data files from the research component of this project may be stored in a trusted online location where they could be made available to other researchers who commit to keeping the data secure. Any personal information that could identify you will be removed before files are shared with other researchers. No research findings will include any personal information. This research is also covered by a Certificate of Confidentiality from the National Institutes of Health. This means that researchers cannot release or use information that may identify you in any way unless you say it is ok.

7. [For questions:] If you would like a copy of this information or have questions, please email us at [email protected] or the IRB at [email protected] or by phone at 1-855-288-3506.

8. [Send comments:] Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Kathryn Tout, [email protected] or Child Trends, 708 N 1^st Suite #333 Minneapolis, MN 55401 Attention: Kathryn Tout

9. [PRA statement:] A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and no individual or entity is required to respond to, nor shall an individual or entity be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. The OMB number for this collection of information is 0970-0605 and the expiration date is 03/31/2026.

Are you willing to participate in this discussion and be recorded? [Yes/No]

Topic	Subtopic	Type of Respondent
State, regional, and Head Start context	Participation in QI and PD initiatives (pre-pandemic and during the pandemic) including mode and content of initiative Degree to which previous experiences met the programs’ needs Perception of accessibility, quality, and effectiveness of system offerings Overall satisfaction with the QI and PD system Extent to which state’s/region’s approach to continuous quality improvement, professional development, or technical assistance supported implementation of the BSC Further supports needed at the state or regional level for more effective QI initiatives (spanning pre-recruitment to post implementation)	Core BSC Team members (Center administrators)
Center context	Degree to which program leadership is committed to QI and examples of previous engagement (including mode and content) Provisions the center administrator has put in place to facilitate QI and PD (e.g., protected paid planning time) Perceptions of program-level and system challenges to effective and sustained QI and PD	Core BSC Team members (Center administrators)
Changes in program culture, practices, and distributed leadership	Extent to which each center administrator felt included in the process Extent to which center administrators felt that their needs for improving SEL practices were met Perception of shifting power dynamics and equity processes within BSC teams Changes in SEL practices over time Changes in tracking progress and change in SEL practices within the ECE programs, communication of progress and change with families, when applicable; changes in other data tracking processes within the ECE program Changes in how the ECE programs address needs other than those included in the BSC (for SEL quality improvement) Strategies developed for improving SEL practices Extent to which changes in organizational culture or staff practices vary among ECE sites based on available resources, program type, level of engagement in the BSC Similarities and differences of changes in practices across team members and among non-BSC participants in the center (e.g., administrative staff compared to classroom staff or program staff compared to parents) Chronic absences at the program and reflections on change over time	Core BSC Team members (Center administrators)
Sustainability of QI practices	Extent to which changes were sustained beyond the last learning session and perceptions of whether and how changes will be sustained in the future Reflections on resources (financial and otherwise) thought to be necessary to sustain this CQI process in the center Necessary state and program-level resources (financial and otherwise) to maintain and scale BSC implementation	Core BSC Team members (Center administrators)
Cost	Estimation of the time it took director to participate in the various BSC-related activities Organizational costs to cover teacher/support staff absences Costs of additional materials needed for implementation	Core BSC Team members (Center administrators)