Staffing Structure and Leadership Positions (SSLP) Interview Guide

INSTRUMENT 4

Staffing Structure and Leadership Positions (SSLP) Interview Guide

This page has been left blank for double-sided copying.

Early Care and Education Leadership Study (ExCELS)

Staffing Structure and Leadership Positions (SSLP)
Interview Guide

Introduction

Thank you for agreeing to participate in the Early Care and Education Leadership Study (also known as ExCELS) and speaking with me today. This interview will collect information on the staff at your center who have some management, oversight, or supervisory roles, and on your center’s teaching staff. We expect this interview to take about 30 minutes to complete.

Before we begin the interview, I want to provide you with some guidance for answering the questions:

• For today’s conversation, we are interested in understanding the number and roles of various staff who work in your center’s physical location, even if they spend some time working at other centers or locations.

• For the purpose of this study, we are only interested in staff who have paid positions, not volunteers. This could include contracted staff or service members from organizations like Teach for America or AmeriCorps who are paid to fulfill any of the roles we talk about.

• We are only interested in the staff who work with or support activities for children whose ages range from birth to age 5 and not yet in kindergarten. Do not include staff who focus only on kindergarten, school-aged child care, or summer camps for older children.

• Please only mention each staff person once. Even if a staff member does two different jobs, we’ll list them in their primary role.

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 who you are or identify your center or its staff. We have a certificate of confidentiality from the National Institutes of Health. It helps us protect your privacy. This means no one can force the study team to give out information that identifies you, 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 itself. We will share some of the data the study collects with qualified individuals for research purposes. Nothing we share will identify people or specific centers. If you have questions about ExCELS, please contact Annalee Kelly, the survey director, at [STUDY PHONE] or by email at [STUDY EMAIL].

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.”

Do you have any questions before we begin?

[INTERVIEWER NOTES APPEAR IN ALL CAPS AND IN BRACKETS. DO NOT READ THIS TEXT OUT LOUD TO THE RESPONDENT. WRITE RESPONSES IN RED TEXT.]

A. Center management, oversight, or supervision

To begin, we would like to collect information on the staff who have some management, oversight, or supervisory roles at your center.

As we go through this first set of questions, do not include teaching staff who may supervise other teaching staff if their primary responsibilities are teaching in the classroom and they do not have oversight over other center activities. We will discuss teaching staff in the next section.

A1. Can you please list each staff position currently working at your center that is involved with management, oversight, or supervision, by job title?

[WRITE EACH POSITION TITLE IN TABLE I, COLUMN A. THEN, GO THROUGH EACH POSITION MENTIONED AND ASK QUESTION A2 BELOW.]

A2. How many staff have this position?

[WRITE THIS NUMBER IN TABLE I, COLUMN B FOR THE CORRESPONDING POSITION.]

TABLE I. STAFF POSITIONS WITH OVERSIGHT OR SUPERVISION

A1. JOB TITLE	A2. # OF STAFF IN POSITION
A	B
[EXAMPLE 1: Center director]	[01]
[EXAMPLE 2: Assistant center director]	[02]
	|__|__|
	|__|__|
	|__|__|
	|__|__|
	|__|__|
	|__|__|
	|__|__|
[ENTER TOTAL NUMBER OF STAFF IN POSITIONS WITH OVERSIGHT OR SUPERVISION ON THE RIGHT.]	|__|__|__|

[YOU WILL NEED TO BREAK DOWN THE JOB TITLES PROVIDED IN A1 INTO THE NUMBER OF STAFF MEMBERS FROM A2 TO OBTAIN THE SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES FOR DISTINCT STAFF. TO DO THIS YOU MAY NEED TO ASK ABOUT EACH INDIVIDUAL JOB TITLE MULTIPLE TIMES, DEPENDING UPON HOW MANY STAFF HOLD THAT TITLE.]

Next, I’d like to ask about the responsibilities of the individual staff who work in the positions you just listed.

We want to understand the types of responsibilities around the management or oversight of center operations, educational programs, center finances, human resources, family or special services, and other areas such as marketing and enrollment or information technology. We are also interested in responsibilities related to direct supervision of teaching staff.

A3. You mentioned that your center has [NUMBER OF STAFF IN POSITION] [JOB TITLE]. What are the responsibilities of [THE/the first/the second/etc.] [JOB TITLE]?

[COPY STAFF COLLECTED AT A1 IN TABLE II, COLUMN A. IF A JOB TITLE IS HELD BY MORE THAN ONE PERSON, LIST EACH STAFF PERSON INDIVIDUALLY AND IDENTIFY THEM BY A NUMBER AT THE END. SEE EXAMPLE BELOW.

[AS RESPONDENT DESCRIBES THE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR EACH STAFF MEMBER, ENTER THE RESPONSIBILITIES/POSITION DESCRIPTION IN COLUMN B.

TABLE II. RESPONSIBILITIES OF STAFF LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN THE CENTER-VERBATIMS

A1. JOB TITLE	A3. DESCRIPTION OF POSITION
A	B
[EXAMPLE1: Center director]
[EXAMPLE 2: Assistant center director_1]
[EXAMPLE 2: Assistant center director_2]

[FILL OUT TABLE III. USE THE VERBATIMS COLLECTED IN TABLE II TO SELECT ALL RESPONSIBILITIES THAT APPLY PER STAFF MEMBER IN COLUMNS B TO H. USE THE DEFINITIONS BELOW TO HELP YOU IDENTIFY THE CORRECT COLUMN TO SELECT FOR EACH STAFF MEMBER.]

COLUMN DEFINITIONS:

• COLUMN B: Management or oversight of center operations includes overall oversight and management of the day-to-day operations of the program as well as planning and managing staff and resources to provide early care and education.

• COLUMN C: Management or oversight of the educational program includes managing the aspects of the center that specifically focus on child development, curriculum development, and instructional planning.

• COLUMN D: Management or oversight of center finances includes financial management, budgeting center resources, tracking expenses, managing grants and tuition payments, and managing payroll.

• COLUMN E: Management or oversight of human resources includes management or oversight of the professional development including mentoring/coaching, recruitment, selection, hiring, training, and evaluation of staff as well as the provision of benefits and supports to staff.

• COLUMN F: Management or oversight of family engagement, and family or special services includes the management, oversight, or supervisory responsibilities of nonacademic or noninstructional services for children, such as health screenings, therapeutic services, or mental health services, or the oversight of supports provided to families such as social services, adult education programs, or home visiting.

• COLUMN G: Other management or oversight roles include management, oversight, or supervisory responsibilities that are specific to aspects of the center’s operations in other areas, such as marketing and enrollment, community partnerships, nutrition programs and kitchen staff, or information technology.

• COLUMN H: Direct supervision of teaching staff includes supervisory responsibilities over any number of lead, head, or co-teachers and assistant teachers.

TABLE III. RESPONSIBILITIES OF STAFF LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN THE CENTER

	A3. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY PER ROW
A1. JOB TITLE	MANAGE OR OVERSEE CENTER OPERATIONS	MANAGE OR OVERSEE EDUCATION PROGRAM	MANAGE OR OVERSEE CENTER FINANCES	MANAGE OR OVERSEE HUMAN RESOURCES	MANAGE OR OVERSEE FAMILY OR SPECIAL SERVICES	OTHER MANAGEMENT OR OVERSIGHT (SPECIFY AREA)	DIRECT SUPERVISION OF TEACHING STAFF
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
[EXAMPLE1: Center director]	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
[EXAMPLE 2: Assistant center director_1]	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
[EXAMPLE 2: Assistant center director_2]	□	□	□	□	□	□ Marketing	□
	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
	□	□	□	□	□	□	□

B. Identifying specific center management, oversight, or supervision roles

Next, let’s discuss specific roles and staff who have some management, oversight, or supervisory responsibilities at your center. Some of these staff might be selected to complete the center manager survey, so I’d also like to collect their names and email addresses as we go along.

As we go through this next set of questions, do not include teaching staff who may supervise other teaching staff if their primary responsibilities are teaching in the classroom and they do not have oversight over other center activities. We will discuss teaching staff in the next section.

[THIS SECTION CAN GET REPETITIVE. WE WANT TO COLLECT THE NAME, TITLE, AND EMAIL ADDRESS FOR EACH DISTINCT STAFF MEMBER MENTIONED IN SECTION B. THE SAME PERSON MIGHT BE MENTIONED MULTIPLE TIMES IN SECTION B. IF THAT IS THE CASE, ONLY ASK FOR THE PERSON’S TITLE AND EMAIL ONCE. ENTER ALL INFORMATION IN TABLE IV.]

B1. Does your center have one person in the building who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis?

[IF YES, ASK FOR THE PERSON’S NAME, TITLE, AND EMAIL ADDRESS.]

B2. [ASK IF B1 = YES.] When this person who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis is not there for the day, who in the building serves in that role?

[ASK FOR THE PERSON’S NAME, TITLE, AND EMAIL ADDRESS.]

B3. [ASK IF B1 = NO.] Does your center have more than one person in the building who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis?

[IF YES, ASK FOR THEIR NAMES, TITLES, AND EMAIL ADDRESSES.]

B4. Does your center have someone in another location who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis?

[IF YES, ASK FOR THE PERSON’S NAME, TITLE, EMAIL ADDRESS, LOCATION, AND HOURS PER WEEK SPENT AT THE CENTER.]

[BEFORE ASKING B5, REVIEW SECTION A TABLE I. IF IT IS CLEAR IN SECTION A THAT THERE IS ONE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR MANAGEMENT OR OVERSIGHT OF THE EDUCATION PROGRAM, THEN FRAME THE QUESTION BELOW AS CONFIRMING THE TITLE ALREADY COLLECTED AND COLLECTING THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.]

B5. Does your center have a dedicated position or positions in charge of the educational programs or curriculum?

[IF YES, ASK FOR NAME, TITLE, EMAIL ADDRESS, LOCATION (IN BUILDING OR ANOTHER LOCATION), AND HOURS PER WEEK SPENT AT CENTER.]

[BEFORE ASKING B6, REVIEW SECTION A TABLE III. FOR EACH POSITION WITH A CHECKMARK IN COLUMN D, E, OR F IN TABLE III AND NOT ALREADY MENTIONED, ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTION FOR THE APPLICABLE POSITION(S).]

B6. You mentioned your center has [a position/positions] that manages or oversees [center finances/human resources/family or special services]. Can I also have some additional information about them?

[ASK FOR NAME, TITLE, EMAIL ADDRESS, LOCATION (IN BUILDING OR ANOTHER LOCATION), AND HOURS PER WEEK SPENT AT THE CENTER.]

Table IV. Center management, oversight, and supervision roles

WHAT IS THE NAME, TITLE, AND EMAIL ADDRESS OF THIS STAFF MEMBER?			WHAT IS THE LOCATION THAT THIS STAFF MEMBER WORKS FROM?	APPROXIMATELY HOW MANY HOURS PER WEEK DO THEY SPEND AT YOUR CENTER? AN ESTIMATE IS FINE.
NAME	TITLE	EMAIL ADDRESS
A	B	C	D	E
B1. Does your center have one person in the building who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis?
			NA	NA
B2. When this person who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis is not present for the day, who serves in that role?
			NA	NA
B3. Does your center have more than one person in the building who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis?
			NA	NA
			NA	NA
			NA	NA
B4. Does your center have someone in another location who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis?
B5. Does your center have a dedicated position or positions in charge of the educational programs or curriculum?
B6. Information for center staff who manage or oversee center finances/human resources/family or special services (if applicable)

C. Teaching staff

Now, we are going to ask some questions about your teaching staff, including lead, head, or co-teachers and assistant teachers. If you have other classroom staff positions such as teaching aides or floaters, we will discuss them separately in the next section.

As a reminder, we are only interested in teaching staff who have paid positions and who work with or support activities for children whose ages range from birth to age 5 and not yet in kindergarten. Do not include staff who focus only on kindergarten, school-aged child care, or summer camps for older children.

First, I’ll ask you a few questions about lead, head, or co-teachers, and then we’ll discuss your center’s assistant teachers.

C1a. How many staff are lead, head, or co-teachers? Include teachers who are regularly in charge of a group or classroom of children.

[ENTER NUMBER INTO TABLE V, COLUMN B.]

C1b. How many lead, head, or co-teachers are responsible for the direct supervision of other teaching staff within their own classroom? Some of them may also have supervision across two or more classrooms.

[ENTER NUMBER INTO TABLE V, COLUMN C.]

C1c. How many lead, head, or co-teachers are responsible for the direct supervision of other teaching staff across two or more classrooms? Some of them may also have supervision within their own classrooms.

[ENTER NUMBER INTO TABLE V, COLUMN D.]

C1d. How many lead, head, or co-teachers are responsible for the direct supervision of other teaching staff both within their own classrooms and across two or more classrooms?

[ENTER NUMBER INTO TABLE V, COLUMN E.]

[INTERVIEWER: TEACHERS CAN BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DIRECT SUPERVISION OF OTHER TEACHING STAFF WITHIN A CLASSROOM (COLUMN C) AND/OR ACROSS CLASSROOMS (COLUMN D). THESE ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.]

TABLE V. LEAD, HEAD, OR CO-TEACHERS AND THEIR SUPERVISORY ROLES

	C1a. # OF STAFF IN POSITION	C1b. DIRECT SUPERVISION OF OTHER TEACHING STAFF WITHIN THEIR OWN CLASSROOM	C1c. DIRECT SUPERVISION OF OTHER TEACHING STAFF ACROSS TWO OR MORE CLASSROOMS	C1d. DIRECT SUPERVISION OF OTHER TEACHING STAFF WITHIN THEIR OWN CLASSROOMS AND ACROSS TWO OR MORE CLASSROOMS
A	B	C	D	E
Lead, head, or co-teacher	|__|__|	|__|__|	|__|__|	|__|__|

C1e. What are the job titles for the positions of lead, head, or co-teachers in your center? For example, head teacher, teacher, preschool lead teacher. [ENTER THE JOB TITLES BELOW.]

1.

2.

3.

4.

C1f. Since September 2021, how many lead, head, or co-teachers left? |___|___|

Now, we are going to ask some questions about the assistant teachers within your center.

C2a. How many staff are assistant teachers? Include assistant teachers who are regularly assigned to a particular room but who work under the supervision of a lead, head, or co-teacher. They may or may not lead certain activities (such as art projects or story time) but do not have sole responsibility for the classroom.

[ENTER NUMBER INTO TABLE VI, COLUMN B. IF 0, SKIP TO SECTION D.]

C2b. How many assistant teachers are responsible for the direct supervision of other teaching staff within their own classroom? Some of them may also have supervision across two or more classrooms.

[ENTER NUMBER INTO TABLE VI, COLUMN C.]

C2c. How many assistant teachers are responsible for the direct supervision of other teaching staff across two or more classrooms? Some of them may also have supervision within their own classrooms.

[ENTER NUMBER INTO TABLE VI, COLUMN D.]

C2d. How many assistant teachers are responsible for the direct supervision of other teaching staff both within their own classrooms and across two or more classrooms?

[ENTER NUMBER INTO TABLE VI, COLUMN E.]

TABLE VI. ASSISTANT TEACHERS AND THEIR SUPERVISORY ROLES

	C2a. # OF STAFF IN POSITION	C2b. DIRECT SUPERVISION OF OTHER TEACHING STAFF WITHIN THEIR OWN CLASSROOM	C2c. DIRECT SUPERVISION OF OTHER TEACHING STAFF ACROSS TWO OR MORE CLASSROOMS	C2d. DIRECT SUPERVISION OF OTHER TEACHING STAFF WITHIN THEIR OWN CLASSROOMS AND ACROSS TWO OR MORE CLASSROOMS
A	B	C	D	E
Assistant teachers	|__|__|	|__|__|	|__|__|	|__|__|

C2e. What are the job titles for the positions of assistant teachers in your center?

[ENTER THE JOB TITLES BELOW.]

1.

2.

3.

4.

C2f. Since September 2021, how many assistant teachers left? |___|___|

D. Other teaching, special services, and support services staff

In previous sections, we talked about staff that have management, oversight, or supervisory roles and teaching staff. In this section, we would like to know about other staff that have not been mentioned yet, including staff in other teaching, special services, and support services positions.

These staff may include aides or floaters, staff who provide support to teaching staff, staff who provide specialized services to children, staff who provide support services to families, and staff who support the center’s operations.

Again, we are only interested in staff who have paid positions and who work with or support activities for children whose ages range from birth to age 5 and not yet in kindergarten. Count each staff member only once in the position or role that best reflects their primary role.

[FOR THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS (D1 TO D8), WRITE THE NUMBER OF STAFF IN EACH ROLE IN TABLE VII, COLUMN B.]

D1. How many staff are aides? Include staff who are regularly assigned to a particular room but who work under the supervision of a lead teacher or assistant teacher. They help prepare activities and assist with activities but do not have sole responsibility for activities or the classroom.

D2. How many staff are floaters? Include staff who are not regularly assigned to a particular room and who fill in as necessary to help meet adult-to-child ratios.

D3. How many staff provide instructional support to teaching staff? Include staff who provide support to teachers to improve instructional practice such as coaches or mentors.

D4. How many staff provide specialized services to children? Include staff who provide health screenings, therapeutic services, mental health services, or any nonacademic or noninstructional services to children.

D5. How many staff provide support services to families? Include staff who provide supports that occur outside of instruction and caregiving, such as social services, adult education programs, or home visiting.

D6. How many staff support the center’s operations? Include staff who work in the building and hold responsibilities related to front office support, food service, transportation, maintenance, and laundry as well as others who support the center’s infrastructure.

D7a. Are there any other staff at your center who work with or support activities for children whose ages range from birth to age 5 and who have not been included thus far?

D7b. Can you provide a brief description of this role(s)?

[WRITE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ROLE(S) IN TABLE VII.]

D7c. How many staff have this role(s)?

D8. Switching gears, how many staff focus only on the instruction and care for children in kindergarten or school-aged child care? Please do not include staff who work only to provide summer camps or programs.

TABLE VII. OTHER TEACHING, SPECIAL SERVICES, AND SUPPORT SERVICES STAFF

ROLE	# OF STAFF IN POSITION
A	B
D1. Aides	|__|__|
D2. Floaters	|__|__|
D3. Staff who provide instructional support to teaching staff	|__|__|
D4. Staff who provide specialized services to children	|__|__|
D5. Staff who provide support services to families	|__|__|
D6. Operations support staff	|__|__|
D7. Other staff who work with or support activities for children whose ages range from birth to age 5 (Specify) [WRITE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ROLE(S) BELOW.]	|__|__|
D8. Other staff who focus only on instruction and care for children in kindergarten or school-aged child care	|__|__|

Conclusion

That concludes our discussion for today. Do you have any questions?

Next, we will invite you [FOR MEDIUM OR LARGE CENTERS: and two or three of your staff with management, oversight, or supervisory roles] to complete the center manger survey. You will receive the email invitation within the next week. Please let me know if you have any trouble accessing the survey on the web.

We will send the invitation email through our study email address [EMAIL]. Sometimes our emails get blocked or are sent to junk folders. Please let me know if you don’t receive your invitation in the next week.

We would also like to start preparing to invite your teaching staff to complete their survey. I’d like to collect a list of your teaching staff, that is, lead, head, or co-teachers and assistant teachers.

Similar to the information we collected today about your staff with management, oversight, and supervisory roles, we would like the names, titles, classroom names, and email addresses for your teaching staff. Please do not email me this information. The best way to collect this information to protect your staff’s privacy is by phone or by uploading the list to our secure Box site. I will follow up on today’s call via email with next steps.

That’s all we have to discuss today. Do you have any final questions?

Thank you again for your time!