Assessing the Implementation and Cost of High Quality Early Care and Education: Comparative Multi-Case Study, Phase 1

ATTACHMENT A

CENTER DIRECTOR TELEPHONE SCRIPT

ECE-ICHQ PHASE 1 center recruitment script

Goals of the call:

A. Introduce yourself

B. Describe the purpose of the study

C. Provide an overview of the study activities and invite director to participate

D. If director agrees to participate, collect additional information about the center

E. Summarize next steps

A. INTRODUCTION

Hello, my name is [RECRUITER’S NAME]. I am calling from Mathematica Policy Research about an early care and education study funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families.

May I please speak with [CENTER DIRECTOR]?

Hello Mr./Ms. [CENTER DIRECTOR’S LAST NAME], my name is [RECRUITER’S NAME] and I am calling from Mathematica Policy Research in regards to an early care and education study funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families.

We obtained your name from the [STATE] Department of Education OR the [STATE] Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) agency. Mathematica has been contracted by the Administration for Children and Families to conduct a project called “Assessing the Implementation and Cost of High Quality Early Care and Education,” an important study that will create an instrument to measure implementation and costs of providing services at the center level for early care and education programs serving children from birth to age 5. The study focuses on measuring what a program is doing to support quality and how much the program costs to operate. 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.

I am contacting you about participating in this study. I would like to give you a brief overview of the study, describe the components of the study, and answer any questions you have about the study.

I would like to take about 20 minutes to explain the study in greater detail. Is now a good time to talk?

[IF NOT A GOOD TIME TO TALK, MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK]

B. STUDY PURPOSE

We all agree that every child should have access to high quality care and education that teaches them the skills they will need to excel when they enter school. Such high quality care and education could be instrumental in closing the achievement gap for low-income, disadvantaged children.

This study is interested in learning about how centers choose to invest their resources to provide high quality care and education. We will be developing measures of activities and their associated costs at the center level. This information will be used to develop a tool that will assist centers, administrators, and policy makers in making decisions about how to make the most of their resources to support children’s healthy development.

C. OVERVIEW OF STUDY ACTIVITIES

This study will include questionnaires and an on-site visit to conduct small group discussions.

• This discussion is the first step to introduce the study, learn about the staffing structure and possibility of participation in the study, and schedule an on-site visit.

• Then, we will send you a paper questionnaire to collect information about center and community characteristics. We can use documents you provide to fill in some of this questionnaire for you before we send it. We will talk about potential documents later in this call.

• In addition, we will send the finance manager a cost workbook with questions on staff, non-labor, and overhead costs. We ask that both the center director questionnaire and cost workbook be completed prior to the scheduled on-site visit as much as possible.

The on-site visit will be conducted by a two-person team and will last approximately one and a half days.

• We will conduct interviews with the center director, education specialist, and finance manager to gather additional information as well as input on our data collection tools and methods to ensure they make sense to you.

• During the visit we will also ask directors, education specialists, and teaching staff to complete a paper time-use survey.

• The study team will be available to answer questions about the various questionnaires and offer assistance.

We greatly value your time and your staff’s time and will appreciate any help you can give us to complete this important study. We understand that participation will take up a valuable portion of your day and we will be flexible in working with you and your staff before, during, and after our on-site visits to accommodate your needs. We view this study as an important opportunity to build valuable partnerships with centers and staff. This partnership will help us develop the most effective research tools and methods possible, which will result in information that will be relevant and useful for everyone involved.

All of the information we collect will remain private and will be used only for research purposes. None of the information shared by participating centers will be associated with individual centers. As a token of our appreciation, participating centers will receive $100.

Do you have any questions about the study purpose or your center’s involvement?

Would you be willing to participate in this important study?

IF YES, CONTINUE TO SECTION D (QUESTIONS FOR CENTER DIRECTOR).

IF NEED ADDITIONAL TIME TO CONFIRM PARTICIPATION, CONTINUE BELOW.

IF NO, USE THE FOLLOWING PROBES TO UNDERSTAND THEIR HESITATION.

• Is the time involved or number of activities one of your concerns?

  • IF YES: Reiterate the study’s flexibility in scheduling a convenient time for all data collection activities.

• Do you have concerns about the study’s purpose? Do you have any additional questions about the study?

  • IF YES: Provide additional explanation about the study’s purpose, reiterate the need for a partnership with centers and how the research benefits them, and answer any questions they might have.

• Do you have any other concerns that I haven’t yet addressed?

THANK THE CENTER DIRECTOR FOR HIS/HER TIME.

SCHEDULE CALLBACK DAY AND TIME TO CHECK IN ABOUT POTENTIAL PARTICIPATION: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. When would be a good time for us to check in about your program’s participation in the study? [SCHEDULE DAY/TIME]. [DEPENDING ON THEIR PREFERRED METHOD OF RECEIPT, OBTAIN MAILING/EMAIL ADDRESS OR CONFIRM IF ALREADY ON FILE]. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at [PROVIDE PHONE NUMBER AND/OR EMAIL ADDRESS].

THANK THE DIRECTOR, END CALL, AND DOCUMENT DISCUSSION. IF THE CENTER AGREES DURING CALLBACK, CONTINUE.

D. QUESTIONS FOR CENTER DIRECTOR [PART 2[

Next, I want to collect some basic information about your center and the names and contact information of people in various positions who would complete questionnaires. This should take about 25 minutes of your time.

• CONFIRM CENTER DIRECTOR CONTACT INFORMATION: Would you mind confirming the following information about you and your center? I want to be sure I have the correct information and spelling for everything:

  • Center name, physical address, mailing address, phone number, fax number, email address

  • Center director name, mailing address (if different than center’s), phone number, fax number, email address

• CONFIRM CENTER CHARACTERISTICS: Now I would like to confirm some additional information about your center. This will help us as we move forward into the next steps of the study.

  • Does your center currently participate in a QRIS?

    • IF YES: What is the name of the QRIS and your current QRIS rating?

  • What are the ages of children served at your center?

  • Do you currently serve infants and toddlers?

  • How many classrooms do you have at the center?

  • What days of the week do you operate? Is it five days a week, four days a week, or some other schedule? [SOME CENTERS DO NOT HAVE CLASSES ON MONDAYS OR FRIDAYS].

  • What time does your program start and end each day?

  • Is your center part of a multi-site organization?

  • Is your center part of a larger organization?

  • Does your center receive Head Start funds?

    • Approximately what percentage of children in your center are funded by Head Start? [Probe: More than 50%?]

  • Does your center receive funding through [insert state-specific term for CCDF or TANF subsidies]?

    • Approximately what percentage of children in your center are funded by Head Start? [Probe: More than 50%?]

  • Have there been any major changes to your center’s operations or implementation in the last two years? [examples: added classrooms, adapted a new curriculum]

• CONFIRM STAFFING STRUCTURE AND CONTACT INFORMATION: Now I have just a few questions about the staffing structure at your center. As I indicated earlier, we would like to interview certain people at your center.

  • What is the name, title, and contact information of the person in charge of hiring?

  • Does your center have a finance manager or a person in charge of maintaining the financial records?

    • IF YES, what is his or her name, title, and contact information?

    • IF YES, does this person work on-site or at another address?

  • Does your center have an education specialist or someone filling a similar role?

    • IF YES, what is his or her name, title, and contact information?

    • IF YES, does this person work on-site or at another address?

  • We would like to get a list of all teachers or caregivers for children ages 0‑5 at your center to prepare the right number of surveys for our visit.

    • Would you be able to give me this list over the phone or send me a list of teachers after our call?

    • What is the total number of teachers or caregivers for children ages 0-5 at your center?

    • How many are lead teachers, assistant teachers, or any other type of teacher?

  • There are a few documents that we would like to receive to help us prepare for the visit, if they are available:

    • Do you have any written documents that describes current or future plans for this center or site? For example, documents that lay out plans for growth, that helps track progress or goals, or that discusses plan for improvements. These could include things like a strategic plan or quality improvement plan.

    • Do you have any written documents that you use to help make decisions at your site about the training and professional development needs of staff who work directly with children ages 0‑5? We are looking for things like descriptions of training that staff may receive or training plans, if you have them.

  • I would also like to identify a contact person for your center. We would like that person to work with the study team to plan our visit to your center. What is the name and information for a contact person if other than yourself?

E. NEXT STEPS

• I will send detailed information about the study in the next week and arrange a time to discuss remaining details with you or your designated contact person.

• In case I need to follow up with you for any reason, what is the easiest way to contact you—by phone or email? [CONFIRM THAT THIS PERSON IS THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE YOUR REGULAR CONTACT].

• Do you have any questions at this point? If questions or concerns come up, please feel free to contact me at [PHONE or E-MAIL ADDRESS].

Thank you for participating in this important study. We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to working with your center.