Call script for On Site Coordinators

APPENDIX 15

Telephone script for ONSITE COORDINATORS

INTRODUCTION

My name is ___________________________. I am calling from Westat to talk about your center’s participation in the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Study (which we refer to as the MSHS Study). Westat is a partner to Abt Associates, which is the organization leading this study. Your center has agreed to participate in the study. I am calling to follow-up with you because in our conversation with your center director, [CENTER DIRECTOR NAME], [HE/SHE] nominated you to serve as the Onsite Coordinator (OSC) for the MSHS Study.

We recently forwarded you a letter that was sent to your center director indicating that the center was selected to be part of a study for the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We included a fact sheet with information about the study. Did you receive this letter/email about the study and other materials? And have you had a chance to go over them? [HAVE LETTER AVAILABLE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION IF PERSON IS NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE STUDY.]

Is this a good time to talk? I would like to describe the MSHS Study, answer any questions you may have about the study, discuss some logistics, and see if you are interested in being your center’s OSC. I would also like to explain more about how the study participants will be selected for the study.

[ALLOW TIME FOR QUESTIONS, RESPOND OR DEFER UNTIL LATER IN THE CALL WHEN THE TOPIC IS PRESENTED.]

Your participation today is voluntary. An agency may not conduct or sponsor a federal study and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control number for this information collection is xxxx-xxxx and it expires xx/xx/xxxx.

SITE VISIT PURPOSE AND BASIC ACTIVITIES

First, I would like to quickly review some of the details about the purpose and design of the study that we included in the letter and describe the activities that will take place when we visit centers. Please stop me at any time if you have questions.

• The purpose of the MSHS Study is to provide descriptive information about the characteristics of children and families who receive Migrant and Seasonal Head Start services and of the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs and centers that serve them.

• The information that comes from the MSHS Study will be used to identify strategies to improve MSHS services. Abt Associates will not judge or report on the performance of individual programs, staff, or children.

• We will conduct onsite study activities at selected centers. Onsite study activities will include interviews with parents, assessments with children participating in the study, teacher surveys, and classroom observations.

If you agree to participate, the MSHS team will visit your center between spring 2017 and spring 2018.

• During each visit, a small study team will spend about one week in your center. We will work with you and other center staff to identify a private place to conduct parent interviews and child assessments.

• We will work with an onsite coordinator and center staff to limit any disruption caused by our visit.

• We will administer child assessments to children in the study. The assessments measure a range of areas that are covered by the Head Start’s Child Development and Early Learning Framework. The assessments will be administered by members of our staff who have been specially trained to assess children for this study. Assessors will be bilingual in Spanish and English.

• We will also observe selected classrooms and ask teachers and assistant teachers in the classrooms selected to complete surveys. Each classroom that is observed will be given a $25 check. Teachers from selected classrooms will be asked to supplement this survey information by completing a brief report about the development of selected children in their classrooms. Teachers are expected to complete the survey and child reports on their own time and will receive a $30 check for their time completing the survey, and $5 for each child report. Assistant teachers will only be asked to complete the survey and will receive a $15 check for their time.

• During the onsite visit, we will also interview one parent of each child participating in the study. Parents will receive $30 cash for their time completing the interview. Also, children will be given a small gift worth $2. (IF NECESSARY, CLARIFY THAT BOTH PARENTS CAN ATTEND THE INTERVIEW, BUT ONLY ONE INCENTIVE IS PROVIDED PER FAMILY.)

• Centers that agree to participate in the onsite data collection will receive an honorarium of $250. [IF OSC IS ALLOWED AN HONORARIUM] You will also receive a $200 check as an honorarium following the completion of study activities at the center as a token of our appreciation for helping us.

Now, moving onto three other important points.

First, all information will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. All information collected during the course of the MSHS Study will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. All information collected will be shared in de-identified form with ACF and other authorized researchers Grantees/delegate agencies, centers, staff, and families will never be identified by name in any reports of the study's findings.

Second, field staff requirements include criminal background checks. To ensure the safety of our field staff and participants, all newly hired and rehired field staff will be required to pass a background check.

And finally, information collected during this study is not for accountability or monitoring. We want to assure you that the information collected during this visit will be reported only in aggregate with information from all of the MSHS centers. It will not be used for accountability or monitoring purposes.

Do you have any questions so far?

[IF NOMINEE AGREES TO BE OSC]. We will need your help as we prepare for the study activities at your center. It is important that we establish a close working partnership—you are the [person/people (IF MORE THAN ONE OSC)] who will ensure that our plan for study activities conforms to your local requirements. We will work with you to minimize the burden on your center. Together, we will develop the plan, and then we will submit it to your center director.

[IF NOMINEE DOES NOT AGREE TO BE OSC]. Thank you for considering this position. Is there anyone else in your center you think would be interested in working as the OSC? If yes, what is that person’s contact information?

Name ____________________________________________________

Email address/Phone number: __________________________________ [SKIP TO END.]

We assume that much of the work can be done outside of regular work hours so it will not take time away from your normal duties. You will be responsible for:

• Completing the MSHS Classroom Sampling Form to facilitate the selection of classrooms,

• Completing the MSHS Roster Form to facilitate the selection of children and families,

• Obtaining parental consent for the sampled children and tracking the consent forms,

• Helping coordinate the onsite study activities at your center, and

• Scheduling times and locations for the child assessments and classroom observations.

GRANTEE/DELEGATE AGENCY, CENTER, CLASSROOM, AND CHILD/FAMILY SELECTION

Finally, I want to explain how we selected the centers and will choose the classrooms and children/families who will be asked to participate in the study.

• Grantee/delegate agency and center selection. After randomly selecting 24 grantee/delegate agencies, approximately 53 centers were randomly selected to participate in the onsite data collection activities for MSHS Study. There are about four centers selected from each of the grantee/delegate agencies. The following centers were randomly selected from your grantee/delegate agency to participate in the MSHS Study: [LIST CENTER NAMES HERE].

• CENTER 1

• CENTER 2

• CENTER 3

• Classroom selection. After confirming the number of classrooms in each center with the OSC, we will randomly select approximately three classrooms in each center. A member of the MSHS Study team will contact each onsite coordinator by phone to establish a site-visit protocol (logistics) for the study activities.

• Child/Family selection. After verifying classroom rosters with the onsite coordinator, we will randomly select infant, toddler, and preschool children from those classrooms. We will select approximately eight children per classroom and will invite these children and their families to participate.

Parent interviews and child assessments should take place in separate rooms where others cannot overhear the participants’ responses. Do you know of some options within your center that are quiet and private for these parent interviews?

Yes: _______________________________________________________________

No: ________________________________________________________________

NEXT STEPS

• Now that we have laid the groundwork for our tasks ahead, tell me which is the easiest way to reach you—by phone or email? [CONFIRM THAT THIS PERSON IS THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE YOUR REGULAR CONTACT].

• I would like to find out about your availability in order to begin crafting your center’s schedule for study activities. When is the best time to reach you? Do you have any dates that you will not be available?

• Do you have any questions at this point? If questions or concerns come up, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you for participating in this important study. We appreciate your assistance, and I look forward to working with you and your center.