Thank you for speaking with me today. As you know, my organization, Mathematica Policy Research is conducting the Assessing the Implementation and Cost of High Quality Early Care and Education (ECE-ICHQ) study, funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families. The focus of this study is on understanding how programs support quality early care and education and how much it costs to do so.
As part of the ECE-ICHQ study, the study team is conducting on-site visits to a variety of centers. A critical component of these on-site visits are the focus groups and interviews, which will be used to gather feedback from key staff on the data collection tools and methods so they can be further refined.
The purpose of this interview is to gather your feedback on the center director SAQ, a document that we sent to you a few weeks ago for completion. This interview is not an assessment or monitoring effort. Your participation is voluntary and you may skip questions you do not want to answer. Information you provide will be treated in a private manner and we will not attribute specific comments to individual respondents. Your feedback will help us refine the Center Director SAW instrument and methodology so that we are able to collect the most useful data possible. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control number for this collection is 0970-0355 and it expires 03/31/2018. This interview data will only be used in combination with the feedback from other study participants; we will not identify a specific person, program, or state. If you do not feel comfortable answering a particular question, please let me know and we will move on to the next one.
This discussion should take about a half an hour. Do you have any questions before we begin?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the questionnaire.
About how long did it take you to complete? How much of that time was spent collecting the information you needed to respond to the questions?
Who was involved in completing the questionnaire?
Overall, were some sections easier or more difficult for you to complete? If so, which ones were easier or more difficult? Why?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Center Characteristics” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
What sources of information did you use to complete this section? Existing records? Discussions with other staff?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Enrollment” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
What sources of information did you use to complete this section? Existing records? Discussions with other staff?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Schedule” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
What sources of information did you use to complete this section? Existing records? Discussions with other staff?
Were the response options appropriate for your center? Is there information pertaining to schedule that you found difficult to convey given the response options provided?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Accreditation” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
What sources of information did you use to complete this section? Existing records? Discussions with other staff?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Care Provided” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
What sources of information did you use to complete this section? Existing records? Discussions with other staff?
How did you complete the table in E2 pertaining to number and ages of children in each classroom, current enrollment, and capacity?
If there are differences between your center’s licensed capacity and the number of children you are currently willing and/or able to serve, what is the reason for the disparity?
How did you complete the table in E3 pertaining to staffing patterns and group sizes and staffing patterns throughout the day in each classroom? What sources of information did you use?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Staffing” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
What sources of information did you use to complete this section? Existing records? Discussions with other staff?
Do the staff titles in F1 align with those you use in your center?
If not, what titles do you use?
Are there positions in your center that are not represented?
Are any of the staff you listed shared with a larger organization? Which staff?
For staff that do not work full-time, describe their work schedule.
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Instruction and Child Assessment” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
Were the response options appropriate for your center? Is there information pertaining to instruction and child assessment that you found difficult to convey given the response options provided?
What sources of information did you use to complete this section? Existing records? Discussions with other staff?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Program Administration” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
Were the response options appropriate for your center? Is there information pertaining to program administration that you found difficult to convey given the response options provided?
What sources of information did you use to complete this section? Existing records? Discussions with other staff?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Additional Services” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
Were the response options appropriate for your center? Is there information pertaining to additional services that you found difficult to convey given the response options provided?
What sources of information did you use to complete this section? Existing records? Discussions with other staff?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Information Systems and Use of Technology” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
Were the response options appropriate for your center? Is there information pertaining to information systems and use of technology that you found difficult to convey given the response options provided?
What sources of information did you use to complete this section? Existing records? Discussions with other staff?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Staff Orientation and Training” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
Were the response options appropriate for your center? Is there information pertaining to staff orientation and training that you found difficult to convey given the response options provided?
What sources of information (e.g. existing records, discussions with other staff) did you use to complete this section? Was this information readily available to you? About how long did it take to complete this section?
How did you decide which topic was covered by each activity?
Did the topic categories capture the kinds of trainings funded by your center?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Professional Activities” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
Were the response options appropriate for your center? Is there information pertaining to professional activities that you found difficult to convey given the response options provided?
What sources of information did you use to complete this section? Existing records? Discussions with other staff?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Coaching and Technical Assistance” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
Were the response options appropriate for your center? Is there information pertaining to coaching and technical assistance that you found difficult to convey given the response options provided?
What sources of information did you use to complete this section? Existing records? Discussions with other staff?
Please tell me about your overall experience completing the “Workforce Development” section.
Was the phrasing of items in this section clear and easy to understand? Please let me know if any questions were not clear to you, or did not seem relevant to you.
Were the response options appropriate for your center? Is there information pertaining to workforce development that you found difficult to convey given the response options provided?
What sources of information did you use to complete this section? Existing records? Discussions with other staff?
Thank you for taking the time to meet with us.
We appreciate all of your feedback.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | Attachment E: Cost Interview Protocol |
| Subject | Attachment |
| Author | Mathematica Staff |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-24 |