Instrument 14: BSC Teachers and Support Staff Focus Group Discussion Guide

Instrument 14: BSC Teachers and Support Staff Focus Group Discussion Guide

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

Respondents	Time of Data Collection
BSC Team Members – Teachers and Other Center Staff	Midpoint (T2) Follow-up (T4)

Note: Specific questions and probes in this guide are illustrative; different questions or follow-up questions may be asked during an interview depending on the nature and flow of participants’ responses. This interview 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 and the changes you’ve noticed in yourselves and in your center through your participation in the BSC.

3. You will receive a $50 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. Data files from the research component of this project may be stored in a trusted online location where they could be made available to other researchers who commit to keeping the data secure. Any personal information that could identify you will be removed before files are shared with other researchers. No research findings will include any personal information. This research is also covered by a Certificate of Confidentiality from the National Institutes of Health. This means that researchers cannot release or use information that may identify you in any way unless you say it is ok.

7. [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.

8. [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

9. [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 0970-0605 and the expiration date is 03/31/2026.

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

Topic	Subtopic	Type of Respondent
State and center-level factors that may have helped or hindered BSC participation	ECE center-level supports (I.e., paid protected time, supportive leadership in terms of PD opportunities, organizational culture of quality improvement and readiness for change) Areas where more support is needed at the ECE center-level State or regional factors (i.e., perception of state focus on quality improvement) Barriers to participation in the BSC that differ by role, identity or personal circumstances, and ways implementation staff and faculty can improve equitable access to BSC participation	Core BSC Team members – teachers and support staff
Participant goals, needs, and expectations of the BSC	Extent to which each staff member felt included in the process  Extent to which staff members felt that their needs for improving SEL practices were met  Clarity of the goals and expectations of the BSC Impression of personal- and center-level readiness to engage in a BSC Participant feelings of meaningful contribution Barriers to participation for staff members How BSC is meeting participant needs and expectations of QI training Reflections on ways the BSC may be adapted or modified to better address participants’ needs and expectations Flexibility of the BSC to address differing needs of participants Changes in participant’s expectations of the BSC over time Perception of shifting power dynamics and equity processes within BSC teams [as defined by the BSC implementation staff and faculty]	Core BSC Team members – teachers and support staff
How the BSC compares to other experiences of QI	Overall opinions of elements of the BSC Perception of accessibility, quality, and effectiveness of state and regional system QI and PD offerings compared to the BSC (especially other peer-learning opportunities) Similarities and differences to past experiences with QI experiences (especially other peer-learning opportunities) Areas in which the BSC methodology may fall short compared to other QI experiences (especially other peer-learning opportunities) Areas in which the BSC methodology excels compared to other QI experiences (especially other peer-learning opportunities) Perceptions of how the state/regional QI and PD systems can be improved and if there are aspects of the BSC that can fill this gap	Core BSC Team members – teachers and support staff
Cost	Estimation of the time it took participants to participate in the various BSC-related activities