Instrument 15_BSC Parent Focus Group Discussion Guide_v5.clean

 

Instrument 15: BSC Parent Focus Group Discussion Guide

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

 

Respondents	Time of Data Collection
BSC Team Parents	Midpoint (T2) Follow-up (T4)

 

Note: Respondents are parents who participated in the BSC. Specific questions and probes in this guide are illustrative; different questions or follow-up questions may be asked during a focus group depending on the nature and flow of participants’ responses. This 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 focus group is no more than 90 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 an hour and a half. We will ask you about your experiences participating in the BSC.

3. You will receive a $10 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 and you can leave the focus group at any time. Additionally, there is no direct benefit to participating in this discussion. 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, but because this is a group discussion, we cannot guarantee confidentiality. To respect the privacy of other participants, we ask you to please not repeat anything that is said during the discussion. This will also help everyone feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts and experiences with the group. 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. [For questions:] If you would like a copy of this information or have questions, please email us at ktout@childtrends.org or the IRB at irbparticipant@childtrends.org or by phone at 1-855-288-3506.

7. [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, ktout@childtrends.org or Child Trends, 708 N 1^st Suite #333 Minneapolis, MN 55401 Attention: Kathryn Tout

8. [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 0970-0XXX and the expiration date is XX/XX/XXXX.

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

Topic	Subtopic	Type of Respondent
BSC elements that were most helpful and most challenging to Parent BSC Team member	Types of BSC elements used	Core BSC Team members (Parents)
	Overall experience with each type of element
	Expectations for each BSC element at the beginning of the learning sessions
	Perceived changes over time in expectations for each BSC element
	Successes and challenges of the BSC to assess SEL needs and strengths; strategies to address SEL needs
	Extent to which the BSC addressed differences in perceived SEL needs among parents
	Lessons learned from each element
	General changes in SEL practices observed over time by the parent Specific examples of changes in SEL practices and impression of the associated outcomes
	Perception of program characteristics associated with patterns or levels of organizational change in terms of culture or practice
	Perceptions of similarities and differences of changes in practices, equity, and power dynamics across team members (e.g., administrative staff compared to classroom staff or program staff compared to parents)
Satisfaction/ Perception of BSC value	Decision to participate in the BSC Extent to which Parent Core BSC Team member felt included in the process Extent to which Parent Core BSC Team member felt that their needs for improving SEL practices were understood and met. In what way do parents feel they contributed their own expertise to the process? Perception of overall value of the BSC to the center as an improvement strategy	Core BSC Team members (Parents)
Spread & Sustainability	Perceptions of spread of QI practices throughout the center	Core BSC Team members (Parents)
	Perceptions of resources (financial and otherwise) believed to be necessary to keep this process going in the center