APE-Recruiting Materials11

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 the classroom. 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 60 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 a classroom at your setting for three hours in the morning sometime between January and March 2012.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).

Your participation in this project is completely voluntary. You or any of your caregivers may withdraw your consent and stop participating at any time without penalty. 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; 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. This person 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 your classroom for three hours on a morning sometime between January and March 2012. 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 15 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. You may withdraw your consent and stop participating at any time without penalty. 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; 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 1-800-755-4778. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

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. 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 your child’s classroom for three hours on a morning sometime between January and March 2012. 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 caregivers to complete a questionnaire about themselves and the classroom.

Your child's participation in this project is completely voluntary. You may withdraw your permission, and stop your child's participation in the study participating at any time, without penalty. Our observations do not focus on individual children, and we will not be collecting names of children in the classroom. 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. 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; 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 1-800-755-4778. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

C

AFFIX LABEL HERE

AREGIVER QUESTIONNAIRE CONSENT FORM

Quality of Caregiver-Child Interactions for Infants and Toddlers (Q-CCIIT) Project

Description of Study:

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. This questionnaire provides important background information about your classroom to make sure the new tool works across different settings. The project is sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Risks of Participating in this Study:

There are no known risks to participating in this study.

Benefits of Participating in this Study:

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.

Confidentiality:

Any information collected for this project will be confidential; we will use a number, not your name, on the questionnaire. Information will not be shared with your child care setting. 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.

Voluntary Nature of Study:

Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. You can withdraw consent and stop participating at any time without penalty.

Contacts:

You are provided with a copy of this form for your records. 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, x4482. We sincerely thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

To show our appreciation for your help with the project, we will send your child care setting a $25 gift card to distribute according to your setting’s policies.

By signing below, you agree that you understand the purpose of this study including, risks, benefits, confidentiality assurances, and that your participation is completely voluntary.

Signature

Date