Attachment 5 Recruitment Letters_110411_FINAL

E

Evaluation News

Notification #1

OHS Grantee Pre-Notification Email Flyer

(Note: Letter sent out by OHS in October, 2011)

valuation of the Office of Head Start’s Early Learning Mentor Coaches (ELMC) Grants

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, in conjunction with the Office of Head Start (OHS), is planning an Evaluation of the Early Learning Mentor Coach (ELMC) grants. This will be an opportunity to describe the needs and successes of ELMC implementation, to improve future professional development efforts of OHS. The ELMC efforts will directly inform OHS, other HS grantees, and the broader early childhood and education field about processes and variations in effective coaching and mentoring. T he Evaluation of Early Learning Mentor Coaches Grants is being conducted by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and its subcontractors, MEF Associates, as well as a team of leading technical experts on early childhood coaching, professional development, and research.

The main objectives of this evaluation will be: (1) describing the implementation of the ELMC grants in HS and EHS programs; (2) examining the implementation quality of ELMC efforts; and, (3) examining factors that appear to be related to successful mentor-coaching. At this time, the evaluation will include web-based surveys and phone interviews to collect data about ELMC grant implementation. The major elements of data collection will be: an online survey of grantees and mentor coaches; telephone interviews with a selection of grantee administrators, mentor coaches, and teaching staff and a mentor-coach activity report from a selection of mentor coaches. Data collection is projected to start in December 2011 and end February 2012. Your participation is highly encouraged. This evaluation will help to inform OHS and the field of the mentor coach initiative and its results. For more information about this evaluation, please contact: Project Officer, OPRE Wendy DeCourcey at 202-260-2039 American Institutes for Research

Notification #2 Draft OHS Notification Letter 

Dear [Grantee Name/Organization],

We are excited to report that the Early Learning Mentor Coach study is beginning! We look forward to learning so much more about the important work that your grantee program is doing with mentoring and coaching. The study will tell us about the different styles and typologies of mentoring and coaching that work within Head Start, Early Head Start, Migrant and Seasonal Head Start and American Indian/Alaskan Native Head Start, and the practical processes that need to be established to support such professional development programs. By participating in this evaluation, your grantee plays an integral role in providing data that will strengthen mentor coaching programs for early childhood professionals across the country. Each of you has immediate and in-depth understanding of the efforts involved and the possible pay-offs. Mentor-coaching is quickly becoming the ‘go-to’ tool for training and quality improvement: but we know so little regarding how it varies and how it works!

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), in conjunction with the Office of Head Start (OHS), contracted with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and its subcontractors (MEF Associates and NORC), and a team of national experts on early childhood coaching, professional development, and research, to evaluate the initiative. Grantee administrators for each grant and all mentor-coaches for the ELMC initiative will be asked to complete an online web-survey. In addition, 65 grantees will be selected to have a small number of their mentor-coaches and teaching staff participate in a telephone interview to describe their personal experiences with the ELMC initiative. We understand your staff already has a tremendous amount of responsibility, so we do not anticipate this evaluation to be an excessive burden. The online surveys should take no longer than 30 minutes, and the conversational interviews should take no more than an hour. Every piece of information is key to a fuller picture of mentor-coaching within Head Start: please do not hesitate to share your triumphs and challenges!

We strongly urge you to take part in this voluntary evaluation and to inform your staff (administrator, mentor coaches and teachers) regarding the upcoming efforts. If possible, please share this letter with them and the attached flyer. If you have any questions, please contact the OPRE project officer, Wendy DeCourcey at 202-260-2039/wendy.decourcey@acf.hhs.gov or Eboni Howard, the evaluation director at 202-403-5533/ehoward@air.org. We look forward to learning about your experiences with the ELMC initiative.

Sincerely,

[ADD OHS Signature]

Y
vette Sanchez Fuentes

Director for the Office of Head Start

Notification #3

Grantee Recruitment Letter for (Non-Selected) Grantees Participating only in Surveys

Dear [Grantee Name/Organization],

This letter is to inform you regarding the Early Learning Mentor Coach evaluation. We look forward to learning so much more about the important work that your grantee program is doing with mentoring and coaching. By participating in this voluntary evaluation, your grantee plays an integral role in providing data that will strengthen mentor coaching programs for early childhood professionals across the country. Each of you has immediate and in-depth understanding of the efforts involved and the possible pay-offs. Mentor-coaching is quickly becoming the ‘go-to’ tool for training and quality improvement: but we know so little regarding how it varies and how it works!

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), in conjunction with the Office of Head Start (OHS) contracted with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to evaluate the Early Learning Mentor Coach (ELMC) initiative. The purpose of the evaluation is to assist OHS in identifying important aspects of early learning mentor-coaching.

You are one of 130 ELMC Grantees that we hope will share with us information that can help OHS develop and support future early learning mentor-coaching. We are asking your help with two activities:

1. Complete an online survey about your ELMC grant by [INSERT DATE]. The person who should complete this survey should be the person who can speak to grantee-level information about your ELMC grant (such as hiring practices, number of hires, trainings, and overall challenges/successes). This could be a grant director, your grantee’s primary contact for your ELMC grant, or someone else. The survey should take no longer than 30 minutes of time. The survey does not need to be completed all at one time; you will have the ability to start the survey, then come back later to complete it. Please use this link to access the survey: [ADD SURVEY LINK] or please deliver this link to the appropriate person.

2. The next important step is hearing from the Mentor-Coaches themselves! In order to reach them, we need your assistance. Please Send us the contact information of your ELMC mentor-coaches by [INSERT DATE]. We want to invite all of the ELMC mentor-coaches to complete a 30 minute online survey telling us about their work. To compensate for their time we are offering a $20.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon. In order to send out this survey, we need help from you getting the contact list (name, email, and phone numbers) of all of your grantee’s mentor-coaches. Unfortunately, OHS does not have a list of individual mentor-coaches working within grantees, so it is only with your help that we can get the contact information to ask mentor-coaches directly to participate in the evaluation. Your contact list of all your ELMC mentor-coaches can be sent to Jonathan Farber at jfarber@air.org, faxed to 202-403-5454, or mailed to [1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW, Washington, DC 20007-3835. Office # 3101]. You can also contact Mr. Farber directly at 202-403-5412 to get more information about this request.

It is only with your help that OHS will better understand the importance of the ELMC activities. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dr. Fiona Helsel, the project manager at 202-680-0870/fhelsel@air.org or myself. We look forward to learning about your experiences with the ELMC initiative.

Sincerely,

Eboni C. Howard, Ph.D.

ELMC, Project Director

AIR, Early Childhood Principal Specialist

Notification #4

Grantee Recruitment Letter to Send to Selected Grantees (n =65)

Dear [Grantee Name/Organization],

This letter is to inform you regarding the Early Learning Mentor Coach evaluation. We look forward to learning so much more about the important work that your grantee program is doing with mentoring and coaching. By participating in this voluntary evaluation, your grantee plays an integral role in providing data that will strengthen mentor coaching programs for early childhood professionals across the country. Each of you has immediate and in-depth understanding of the efforts involved and the possible pay-offs. Mentor-coaching is quickly becoming the ‘go-to’ tool for training and quality improvement: but we know so little regarding how it varies and how it works!

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), in conjunction with the Office of Head Start (OHS) contracted with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to evaluate the Early Learning Mentor Coach (ELMC) initiative. The purpose of the evaluation is to assist OHS in identifying important aspects of early learning mentor-coaching.

You are one of 130 ELMC Grantees that we hope will share with us information that can help OHS develop and support future early learning mentor-coaching. We are asking your help with three activities:

3. Complete an online survey about your ELMC grant by [INSERT DATE]. The person who should complete this survey should be the person who can speak to grantee-level information about your ELMC grant (such as hiring practices, number of hires, trainings, and overall challenges/successes). This could be a grant director, your grantee’s primary contact for your ELMC grant, or someone else. The survey should take no longer than 30 minutes of time. The survey does not need to be completed all at one time; you will have the ability to start the survey, then come back later to complete it. Please use this link to access the survey: [ADD SURVEY LINK] or please deliver this link to the appropriate person.

1. The next important step is hearing from the Mentor-Coaches themselves! In order to reach them, we need your assistance. Please Send us the contact information of your ELMC mentor-coaches by [INSERT DATE]. We want to invite all of the ELMC mentor-coaches to complete a 30 minute online survey telling us about their work. To compensate for their time we are offering a $20.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon. In order to send out this survey, we need help from you getting the contact list (name, email, and phone numbers) of all of your grantee’s mentor-coaches. Unfortunately, OHS does not have a list of individual mentor-coaches working within grantees, so it is only with your help that we can get the contact information to ask mentor-coaches directly to participate in the evaluation. Your contact list of all your ELMC mentor-coaches can be sent to Jonathan Farber at jfarber@air.org, faxed to 202-403-5454, or mailed to [1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW, Washington, DC 20007-3835. Office # 3101]. You can also contact Mr. Farber directly at 202-403-5412 to get more information about this request.

2. Inform your mentor-coaches and the staff mentor-coaches work with about the evaluation: Your grantee was one of 65 grantees that were randomly selected to be included in a telephone interview. We will randomly select one (1) mentor-coach and two (2) staff to participate in separate telephone interviews about their personal experiences with mentor-coaching. We expect the interview to be about an hour. Selected mentor- coaches and teachers will each be provided a $25.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon as a token of appreciation for their time, when the interviews are completed. We will contact mentor-coaches and the staff they work with directly to schedule a time that will be most convenient for them to talk to us. Please share this letter (and the attached flyer) with your staff.

It is only with your help that we can help OHS and OPRE get a better sense of ELMC activities. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dr. Fiona Helsel, the project manager at 202-680-0870/fhelsel@air.org, or myself. We look forward to learning about your experiences with the ELMC initiative.

Sincerely,

Eboni C. Howard, Ph.D.

ELMC, Project Director

AIR, Early Childhood Principal Specialist

Notification #5a

Draft Reminder Email to Send to Non-Selected Grantees

Dear [Grantee Name/Organization],

I am writing to follow-up on the email sent to you on (insert day, month #) about the Office of Head Start’s Early Learning Mentor Coaching (ELMC) initiative evaluation. By participating in this voluntary evaluation your program plays an integral role in identifying important aspects of early learning mentor coaching. So far we have not heard from you, and we really need your help with this important evaluation. We are asking your help with two activities:

1. Complete an online survey about your ELMC grant by [INSERT DATE]. The person who should complete this survey should be a grant director, your grantee’s primary contact for your ELMC grant, or someone else who can speak to grantee-level information about your ELMC grant (hiring practices, number of hires, training and overall success and challenges). The survey should take no longer than 30 minutes of time. You do not have to complete the survey at one time; you have the ability to start the survey, then come back later to complete it. Please use this link to access the survey: [ADD SURVEY LINK] or please deliver this link to the appropriate person.

2. Send us the contact information of your ELMC mentor-coaches by [INSERT DATE]. We also need your help to invite your ELMC mentor-coaches to complete a 30 minute online survey telling us about their work. To compensate for their time we are offering a $20.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon. In order to send out this survey, we need help from you getting the contact list (name, email, and phone numbers) of all of your grantee’s mentor-coaches. It is only with your help that we can get the contact information to ask mentor-coaches directly to participate in the evaluation. Your contact list of all your ELMC mentor-coaches can be sent to Jonathan Farber at jfarber@air.org, faxed to 202-403-5454, or mailed to [1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW, Washington, DC 20007-3835. Office # 3101]. You can also contact Mr. Farber directly at 202-403-5412 to get more information about this request.

Please help OHS support future early learning mentor coach initiatives and share your approaches to others in the field by responding to this email and completing the survey. Contact information is provided in the original email (see below – insert previous email sent here) if you have questions. We hope that you will agree to participate in this important evaluation and we look forward to learning about your experiences with the ELMC initiative.

Sincerely,

Eboni C. Howard, Ph.D.

ELMC, Project Director

AIR, Early Childhood Principal Specialist

Notification #5b

Draft Reminder Email to Send to Selected Grantees (doing both Surveys and Interviews)

Dear [Grantee Name/Organization],

I am writing to follow-up on the email I sent on (insert day, month #) about the Office of Head Start’s Early Learning Mentor Coaching (ELMC) initiative evaluation. By participating in this voluntary evaluation your program will play an integral role in identifying important aspects of early learning mentor coaching.

So far we have not heard from you, and we really need your help with this important evaluation. We are asking your help with three activities:

1. Complete an online survey about your ELMC grant by [INSERT DATE]. The person who should complete this survey should be a grant director, your grantee’s primary contact for your ELMC grant, or someone else who can speak to grantee-level information about your ELMC grant (such as hiring practices, training and overall success and challenges). The survey should take no longer than 30 minutes of your time. You do not have to complete the survey at one time; you have the ability to start the survey, then come back later to complete it. Please use this link to access the survey: [ADD SURVEY LINK] or deliver this link to the appropriate person.

2. Send us the contact information of your ELMC mentor coaches by [INSERT DATE]. We also need your help to invite all your ELMC mentor-coaches to complete a 30 minute online survey telling us about their work. To compensate for their time we are offering a $20.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon. In order to send out this survey, we need help from you getting the contact list (name, email, and phone numbers) of all of your grantee’s mentor-coaches. It is only with your help can we get the information to contact mentor coaches directly as ask them to volunteer in the evaluation. Your contact list of all your ELMC mentor-coaches can be sent to Jonathan Farber at jfarber@air.org, faxed to 202-403-5454, or mailed to [1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW, Washington, DC 20007-3835. Office # 3101]. You can also contact Mr. Farber directly at 202-403-5412 to get more information about this request.

3. Inform your mentor-coaches and the staff mentor-coaches work with about the evaluation: Your grantee was one of 65 grantees that were randomly selected to be included in an interview component of the evaluation. We will randomly select one (1) mentor-coach and two (2) staff to have an in-depth, telephone interview about their work and experiences with mentor-coaching. We expect the interview to be about an hour. Selected mentor-coaches and teachers will each be provided an incentive of a $25.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon for their time. We will contact mentor-coaches and the staff they work with to check on their interest in participating and to directly to schedule a time that will be most convenient for them to talk to us.

Please help OHS support future early learning mentor coach initiatives and share your approaches to others in the field by responding to this email and completing the survey. Contact information is provided in the original email (see below – insert previous email sent here) if you have questions. We hope that you will agree to participate in this important evaluation and we look forward to learning about your experiences with the ELMC initiative.

Sincerely,

Eboni C. Howard, Ph.D.

ELMC, Project Director

AIR, Early Childhood Principal Specialist

Notification #6

Mentor-Coach Recruitment Letter to Non-Selected Mentor-Coaches (n =335)

Dear [ELMC Mentor Coach],

We are the Air Institute for Research associates, who have been hired by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to complete the evaluation of the Early Learning Mentor Coach initiative. We look forward to learning more about the important work that you have been doing as a mentor-coach. By participating in this evaluation, your grantee plays an integral role in providing data that will strengthen mentor coaching programs for early childhood professionals across the country. You have immediate and in-depth understanding of the efforts involved and the possible pay-offs. Mentor-coaching is quickly becoming the ‘go-to’ tool for training and quality improvement: but we know so little regarding how it varies and how it works!

You are one of about 400 ELMC mentor- coaches that we hope will share with us information that will help OHS develop and support future early learning mentor-coaching. Please share with us your triumphs and challenges by:

• Completing an online survey about your mentor-coaching experiences by [INSERT DATE]. The survey should take no longer than 30 minutes of your time. In appreciation for your time, you will receive a $20.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon. You do not have to complete the survey at one time; you have the ability to start the survey, then come back later to complete it. Please use this link to access the survey: [ADD SURVEY LINK].

It is only with your help that OHS can get a better sense of ELMC activities. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dr. Fiona Helsel, the project manager at 202-680-0870/fhelsel@air.org, or myself. We hope that you will agree to participate in this important evaluation and we look forward to learning about your experiences with the ELMC initiative.

Sincerely,

Eboni C. Howard, Ph.D.

ELMC, Project Director

AIR, Early Childhood Principal Specialist

Notification #7

Mentor-Coach Recruitment Letter to Selected Mentor-Coaches (n =65)

Dear [ELMC Mentor Coach],

We are the Air Institute for Research associates, who have been hired by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to complete the evaluation of the Early Learning Mentor Coach initiative. We look forward to learning so much more about the important work that you have been doing as a mentor-coach. By participating in this evaluation, your grantee plays an integral role in providing data that will strengthen mentor coaching programs for early childhood professionals across the country. You have immediate and in-depth understanding of the efforts involved and the possible pay-offs. Mentor-coaching is quickly becoming the ‘go-to’ tool for training and quality improvement: but we know so little regarding how it varies and how it works!

You are one of about 400 ELMC mentor- coaches that we hope will share with us information that will help OHS develop and support future early learning mentor-coaching. Please share with us your triumphs and challenges! We are asking your help with three activities:

1. Complete an online survey about your mentor-coaching experiences by [INSERT DATE]. The survey should take no longer than 30 minutes of your time. In appreciation for your time, you will receive a $20.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon. You do not have to complete the survey at one time; you have the ability to start the survey, then come back later to complete it. Please use this link to access the survey: [ADD SURVEY LINK].

2. Participate in a Telephone Interview: You were randomly selected from all the mentor-coaches from 65 different ELMC grantees to be included in the interview component of the evaluation. We would like to have an in-depth, telephone interview about your work and experiences as a mentor-coach. We expect the interview to be about an hour. In appreciation for your time, you will be provided an incentive of a $25.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon. We will contact you directly to schedule a time that will be most convenient for you to talk to us.

3. Send us the contact information of the staff you mentor-coach by [INSERT DATE]. We want to invite a small number of randomly selected staff who receive mentor-coaching from the EMLC initiative to talk about their experiences in an interview that will last about an hour. Selected staff will receive a $25.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon as a token of appreciation for their help. In order to administer this interview, we need help from you getting the contact list (name, email, and phone numbers) of all the staff you mentor-coach (e.g., classroom teacher, assistant teacher, home visitor, family child care staff). This list will be kept private and will be used for no other purposes. Unfortunately, OHS does not have a list of individual staff being mentor-coached within grantees, so it is only with your help that we can get the contact information to ask staff directly to participate in the evaluation. We will contact selected staff directly to check on their interest in participating and schedule a time that will be most convenient for them to talk to us. Your contact list of all the staff you mentor-coach can be sent to Jonathan Farber at jfarber@air.org, faxed to 202-403-5454, or mailed to [1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW, Washington, DC 20007-3835. Office # 3101]. You can also contact Mr. Farber directly at 202-403-5412 to get more information about this request.

It is only with your help that we can help OHS and OPRE get a better sense of ELMC activities. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dr. Fiona Helsel, the project manager at 202-680-0870/fhelsel@air.org, or myself. We hope that you will agree to participate in this important evaluation and we look forward to learning about your experiences with the ELMC initiative.

Sincerely,

Eboni C. Howard, Ph.D.

ELMC, Project Director

AIR, Early Childhood Principal Specialist

Notification #8a

Draft Reminder Email to Send to Non-Selected Mentor-Coaches

Dear [ELMC Mentor Coach],

I am writing to follow-up on the email I sent on (insert day, month #) about the Office of Head Start’s Early Learning Mentor Coaching (ELMC) initiative evaluation. By participating in this evaluation you will play an integral role in identifying important aspects of early learning mentor coaching.

So far we have not heard from you, and we really need your help with this important evaluation. We are asking your help with:

• Complete an online survey about your mentor-coaching experiences by [INSERT DATE]. The survey should take no longer than 30 minutes of your time. In appreciation for your time, you will receive a $20.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon. You do not have to complete the survey at one time; you have the ability to start the survey, then come back later to complete it. Please use this link to access the survey: [ADD SURVEY LINK].

Please help OHS support future early learning mentor coach initiatives by completing the survey. Contact information is provided in the original email (see below – insert previous email sent here) if you have questions.

Sincerely,

Eboni C. Howard, Ph.D.

ELMC, Project Director

AIR, Early Childhood Principal Specialist

Notification #8b

Draft Reminder Email to Send to Selected Mentor-Coaches

Dear [ELMC Mentor Coach],

I am writing to follow-up on the email I sent on (insert day, month #) about the Office of Head Start’s Early Learning Mentor Coaching (ELMC) initiative evaluation. By participating in this evaluation you will play an integral role in identifying important aspects of early learning mentor coaching.

So far we have not heard from you and we really need your help with this important evaluation. We are asking your help with three activities:

1. Complete an online survey about your mentor-coaching experiences by [INSERT DATE]. The survey should take no longer than 30 minutes of your time. In appreciation for your time, you will receive a $20.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon. You do not have to complete the survey at one time; you have the ability to start the survey, then come back later to complete it. Please use this link to access the survey: [ADD SURVEY LINK].

2. Participate in a Telephone Interview: You were randomly selected from all the mentor-coaches from 65 different ELMC grantees to be included in the interview component of the evaluation. We would like to have an in-depth, telephone interview about your work and experiences as a mentor-coach. We expect the interview to be about an hour. In appreciation for your time, you will be provided an incentive of a $25.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon. We will contact you directly to schedule a time that will be most convenient for you to talk to us.

3. Send us the contact information of the staff you mentor-coach by [INSERT DATE]. We want to invite a small number of randomly selected staff who receive mentor-coaching from the EMLC initiative to talk about their experiences in an interview that will last about an hour. Selected staff will receive a $25.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon as a token of appreciation for their help. In order to do that, we need help from you getting the contact list (name, email, and phone numbers) of all the staff you mentor-coach (e.g., classroom teacher, assistant teacher, home visitor, family child care staff). It is only with your help that we can get the contact information to ask staff directly to participate in the evaluation. We will contact selected staff directly to check on their interest in participating and to schedule a time that will be most convenient for them to talk to us. Your contact list of all the staff you mentor-coach can be sent to Jonathan Farber at jfarber@air.org, faxed to 202-403-5454, or mailed to [1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW, Washington, DC 2007-3835. Office # 3101]. You can also contact Mr. Farber directly at 202-403-5412 to get more information about this request.

Please let us know if you are able to help by responding to this email. Contact information is provided in the original email (see below – insert previous email sent here) if you have questions.

Sincerely,

Eboni C. Howard, Ph.D.

ELMC, Project Director

AIR, Early Childhood Principal Specialist

Notification #9

Staff Recruitment Letter

Dear [ELMC teaching staff],

We are the Air Institute for Research associates, who have been hired by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to complete the evaluation of the Early Learning Mentor Coach initiative. We look forward to learning so much more about your personal experience with mentor-coaching, and what you think about the process. By participating in this evaluation, you play an integral role in providing data that will strengthen mentor coaching programs for early childhood professionals across the country. You have immediate and in-depth understanding of the efforts involved and the possible pay-offs. Mentor-coaching is quickly becoming the ‘go-to’ tool for training and quality improvement: but we know so little regarding how it varies and how it works!

Although your participation in this evaluation is voluntary, you are one of about 130 staff members receiving mentor-coaching that we hope will share with us information that can help OHS develop and support future early learning mentor-coaching. We are asking your help with this activity:

Participate in a Telephone Interview: You were randomly selected from all staff receiving mentor-coaching to be included in the interview component of the evaluation. We would like to talk to you about your experiences being mentor-coached as a program staff. We expect the interview to be about an hour. In appreciation for your time, you will be provided an incentive of a $25.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon. We will contact you directly to schedule a time that will be most convenient for you to talk to us.

It is only with your help that we can help OHS and OPRE get a better sense of ELMC activities. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Fiona Helsel, the project manager at 202-680-0870/fhelsel@air.org, or myself. We hope that you will agree to participate in this important evaluation and we look forward to learning about your experiences with the ELMC initiative.

Sincerely,

Eboni C. Howard, Ph.D.

ELMC, Project Director

AIR, Early Childhood Principal Specialist

Notification #10

Draft Reminder Email to Send to Staff for Scheduling Interview

Dear [ELMC teaching staff],

I am writing to follow-up on the email I sent on (insert day, month #) about the Office of Head Start’s Early Learning Mentor Coaching (ELMC) initiative evaluation. By participating in this evaluation you will play an integral role in identifying important aspects of early learning mentor coaching.

So far we have not heard from you, and we really need your help with this important evaluation. We are asking your help with this activity:

Participate in a Telephone Interview: You were randomly selected from all staff receiving mentor-coaching to be included in the interview component of the evaluation. We would like to talk to you about your experiences being mentor-coached as a program staff. We expect the interview to be about an hour. In appreciation for your time, you will be provided an incentive of a $25.00 electronic gift certificate to Amazon. We will contact you directly to schedule a time that will be most convenient for you to talk to us.

Please let us know if you are able to help by responding to this email. Contact information is provided in the original email (see below – insert previous email sent here) if you have questions.

Sincerely,

Eboni C. Howard, Ph.D.

ELMC, Project Director

AIR, Early Childhood Principal Specialist