Recruitment of School Districts, Schools, ECEs, and Participants

Project LAUNCH School Recruitment Letter: LAUNCH Community

Dear «Salutation» «LastName»:

As you may know, NAME OF COMMUNITY currently receives funds from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for Project LAUNCH, a federally sponsored program that promotes the wellness of young children from birth to 8 years by addressing the physical, social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of their development. Project LAUNCH is designed to have a community-wide impact by enhancing the way early childhood systems work together, integrating child behavioral health services with other health services, and implementing evidence-based programs. We have been working closely with NAME OF LOCAL PD to support their local Project LAUNCH evaluation, which includes examples of LAUNCH programs in the community or county.

Your school is invited to participate in the multi-site evaluation (MSE) of Project LAUNCH. We spoke with NAME OF SCHOOL DISTRICT POINT OF CONTACT on MM/DD and secured their approval to contact you regarding your participation in this important study. The MSE will conduct surveys with parents, teachers, and administrators – no data will be collected directly from children. This study is being conducted by a non-profit organization, NORC at the University of Chicago, under contract to the Administration of Children and Family (ACF) and SAMHSA at HHS. The purpose of the MSE is to learn more about how Project LAUNCH programs impact the health and wellness of children in communities across the country. The collected data will be for evaluation purposes and results will be aggregated and not presented in a way where it can be linked to a specific school or individual.

We would like to request your school’s participation in this important study Enclosed in this packet, you will find more detailed information about our plans to collect data as well as an informational flyer about the project. Ultimately, these data will help policymakers to make decisions about how to focus limited resources for programs targeting health and wellness of children. We recognize that your school’s time is limited and valuable, and want to ensure that you also benefit from participation. If you agree to participate, we will provide you with a report that describes the data collected from teachers in your school. This report will help demonstrate your school’s successes and needs, and will be available for your use.

We would like to set up a time to talk with you to discuss the process, answer any questions that you may have about the study, and learn how we can best work with schools in your district. Please contact Shannon TenBroeck, Research Scientist, at 1-415-315-2006 or tenbroeck-shannon@norc.org to set up a time to talk. If we do not hear from you within two weeks of having sent this letter, we will contact you by phone.

We very much appreciate your support and participation in this important study, your commitment to healthy children and families. We look forward to working with you to learn more about how Project LAUNCH impacts children and families.

Sincerely,

Kristina Hanson Lowell, PhD David Rein, PhD

Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation Team Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation Team

Vice President, Health Care Program Area Director, Public Health

NORC at the University of Chicago NORC at the University of Chicago

Enclosures (X)

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX.

Project LAUNCH School Recruitment Letter: Comparison Community

Dear «Salutation» «LastName»:

We are writing to invite elementary schools within NAME OF SCHOOL DISTRICT to participate in a study of the multi-site evaluation of Project LAUNCH, a federally sponsored program that promotes the wellness of young children from birth to 8 years by addressing the physical, social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of their development. Project LAUNCH is designed to have a community-wide impact by enhancing the way early childhood systems work together, integrating child behavioral health services with other health services, and implementing evidence-based programs. We spoke with NAME OF SCHOOL DISTRICT POINT OF CONTACT on MM/DD and secured their approval to contact you regarding your participation in this important study. We are studying communities that receive LAUNCH funding, as well as communities like yours that do not receive this funding, to help us learn more about services for children and families as well as child and family outcomes in communities across the country. This study is being conducted by a non-profit organization, NORC at the University of Chicago, under contract to the Administration of Children and Family (ACF) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

We would like to request your school’s participation in this important study. Enclosed in this packet, you will find more detailed information about our plans to collect data as well as an informational flyer about the project. We will conduct surveys with parents, teachers, and administrators – no data will be collected directly from children. The collected data will be for evaluation purposes and results will be aggregated and not presented in a way where it can be linked to a specific school or individual. Ultimately, these data will help policymakers to make decisions about how to focus limited resources for programs targeting health and wellness of children. We recognize that your school’s time is limited and valuable, and want to ensure that you also benefit from participation. If you agree to participate, we will provide you with a report that describes the data collected from teachers in your school. This report will help demonstrate your school’s successes and needs, and will be available for your use.

We would like to set up a time to talk with a representative of your school to discuss the process, and answer any questions that you may have about the study. Please contact Shannon TenBroeck, Research Scientist, at 1-415-315-2006 or tenbroeck-shannon@norc.org to set up a time to talk. If we do not hear from you within two weeks of having sent this letter, we will contact you by phone.

We very much appreciate your support and participation in this important study, your commitment to healthy children and families. We look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Kristina Hanson Lowell, PhD David Rein, PhD

Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation Team Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation Team

Vice President, Health Care Program Area Director, Public Health

NORC at the University of Chicago NORC at the University of Chicago

Enclosures (X)

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX.

Project LAUNCH Fact Sheet: Surveys to be Collected (for Schools)

Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation (MSE) Data Collection Approach

This sheet provides information on the data collection activities that will be conducted in schools participating in the Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation. We look forward to talking with you in more depth about these activities and answering any questions you may have.

Data Collection Activities

We plan to collect each of the types of information below once a year for two years. These activities will include the following surveys:

• Parent Survey: A short (30 minute) written survey of parents/guardians of young children (ages 0-8 years). The survey will cover children’s health, social-emotional health, parent-child relationships, parent well-being, home environment, and parental social support. We hope to have 15 parents of children in each participating school fill out the survey.
  
  

• School Survey: Elementary school administrators will complete a brief survey regarding children who have been suspended or expelled from their school.

In addition to collecting the Parent and School Survey, if possible, we would like to collect information from teachers in your school. This information would be collected only once, in the second year of data collection.

• Teacher Survey: A survey will be conducted with Kindergarten teachers to measure children's readiness to learn in the school environment in five general domains: physical health and well-being; social competence; emotional maturity; language and cognitive development; and communication skills and general knowledge in relation to developmental benchmarks rather than curriculum-based ones. In each participating elementary school, all kindergarten teachers will be asked to complete the survey for each student in their current classroom. We estimate it will take up to 30 minutes for teachers to complete the survey for each student, or approximately 10 hours for each teacher to complete the survey for their class. We will offer teachers $50 for completing the survey, and will compensate elementary schools so that they can retain substitute teachers to cover teacher respondents’ classes while they complete the survey.

Data Use and Security

The data collected from your site will be used for Project LAUNCH evaluation purposes only, and findings will be aggregated—unable to be linked to a specific district, school, or person.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX.

Project LAUNCH Teacher Survey (EDI) Fact Sheet

What is Project LAUNCH?

Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health) is a federally-sponsored program that promotes the wellness of young children from birth to 8 years by addressing the physical, social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of their development. Project LAUNCH is designed to have a community-wide impact by enhancing the way early childhood systems work together, integrating child behavioral health services with other health services, and implementing evidence-based programs. The expected result is for children to be thriving in safe, supportive environments, and entering school ready to learn and able to succeed. We are studying communities that receive LAUNCH funding as well as communities that do not receive this funding to help us learn more about services and outcomes for children and families in communities across the country. This study is being conducted by a non-profit research organization, NORC at the University of Chicago, under contract with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

What is the Teacher Survey (EDI) and what does it measure?

Kindergarten teachers in selected schools will be asked to fill out the Early Development Instrument (EDI) for each student in his/her class. The EDI measures children's readiness to learn in the school environment in five domains: 1) physical health and well-being; 2) social competence; 3) emotional maturity; 4) language and cognitive development; and 5) communication skills and general knowledge. Children’s school readiness will be assessed in relation to developmental benchmarks rather than curriculum-based ones.

How Will the Information Be Used?

Results from the Teacher Survey or the Early Development Instrument (EDI) will be used to measure the comprehensive school readiness of kindergarten children at the school and community level. Results will be compared to those of schools and communities with similar demographic characteristics. All information collected from kindergarten teachers about their students will be de-identified and reported in aggregate. In other words, no names or other identifying information will be included in our analysis or reports and no individual teacher’s or child’s scores will be released.

How Are the EDI Data Collected?

After receiving an hour-long training and orientation to the survey, kindergarten teachers complete an EDI on each child using an easy online platform. Teachers report that because the EDI is based on observational recall, it is quick and easy to complete. This will not interfere with classroom time because your school principal will either ask selected teachers to complete the training and survey during a professional training day or hire substitute teachers to teach your classes on the day you will complete the EDI. Teachers report that the assessment is easy to use, averaging between 10-15 minutes but no more than 30 min per individual EDI assessment.

How Long Will This Survey Take?

The survey is estimated to take up to 30 minutes per student to complete. Teachers will likely be able to complete it in less time as they get more comfortable with the survey and online data collection.

Will Participants Receive Anything for Completing the EDI?

Teachers will receive $50 for completing the survey. They will also receive their usual wages from their school for the day taken to complete the EDI.

Who Do I Contact If I Have Questions or Concerns?

If you have any questions or concerns, you may contact the research team at TenBroeck-Shannon@norc.org or by calling 1-415-315-2006.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX.

Project LAUNCH Program Information for Recruitment Packet
Project LAUNCH Parent Information Flyer for Schools

Project LAUNCH School Recruitment Script

INITIAL CONTACT SCRIPT

COMPARISON COMMUNITY Hello my name is ____________, and I am calling from the Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation, which is being conducted under contract to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX. OMB approval for this data request was received ___ under OMB number 0970-0373. Your district has already given their approval for us to contact you about participating in this study, so you may have already been in touch with [Insert Superintendent Name or “Your Superintendent”] regarding the study. May I please speak to [Principal Name]?

If initial contact has any questions about the study, refer to study FAQs, but aim to be transferred to the principal as soon as possible.

[TO COMPARISON COMMUNITY PRINCIPAL]

Hello my name is ____________, and I am calling from the Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation, which is being conducted under contract to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX. OMB approval for this data request was received ___ under OMB number 0970-0373.

Your district has already given their approval for us to contact you about participating in this study, so you may have already been in touch with [Insert Superintendent Name or “Your Superintendent”] regarding the study.

You should have recently received an email explaining the study and asking for your cooperation. Do you recall receiving an email?

If the email was not received, confirm email address and offer to email another copy of the advance letter to principal.

To start, I’d like to tell you a little bit about the study. Project LAUNCH is a federally sponsored program that promotes the wellness of young children from birth to 8 years by addressing the physical, social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of their development. Project LAUNCH is designed to have a community-wide impact by enhancing the way early childhood systems work together, integrating child behavioral health services with other health services, and implementing evidence-based programs. As part of this evaluation, we are reaching out to communities that participate in the Project LAUNCH program as well some that do not for purposes of comparison.

You may have heard that [insert community name here] was selected as one of the communities to participate in this study. In each selected community, we are recruiting two elementary schools to participate in surveys with parents, teachers, and administrators. It is important to note that, for our study, no information will be collected directly from children nor will any children be identified by name as part of this research. Would this be a good time to explore if your school would be interested in participating in this evaluation?

If yes, proceed to Main Script.

If no, Is there a different time to call that would work better?

If yes, update calendar with call back date/time. Thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

If no, Is there someone else from your school who would be an appropriate person to discuss participating in this evaluation?

If yes, prompt them to provide contact information; thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

If no, thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

LAUNCH COMMUNITY Hello my name is ____________, and I am calling from the Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation, which is being conducted under contract to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX. OMB approval for this data request was received ___ under OMB number 0970-0373.

Your district has already given their approval for us to contact you about participating in this study, so you may have already been in touch with [Insert Superintendent Name or “Your Superintendent”] regarding the study. May I please speak to [Principal Name]?

If initial contact has any questions about the study, refer to study FAQs, but aim to be transferred to the principal as soon as possible.

[TO LAUNCH COMMUNITY PRINCIPAL]

Hello my name is ____________, and I am calling from the Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation, which is being conducted under contract to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX. OMB approval for this data request was received ___ under OMB number 0970-0373.

As you may know, your community currently receives funds for Project LAUNCH, a federally sponsored program that promotes the wellness of young children from birth to 8 years by addressing the physical, social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of their development.. Your district has already given their approval for us to contact you about participating in this study, so you may have already been in touch with [Insert Superintendent Name or “Your Superintendent”] regarding the study.

You should have recently received an email explaining the study and asking for your cooperation. Do you recall receiving an email?

If the email was not received, confirm email address and offer to email another copy of the advance letter to principal.

We have been working closely with [NAME OF LOCAL Project LAUNCH Young Child Wellness Coordinator] to support their local Project LAUNCH evaluation, which includes [insert examples of LAUNCH programs in the community or county].

You may have heard that [insert community name here] was selected as one of the communities to participate in this study. In each selected community, we are recruiting two elementary schools to participate in surveys with parents, teachers, and administrators. It is important to note that for our study, no information will be collected directly from children nor will any children be identified by name as part of this research. Would this be a good time to explore if your school would be interested in participating in this evaluation?

If yes, proceed to Main Script.

If no, Is there a different time to call that would work better?

If yes, update calendar with call back date/time. Thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

If no, Is there someone else from your school who would be an appropriate person to discuss participating in this evaluation?

If yes, prompt them to provide contact information; thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

If no, thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

FOLLOW-UP CONTACT SCRIPT

Hi, this is [insert name]. Thank you again for agreeing discuss with me your school’s participation in the Multi-Site Evaluation of Project LAUNCH. Proceed to Main Script.

MAIN SCRIPT

I’d like to begin by talking briefly about the data collection efforts that would be required if your school elects to participate in the study. First, we would need you to appoint a School Coordinator to serve as a point person. This individual would be responsible for helping our team recruit parents and teachers to complete surveys, compile lists of interested parent and teacher respondents, and help us identify potential respondents for a survey about expulsion and suspension rates in kindergarten through third grade. To mitigate burden, we will offer the School Coordinator a $100 gift card for his/her assistance in this very important evaluation.

First, we would attempt to recruit approximately 15 parents from your school to participate in a web survey that we estimate will take 30 minutes to complete. The survey is designed to collect information about children’s health, social-emotional health, parent-child relationships, parental well-being, home environment, and parental social support, and we request that parents complete the survey once annually for two years. We would also like to conduct a survey with up to four kindergarten teachers in your school, just one time, in the second year of data collection. This survey is designed to collect information about physical health and well-being; social competence; emotional maturity; language and cognitive development; and communication skills and general knowledge of kindergarten children. We estimate that the teacher survey will take up to 30 minutes per child to complete, and are prepared to reimburse your school for the cost of a substitute teacher (up to $300 for one day) for each teacher who completes the survey. The final data collection element is a survey to be completed by a school administrator about school suspension and expulsion rates in kindergarten through third grade, which we anticipate will take no longer than one hour to complete. We ask that a school administrator complete this survey once annually for two years. Again, we would like to stress that no information will be collected directly from children for this study.

Do you have any questions at this point? Refer to study FAQs to respond to questions.

Now, I would like to discuss incentives that will be offered to those who participate in the study as we appreciate how busy your staff, teachers, and parents are. As previously mentioned, the School Coordinator, who will assist us in our efforts and serve as our point person, will receive a $100 online gift card each year. Kindergarten teachers will receive an online gift card for $50 for completing the teacher survey for all students in their class. All materials used to publicize and recruit for the study will be provided by the study team, and we will work with you to minimize the burden on and disturbances to your school, staff, teachers, and parents.

Do you have any questions about the study or the incentives that will be offered? Refer to study FAQs to respond to questions.

Would your school be interested in participating in the Multi-Site Evaluation of Project LAUNCH?

If yes, Can you walk me through the next steps in terms of securing the necessary approvals to collect data at your school?

If yes, record this information, obtaining email addresses and phone numbers of those you should contact next.

If no, prompt them to provide contact information of someone who can discuss next steps; thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

If no, I understand. Would you mind sharing your concerns with me? Attempt to avert refusal using Study FAQs or giving principal more time to consider. If aversion is unsuccessful, record refusal reason, thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

If undecided, Please feel free to contact me at [contact number] if I can provide you with any additional information about the study. If I do not hear from you within a week, I will call back to follow up with you regarding the decision. Thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

Thank you. Can you please provide the email address you would like me to use for future communication about the study, if different from the one we currently have on file?

As we mentioned, we also request that you designate a member of your staff to serve as a point person and assist us in our efforts. Can you please provide the name and phone number of the staff member you would like to appoint as School Coordinator for this study? We will follow up with this individual to provide them with more information about the study and their role.

If yes, record this information.

If the principal needs additional time to designate the School Coordinator, ask them when they would like you to call back for a decision. Record this information for follow up.

This is all that I was hoping to discuss with you today. Do you have any questions for me? Refer to study FAQs to respond to questions.

Thank you for your time today. We know that you and your staff are extremely busy and we’ll try to put the least burden possible on you. We very much look forward to your contribution to the Multi-Site Evaluation of Project LAUNCH! Thank you again.

Project LAUNCH School Coordinator Recruitment Script

Hello my name is ____________, and I am calling about the Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation, which is being conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX. OMB approval for this data request was received ___ under OMB number 0970-0373. The study is about healthy development and wellness in children from birth through 8 years old.

I am contacting you because your school has agreed to participate in this study, and your school’s principal has designated you as the best person to fulfill the very important role of the School Coordinator, who will assist the study team’s efforts. For this study, the School Coordinator helps to recruit parents and teachers to fill out a survey and helps us identify potential respondents for a survey about expulsion and suspension rates in kindergarten through third grade. Activities associated with your role include helping us determine the best approach for recruiting parents and teachers in your school, relaying information between the study team and parents and teachers, distributing study-provided materials to parents and teachers, reaching out to parents at school-related events to recruit them for the study, and obtaining parent, teacher, and school administrator contact information.

To thank you for your assistance in this important study, we will send you a link to an online gift card for $100.

Are you willing to serve as the School Coordinator?

If yes, Thank you for agreeing to participate. Can you please provide me with an email address we can use to send you materials and instructions you will need for your role? Record email address.

If no, thank them for their time and end the call. Call the principal and ask them to appoint another staff member as the School Coordinator.

Thank you so much for agreeing to serve in this important role. As previously mentioned, we will follow up with you to provide instructions on how to proceed, but if you have any questions in the interim, please do not hesitate to call me at [your contact number]. Thank you again!