Q-CCITT OMB APE-Recruiting Materials_FINAL

Appendix E

Recruiting Materials

Fact Sheet for the Quality of Caregiver-Child Interaction for Infants and Toddlers (Q-CCIIT) Project

Who is conducting the project?	Mathematica Policy Research, an independent research organization, will conduct the project. Mathematica has conducted social policy research for more than 40 years and has frequently conducted research in early childhood programs.
Why is the project being conducted?	Mathematica Policy Research is developing a new observation tool to understand the ways caregivers interact with infants and toddlers in center-based and family child care. The project is sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Where will the project take place?	The project will involve observing over 400 child care classrooms (in both centers and family child care settings) for children between birth and 36 months of age across the U.S.
Who will be visiting the child care settings?	One or two observers will visit each selected child care setting. The observations will be conducted by professionals who have received training in assessing interactions in early childhood settings. Some observers will be bilingual in English and Spanish to visit classrooms or family child care homes where Spanish is spoken.
What information is collected?	The project will collect information on caregiver-child interaction through child care observations. The purpose is to test the new observation tool and demonstrate if it can reliably and validly collect information (that is, measure what it is supposed to measure across people and time). Caregivers may be asked to complete questionnaires about themselves, and parents may be asked to complete questionnaires about their children’s development and their families. All participation is voluntary, and all the information we collect will be used for research and educational purposes only. Information will only be reported for groups, not individual people, classrooms, or programs. Any information from this project will be confidential to the extent permitted by law.
Whom can I contact for more information?	Contact Shannon Monahan, the survey director, at Mathematica Policy Research, 609-275-2207, smonahan@mathematica-mpr.com

CHILD CARE PROVIDER RECRUITMENT LETTER

Shannon Monahan

Survey Director

P.O. Box 2393

Princeton, NJ 08543-2393

Telephone (609) 799-3535

Fax (609) 799-0005

www.mathematica-mpr.com

DATE

Dear Child Care Provider:

Your child care setting is one of [NUMBER] selected to be part of an important project. The purpose of this project is to develop an observation tool to learn more about caregivers’ relationships with infants and toddlers. The Quality of Caregiver-Child Interactions for Infants and Toddlers (Q-CCIIT) project is sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, an independent research organization. Your participation in the Q-CCIIT project will help us develop this observation tool. When the tool is finished, it can help early childhood professionals and researchers better understand how caregivers and young children interact in child care settings. This understanding could help improve child care services for children in the future.

As part of this project, observers will visit volunteer classrooms. We want to observe [IF VIDEORECORDING and video record] a classroom at your setting for three hours in the morning sometime between [DATE] and [DATE]. We would like to see a typical day, and you and the children do not need to change your routine. We will provide a $25 gift card in appreciation for each caregiver in an observed classroom (to include his or her completion of a short questionnaire). [We are also asking parents of children in observed classrooms to complete a questionnaire about their child’s development, and parents would receive a $25 gift card.]

Your participation in this project is completely voluntary. [IF VIDEORECORDING We will ask caregivers and parents for written permission to video record. If a parent does not give us permission, we will place the camera so the child is not included in the frame, or we will use later edit the child from the video.] The information. we get from the observations will be used for research and educational purposes to make the observation tool better and to teach observers how to use the tool. All information from this project will be confidential to the extent permitted by law. Information will not be shared with the program. Individuals in observed classrooms will not be identified by name in any published reports. We will also maintain confidentiality of the data and can provide verification of the types of background checks that our observers undergo. All of the project results will be reported for groups of caregivers and children; no results will be reported for individual people, classrooms, or programs.

A Q-CCIIT site coordinator will call your setting within a week to discuss the project and your interest in participating. The purpose of the call is to answer any questions you may have about the project, and to determine your setting’s eligibility to participate (based on the ages of children you serve). When you agree to participate, the Q‑CCIIT site coordinator will also collect general information about your center or family child care setting, such as the number of caregivers, their job titles, and the ages of children in eligible classrooms. In order to make this conversation as efficient as possible, we will ask that you pick a person who can serve as a liaison between Mathematica, your setting, and the families. The SPP will receive a $25 gift card to purchase materials for your setting as a thank you for his/her help.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, either via e-mail at SMonahan@mathematica-mpr.com or by phone at 609-275-2207. For more information on Mathematica, please visit our website at www.mathematica-mpr.com. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

CHILD CARE PROVIDER NOTIFICATION LETTER

Shannon Monahan

Survey Director

P .O. Box 2393

Princeton, NJ 08543-2393

Telephone (609) 799-3535

Fax (609) 799-0005

www.mathematica-mpr.com

DATE

Dear Child Care Provider:

Your classroom or child care setting has been selected to be part of an important project. The purpose of this project is to develop an observation tool to learn more about caregivers’ relationships with infants and toddlers. The Quality of Caregiver-Child Interactions for Infants and Toddlers (Q-CCIIT) project is sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, an independent research organization. Your participation in the Q-CCIIT project will help us develop this observation tool. When the tool is finished, it can help early childhood professionals and researchers better understand how caregivers and young children interact in child care settings. This understanding could help improve child care services for children in the future.

As part of this project, observers will visit volunteer classrooms. We would like to observe [IF VIDEORECORDING and video record] your classroom for three hours on a morning sometime between [DATE] and [DATE]. We would like to see a typical day, and you and the children do not need to change your routine. In addition to classroom observations, we will ask you to complete a short questionnaire about your background and experiences. This questionnaire will take about [#] minutes to complete. We will give your child care setting a $25 gift card to thank you for your help.

Your participation in this project is completely voluntary. [IF VIDEORECORDING Please complete the enclosed form to let us know whether you agree or not to be video recorded. We will also ask parents for written permission to video record their child. If a parent does not give us permission, we will place the camera so the child is not included in the frame, or we will later edit the child from the video.] The information we get from the observations will be used for research and educational purposes to make the observation tool better and to teach observers how to use the tool. All information from this project will be confidential to the extent permitted by law. Information will not be shared with the program. You and others in your classroom will not be identified by name in any published reports. All of the project results will be reported for groups of caregivers and children; no results will be reported for individual people, classrooms, or programs.

If you have any questions, please contact me by email at SMonahan@mathematica-mpr.com or by phone at 609-275-2207. If you have any questions about your rights as a research volunteer, please call Melissia Billarrial from the Institutional Review Board at Public/Private Ventures, toll free at 1-800-757-4778. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Q -CCIIT PROJECT: CHILD CARE PROVIDER CONSENT FORM

[DATE]

Dear Child Care Provider:

Mathematica Policy Research is conducting the Quality of Caregiver-Child Interactions for Infants and Toddlers (Q‑CCIIT) project. The purpose of the project is to develop a new observation tool to help us learn how caregivers interact with infants and toddlers. Your child care setting is helping us try out this new tool. We are asking you to help also.

If you participate in the project, one or two observers will come to your child care setting and conduct a three-hour observation of a typical day. They will observe classrooms or family child care settings with children between birth and 36 months of age. They will take notes and video record what they see. You do not need to do anything special—what usually happens is of interest to us. These video recordings will be used for research and educational purposes only. You would not receive any proceeds for the use of these video-recordings. While the images, voices, and possibly part of your name may be on the video-recording, no identifying information (such as full name) will be connected to this recording. To show our appreciation for your help with the project, we will give your child care setting a $25 gift card.

We ask for your permission to use your classroom in these observations and video recordings. Your participation is completely voluntary and there are no known risks to you if you participate. Any information collected for this project will be confidential, to the extent permitted by law; we will use a number, not your name, on the observation forms. Information will not be shared with your child care center. You and others in your classroom will not be identified by name in any published reports. We will ask parents for written permission to video record their child. If a parent does not give us permission, we will place the camera so the child is not included in the frame, or we will later edit the child from the video.

Please complete and return this form to SETTING POINT PERSON by DATE.

If you have any questions about this project and your participation, please contact Shannon Monahan, by email at SMonahan@mathematica-mpr.com or by phone at 609-275-2207. If you have any questions about your rights as a research volunteer, please call Melissia Billarrial of the Institutional Review Board at Public/Private Ventures, toll free at 1-800-757-4778. We sincerely thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

 YES, I give my permission to have my classroom take part in the observation and video recording. I have read this consent form and understand what I am being asked to do. I agree that Q-CCIIT observers may visit my classroom or family child care and that the visit will be video recorded. I understand this video recording may be used for research and educational purposes and give permission for its use. I will receive no proceeds or compensation for the use of the video-recording for these research or educational purposes or for the observation tool’s future revisions, editions, translations, adaptations, and other formats. I may withdraw this consent at any time.

OR

 NO, I do not give permission to have my classroom take part in the observation and video recording.

_______________________________________ ____________________

Child Care Provider Signature Date

_______________________________________

Child Care Provider Name (please print)

PARENT NOTIFICATION LETTER

Shannon Monahan

Survey Director

P.O. Box 2393

Princeton, NJ 08543-2393

Telephone (609) 799-3535

Fax (609) 799-0005

www.mathematica-mpr.com

DATE

Dear Parent/Guardian:

Your child is attending a child care setting that has been selected to be part of an important project. The purpose of this project is to develop an observation tool to learn more about caregivers’ relationships with infants and toddlers. The Quality of Caregiver-Child Interactions for Infants and Toddlers (Q-CCIIT) project is sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, an independent research organization. Your participation in the Q-CCIIT project will help us develop this observation tool. When the tool is finished, it can help early childhood professionals and researchers better understand how caregivers and young children interact in child care settings. This understanding could help improve child care services for children in the future.

As part of this project, observers will be visiting volunteer classrooms. We would like to observe [IF VIDEO-RECORDING and video record] your child’s classroom for three hours on a morning sometime between [DATE] and [DATE]. Because we would like to see a typical day, the caregiver and children do not need to change their routines. In addition to the classroom observations, we will ask you to complete a questionnaire about your child’s development and your family. This questionnaire will take about [#] minutes to complete. We will give you a $25 gift card to thank you for your help. [We may contact you by mail again in about 6 months to ask that you complete another questionnaire. You would receive another $25 gift card at that time.]

Your participation in this project is completely voluntary. [IF VIDEO RECORDING Please complete the enclosed form to let us know whether or not you agree to let us video record your child. If you do not give us permission, we will place the camera so your child is not included in the frame, or we will later edit your child from the video.] The information we get from the observations will be used for research and educational purposes to make the observation tool better and to teach observers how to use the tool. All information from this project will be confidential to the extent permitted by law. You, your child, and people in your child’s classroom will not be identified by name in any published reports. All of the project results will be reported for groups of caregivers and children; no results will be reported for individual people, classrooms, or programs.

If you have any questions, please contact me by email at SMonahan@mathematica-mpr.com, or by phone at 609-275-2207. If you have any questions about your rights as a research volunteer, please call Melissia Billarrial from the Institutional Review Board at Public/Private Ventures, toll free at 1-800-757-4778. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Q-CCIIT PROJECT: CHILD CARE OBSERVATION CONSENT FORM

[DATE]

Dear Parent/Guardian:

Mathematica Policy Research is conducting the Quality of Caregiver-Child Interactions for Infants and Toddlers (Q‑CCIIT) project. The purpose of the project is to develop a new observation tool to help us learn how caregivers interact with infants and toddlers. Your child’s child care setting is helping us try out this new tool. We are asking you to help also.

One or two observers will come to your child’s child care setting and conduct a three-hour observation of a typical day. They will observe classrooms or family child care settings with children between birth and 36 months of age. They will take notes and video record what they see. Caregivers and children do not need to do anything special—what usually happens is of interest to us. These video recordings will be used for research and educational purposes only. You would not receive any proceeds for the use of these video-recordings. While the images, voices, and possibly the first name of your child may be on the video-recording, no identifying information (such as full name) will be connected to this recording.

We ask for your permission to include your child in these video recordings. Your participation is completely voluntary and there are no known risks to you or your child if you participate. Any information collected for this project will be confidential, to the extent permitted by law; we will use numbers, not names, on the observation forms. The recordings will be used to collect information about how caregivers interact with children, not how the children are developing or growing. If you do not give us permission to video record your child, we will place the camera so that the child is not included in the frame, or we will later edit your child from the video.

Please complete this form and return it to your child’s child care provider by DATE.

If you have any questions about this project and your participation, please feel free to contact Shannon Monahan, the survey director, by email at SMonahan@mathematica-mpr.com or by phone at 609-275-2207. If you have any questions about your rights as a research volunteer, please call Melissia Billarrial of the Institutional Review Board at Public/Private Ventures, toll free at 1-800-757-4778. We sincerely thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

 YES, I give my permission to have my child take part in the observation and video recording. I have read this consent form and understand what I am being asked to do. I agree that Q-CCIIT observers may visit my child’s child care setting and include him/her in the video recording. I understand this video recording may be used for research and educational purposes and give permission for its use. I will receive no proceeds or compensation for the use of the video-recording for these research or educational purposes or for the observation tool’s future revisions, editions, translations, adaptations, and other formats. I may withdraw this consent at any time.

OR

 NO, I do not give permission to have my child take part in the video recording.

_____________________________________ _______________________________________

Your Child’s Name Child Care Provider Name

_____________________________________ ____________________

Parent/Guardian Signature Date

_____________________________________

Parent/Guardian Name (please print)

Q uality of Caregiver-Child Interactions for Infants and Toddlers FOCUS GROUP INTRODUCTION FOR PARENTS

Thank you very much for agreeing to participate in this discussion. Your participation is very important to the project. I’m ( ), and I work for Mathematica Policy Research, an independent research organization.

We are conducting a project for the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop a new observation tool to help practitioners and researchers understand the quality of child care settings. Today we want to talk to parents about what you see as important ways caregivers in child care settings interact with infants and toddlers to help them grow. There are no known risks associated with your participation in this research beyond those of everyday life. Any information we collect is confidential, to the extent permitted by law. Our report will describe the experiences and viewpoints expressed here, but we will not indicate who said something or which specific programs were discussed, and nobody will be quoted by name. We will use the information you provide us with to help improve the observational assessment we are developing. If you have any questions about this project and your participation, please contact Shannon Monahan, the survey director, at (609) 275-2207. If you have any questions about your rights as a research volunteer, please call Melissia Billarrial, a representative of the Institutional Review Board at Public/Private Ventures, toll free at 1-800-757-4778.

I am going to moderate the discussion. It is really important for everyone to speak up so we can have a lively and informative discussion. Here are just a few guidelines we would like to follow to help the session go smoothly.

We ask that you respect each other’s point of view. There are no right or wrong answers. You know best what your child needs—we want to learn from you.

It will be helpful if you speak one at a time, so everyone has a chance to talk.

We have many topics to cover during the discussion. At times, I may need to move the conversation along to be sure we cover everything.

We want you to know that being part of this discussion is up to you, and you can choose not to answer a question if you wish. Your participation is voluntary.

I would like to record our discussion so I can listen to it later when I write up my notes. No one besides our research team will listen to the recording. We also ask that you not repeat any of the discussion you’ve heard after you leave today.

If you want to say anything that you don’t want recorded, please let me know, and I will be glad to pause the recorder. Does anybody have any objections to being part of this focus group or to my recording our discussion?

The discussion will last about 2 hours, and we will not take any formal breaks. But please feel free to get up at any time if you need to. At the end, we will have a short questionnaire for you to fill out to give us information about yourself (such as your child’s age, your race or ethnicity, and the type of child care you use). This information will help us be sure we have a wide variety of views being shared. The questionnaire is voluntary, and you can choose not to answer particular questions on it. As a token of our appreciation for your participation today, you will receive a $25 gift card.

Once again, thank you for coming today. Are there any questions before we get started?

Quality of Caregiver-Child Interactions for Infants and Toddlers FOCUS GROUP INTRODUCTION FOR CHILD CARE PROVIDERS

Thank you very much for agreeing to participate in this discussion. Your participation is very important to the project. I’m ( ), and I work for Mathematica Policy Research, an independent research organization.

We are conducting a project for the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop a new observation tool to help practitioners and researchers understand the quality of child care settings. Today we want to talk to child care providers about what you see as important ways caregivers in child care settings interact with infants and toddlers to help them grow. There are no known risks associated with your participation in this research beyond those of everyday life. Any information we collect is confidential to the extent permitted by law. Our report will describe the experiences and viewpoints expressed here, but we will not indicate who said something or which specific programs were discussed, and nobody will be quoted by name. We will use the information you provide us with to help improve the observational assessment we are developing. If you have any questions about this project and your participation, please contact Shannon Monahan, the survey director, at (609) 275-2207. If you have any questions about your rights as a research volunteer, please call Melissia Billarrial, a representative of the Institutional Review Board at Public/Private Ventures, toll free at 1-800-757-4778.

I am going to moderate the discussion. It is really important for everyone to speak up so we can have a lively and informative discussion. Here are just a few guidelines we would like to follow to help the session go smoothly.

We ask that you respect each other’s point of view. There are no right or wrong answers. You are the experts—we want to learn from you.

It will be helpful if you speak one at a time, so everyone has a chance to talk.

We have many topics to cover during the discussion. At times, I may need to move the conversation along to be sure we cover everything.

We want you to know that being part of this discussion is up to you, and you can choose not to answer a question if you wish. Your participation is voluntary.

I would like to record our discussion so I can listen to it later when I write up my notes. No one besides our research team will listen to the recording. We also ask that you not repeat any of the discussion you’ve heard after you leave today.

If you want to say anything that you don’t want recorded, please let me know, and I will be glad to pause the recorder. Does anybody have any objections to being part of this focus group or to my recording our discussion?

The discussion will last about 2 hours, and we will not take any formal breaks. But please feel free to get up at any time if you need to. At the end, we will have a short questionnaire for you to fill out to give us information about yourself (such as the ages of children you care for, if you work at a center or in a home, and your race or ethnicity). This information will help us be sure we have a wide variety of views being shared. The questionnaire is voluntary, and you can choose not to answer particular questions on it. As a token of our appreciation for your participation today, you will receive a $25 gift card.

Once again, thank you for coming today. Are there any questions before we get started?

Q uality of Caregiver-Child Interactions for Infants and Toddlers FOCUS GROUP INTRODUCTION FOR TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDERS

Thank you very much for agreeing to participate in this discussion. Your participation is very important to the project. I’m ( ), and I work for Mathematica Policy Research, an independent research organization.

We are conducting a project for the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop a new observation tool to help practitioners and researchers understand the quality of child care settings. Today we want to talk to training and technical assistance providers about what you see as important ways caregivers in child care settings interact with infants and toddlers to help them grow. There are no known risks associated with your participation in this research beyond those of everyday life. Any information we collect is confidential to the extent permitted by law. Our report will describe the experiences and viewpoints expressed here, but we will not indicate who said something or which specific programs were discussed, and nobody will be quoted by name. We will use the information you provide us with to help improve the observational assessment we are developing. If you have any questions about this project and your participation, please contact Shannon Monahan, the survey director, at (609) 275-2207. If you have any questions about your rights as a research volunteer, please call Melissia Billarrial, a representative of the Institutional Review Board at Public/Private Ventures, toll free at 1-800-757-4778.

I am going to moderate the discussion. It is really important for everyone to speak up so we can have a lively and informative discussion. Here are just a few guidelines we would like to follow to help the session go smoothly.

We ask that you respect each other’s point of view. There are no right or wrong answers. You are the experts working with caregivers—we want to learn from you.

It will be helpful if you speak one at a time, so everyone has a chance to talk.

We have many topics to cover during the discussion. At times, I may need to move the conversation along to be sure we cover everything.

We want you to know that being part of this discussion is up to you, and you can choose not to answer a question if you wish. Your participation is voluntary.

I would like to record our discussion so I can listen to it later when I write up my notes. No one besides our research team will listen to the recording. We also ask that you not repeat any of the discussion you’ve heard after you leave today.

If you want to say anything that you don’t want recorded, please let me know, and I will be glad to pause the recorder. Does anybody have any objections to being part of this focus group or to my recording our discussion?

The discussion will last about 2 hours, and we will not take any formal breaks. But please feel free to get up at any time if you need to. At the end, we will have a short questionnaire for you to fill out to give us information about yourself (such as if you work with center- or home-based providers and your race or ethnicity). This information will help us be sure we have a wide variety of views being shared. The questionnaire is voluntary, and you can choose not to answer particular questions on it. As a token of our appreciation for your participation today, you will receive a $25 gift card.

Once again, thank you for coming today. Are there any questions before we get started?