ACF OPRE: Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES)

2.0 Methodology

2.1 Overview of the Head Start Staff Interview Data Collection

Head Start staff were interviewed at each of the four data collection points: spring 1997, fall 1997, spring 1998, and spring 1999. Component Coordinators (including those responsible for Education, Parent Involvement, Social Services, and Health) for each of the participating programs were asked to participate in interviews in spring 1997, as were Center Directors from each of the centers involved in the project, and one teacher in each center where target children were in attendance. In fall 1997 and spring 1998, interviews were completed with additional Center Directors (those in the additional centers added for the 1997-98 program year and those who were unavailable for interviews in the spring of 1997) and all Classroom Teachers with target children in their classrooms (excluding those teachers who were interviewed earlier). In spring 1998, Program Directors participated in discussions regarding the new Program Performance Standards and the impact of welfare reform on their programs. Finally, in the spring of 1999, one Family Service Worker from each center in the study was interviewed.

2.2 The Instruments

The research team developed a set of staff interview instruments, with consultation from ACYF staff and the investigators of the Head Start Quality Research Centers (in place between 1995-2000). The Center Director, Coordinator, and Classroom Teacher interview protocols employed in the spring 1997 baseline data collection were modified for subsequent data collections based on interviewer feedback and a review of the information collected in the initial round. The staff interviews were designed to provide a profile of the demographic characteristics and activities of Head Start personnel. Spanish translations of staff interviews were prepared for use in Puerto Rico.

Copies of the interviews are provided in Appendix C and are available on the Internet at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/faces/index.html. Each of the staff interviews consisted of two main sections. The first section was common to all staff and provided information about 1) experience in early childhood education, as well as current and past Head Start programs; 2) education and degree field; 3) in-service training during the previous 12 months of employment; 4) characteristics of the job such as salary, benefits, and work hours and weeks; and 5) elements of the job related to satisfaction, including elements of the job considered to be important, barriers and constraints to job performance, and reasons for continuing to work for Head Start. The second section of each interview was tailored to the specific position for which the interview was being conducted.

For Classroom Teachers, the remainder of the interview covered the following:

Frequency and type of contact with parents;
Program goals for families and program success in achieving those goals;
Frequency and purpose of home visits;
Frequency and type of parent involvement in the classroom;
Types of involvement by males in program activities;
Barriers to parent participation in program activities;
Curriculum and classroom activities; and
Assessments of children’s functioning and capabilities.

For Center Directors, the remainder of the interview covered:

Frequency and type of contact with parents;
Program goals for families and program success in achieving those goals;
Frequency and purpose of home visits;
Types of parent orientation activities;
Strategies for involving parents in program activities;
Parent meetings and involvement in center decision-making activities;
Use of parent volunteers in the classroom, on parent committees, and other activities;
Involvement by males in program activities;
Curriculum and classroom activities;
Activities related to children’s transition to kindergarten; and
An assessment of the types of community resources available to the center.

For the Education Coordinators, the remainder of the interview covered:

Number and responsibilities of Education staff ;
Number and content of education workshops for staff;
Curriculum and education strategies for children; and
Frequency and purpose of home visits.

For the Parent Involvement Coordinators, the remainder of the interview covered:

Number and responsibilities of Parent Involvement staff;
Number and content of parent education workshops and other support activities;
Use of parent volunteers in the classroom, on parent committees and other activities; and
Frequency and purpose of home visits.

For the Health Coordinators, the remainder of the interview covered:

Number and responsibilities of Health staff;
Number and content of health education workshops for staff;
Number and content of health education workshops for parents;
Health service activities and use of parents in health service activities;
Frequency and purpose of home visits; and
Health risk factors and health needs of children enrolled in their program.

For the Social Services Coordinators, the remainder of the interview covered:

Number and responsibilities of Social Service staff;
Procedures for development of Family Assistance Plans;
Procedures for assignment and management of Family Service Workers; and
Support activities for parents and an assessment of the types of community resources available to the program.

Finally, for the Family Service Workers, the remainder of the interview covered:

Development of Family Needs Assessments and Family Assistance Plans;
Caseload size and management;
Frequency and type of contact with families;
Family needs and risk factors; and
Contacts with community service providers and referrals.

2.3 Site Team Staffing

Site visit teams were created specifically for each program. These teams were led by a site manager from either Abt or CDM, and included trained, experienced field interviewers. Local Head Start program staff or parents were hired temporarily to serve as On-site Coordinators. The responsibilities for each of the positions related to the staff interviews are described below.

The Study Coordinators were senior staff from Abt and CDM who managed all site development activities with the programs, including materials development and all data collection logistics. Study Coordinators also supervised the training and work activities of the Site Managers, Field Interviewers, and On-site Coordinators.
The Site Managers, who were members of the Abt or CDM research staff, each had primary responsibility for one or more specific sites. While in the field, they conducted the staff interviews and also coordinated the completion of the parent interviews, interviewed parents, and completed quality checks of the completed instruments before shipping them to Abt for data entry.
The On-site Coordinators (OSC) were local Head Start staff or parents, who were nominated by the local program directors, and worked under the supervision of the Abt and CDM Study Coordinators. They distributed project information to staff and parents, recruited parents, scheduled both staff and parent interviews prior to the visits, and assisted with the collection of attendance data throughout the year. At the end of each round of data collection, the OSCs received a stipend for their work. The OSCs provided general logistical support for the visits, but did not conduct interviews.

Because the responsibility for conducting all staff interviews was assigned to the Site Managers, they attended two days of training in Washington, DC, and were trained to administer each of the staff interview instruments. Prior to each subsequent data collection, they received a single day of training. Information from the pilot test site visits and experience from previous work on a Descriptive Study of Head Start Health Services conducted in 1994 by CDM and Abt (Keane et al., 1996) provided the foundation for this training. Training manuals were provided that included study background information, interview protocols, general interviewing and confidentiality procedures, as well as specific field and administrative procedures.

2.4 Description of Data Collection Procedures

A site visit team was sent to most programs for a 1 to 2-week visit (one large program took 4 weeks to complete) to conduct the parent and staff interviews, child assessments, and both child and classroom observations, as well as to collect the case study data.

Head Start staff were interviewed privately in spaces arranged at their local Head Start centers. Completed interviews were quality checked for missing data and coding errors, corrected if necessary, and forwarded to Abt for processing. For each participating Head Start program, the Component Coordinators in the areas of Education (EC), Social Services (SSC), Parent Involvement (PIC), and Health (HC) were interviewed. Brief and informal discussions with Program Directors in spring 1998 provided some systematic information regarding the impact of the recent welfare reform activities as well as the impact of the implementation of the revised Head Start Program Performance Standards in January 1998. As a result of the Head Start Program Performance Standards’ revision, Components were renamed as Early Childhood Development and Health Services, Family and Community Partnerships, and Program Design and Management. For this report, however, the original designations are retained.

For each participating Head Start center, the Center Director (CD) or Administrative Teacher (AT) was interviewed (Exhibit 2-1). The Center Director is the individual responsible for overall management of a Head Start center without any direct classroom responsibilities. In smaller centers, there is likely to be an Administrative Teacher who combines both center management and classroom responsibilities. Classroom Teachers were interviewed if any FACES target child was enrolled in their classroom.

Exhibit 2-1

Number of Staff Interviews Completed
Staff Member	Number Interviewed
Education Coordinators	38
Parent Involvement Coordinators	38
Social Service Coordinators	35
Health Coordinators	41
Center Directors1	145
Classroom Teachers	528
Family Service Workers	144

For this report, regional and urban-rural differences in staff responses were explored. In addition to the four regions in the lower forty-eight states, two programs in Puerto Rico (where approximately 5% of children enrolled in Head Start reside) were included in FACES. The responses from staff in the Puerto Rican programs were considered separately with regard to regional differences, but were included in the appropriate urban-rural cells.

Exhibit 2-2 indicates the number of interviewed individuals in each staff position by region and urbanicity2 of the program. As shown, Head Start programs in the Southern section of the nation employed the largest number of interviewed staff in all positions. This distribution was consistent with the distribution of families and children enrolled in the program. About two thirds of the staff were employed by programs located in urban areas. Again, while some caution is required in the interpretation of rural or urban designation (see footnote), this distribution was consistent with the currently available information about the Head Start program derived from the annual Program Information Reports.

Exhibit 2-2

Number of Staff Interviews by Region and Urbanicity
	Northeast	Midwest	South	West	Puerto Rico	Rural	Urban
Center Directors	9	18	34	25	3	22	67
Administrative Teachers	11	13	29	3	0	27	29
Classroom Teachers	34	129	172	119	18	125	347
Family Service Workers	18	38	55	27	6	47	97

1Some Center Directors served in that role for multiple centers within a program. In other cases, a Classroom Teacher also served some of the administrative functions of a Center Director when a Center Director was not available. Within this report, such teachers are referred to as Administrative Teachers. A total of 56 Administrative Teachers were interviewed as both Center Directors and Classroom Teachers and were counted in both Center Director and Classroom Teacher totals noted above.(back)

2For each participating program, an “urbanicity” designator was assigned based on the address of the program’s central office. Although individual centers in an “urban” program with numerous centers were actually located in rural areas, the overall program designation was retained for these centers.(back)

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