Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)

Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes

Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

A comprehensive redesign of the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) study took place in 2011, where researchers determined that FACES must be a vehicle that provides timely and ongoing information about Head Start program performance, including program improvement efforts, program quality, and outcomes for children and families. Therefore, FACES 2014 adhered to a Core Plus study design that consisted of a core set of data collection activities to capture key characteristics and indicators related to programs, classrooms, and child outcomes. In addition, topical modules or special studies, known as the Plus studies, allowed FACES to respond flexibly to new policy and programmatic issues and questions and to address in greater depth topics in the Core studies.

Study Design View help for Study Design

The Family Engagement Plus study is a cross-sectional, mixed-method addition to FACES 2014. The study draws on supplemental items in the Core parent and teacher surveys and semi-structured family engagement interviews containing open- and closed-ended items for family services staff (FSS) and parents. This collection, referred to as the Family Engagement qualitative data collection, contains interview transcripts with the open-ended responses. Please refer to the User's Manual for information on how to link interview transcripts to the closed-ended survey data in the remaining FACES 2014 Family Engagement data.

Interviews took place between April and July 2015. Research staff interviewed sampled FSS by telephone during regular work hours. Parents were asked in one of three ways to participate in the semi-structured interview: 1) if completing the Core survey by phone, they were invited by the telephone interviewer at the end of the survey; 2) if completing the Core survey online, a telephone interviewer called them shortly after they finished the survey; and 3) if they had not yet completed the parent survey near the end of the data collection period, telephone interviewers called selected parents and asked them to participate. Parent interviews were conducted in English or Spanish, and parents received $25 for completing the interview. For consistency, all interviewers followed the interview protocol in a standardized manner (e.g. no rephrasing interview items, adding probes, or asking items out of order). Interviews conducted in Spanish were translated to English following transcription.

Sample View help for Sample

The sample is a multi-stage sample, with the first two of four stages (programs and centers) being selected with probability proportion to size (based on number of classrooms). Classrooms (stage three) and children (stage four) were sampled with equal probability. A total of 180 programs were selected, 60 of which included child-level data collection in fall 2014. In all 180 programs, an average of two centers and two classrooms in each center were selected. Within the 60 programs with child-level data collection, approximately 12 children were selected in each classroom to yield 10 participating children.

Additional sampling was done to support the family engagement study in spring 2015. The researchers selected a subsample of 12 parents per program, or 720 parents, from those whose children participated in the Classroom + Child Outcomes Core in fall 2014. Among these, 650 were associated with children still enrolled in Head Start in the spring (and therefore still eligible for FACES 2014 data collection). Among those still eligible in spring 2015, 382 consented, and 315 completed a semi-structured parent interview. Within each of the 60 programs with child-level data collection (that is, participating in the Classroom + Child Outcomes Core), researchers randomly selected up to 4 family services staff (FSS), for a sample of 196. Among the selected FSS, 182 were eligible staff; 163 consented, and 145 completed a semi-structured FSS interview. The final sample in this collection contains the transcripts of those participants whose interviews were recorded and align with the closed-ended survey measures (n = 449; 305 parents and 144 FSS).

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

The Head Start programs participating in FACES 2014 were a probability sample selected from among 2,900 study-eligible programs on the 2012-2013 Head Start Program Information Report (PIR) (the 2012-2013 PIR was used for the 2014-2015 sample and the 2014-2015 PIR was used for the 2017 sample). To be eligible for the study, a program had to be in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia, be providing services directly to children ages 3 to 5, and not be in imminent danger of losing its grantee status. Furthermore, programs under the Migrant and Seasonal Worker program or American Indian and Alaska Native program were not eligible. Probability samples of centers were selected within each program, classrooms within each center, and children within each classroom. Teachers associated with selected classrooms were included in the study with certainty, as were parents associated with selected children.

The FACES 2014 Family Engagement Plus study took place within the 60 programs that participated in the child-level data collection in the Classroom + Child Outcomes Core study. Family services staff (FSS) in the 60 programs with child-level data collection were selected for the FACES 2014 Family Engagement Plus study. Researchers selected a subsample of 12 parents from each of the 60 FACES 2014 Family Engagement Plus study programs, or 720 parents, from those whose children participated in the Classroom + Child Outcomes Core in fall 2014. Among these, 650 were associated with children still enrolled in Head Start in the spring (and therefore still eligible for FACES 2014 data collection). The User's Manual provides more information on the Family Engagement qualitative data collection sample.

Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

For the family services staff (FSS) interview, questions were grouped into the following themes:

• Opportunities for family engagement: opportunities offered by the program for leadership and sharing opinions; how the program engages fathers or father-figures, children with disabilities, families from different cultural and language backgrounds; process of transitioning between Head Start and preschool or kindergarten
• Program supports for family engagement and services: types of resources and support staff receive to help engage families and connect them to needed services, and referrals tracking process
• Experiences and process of working with families to achieve goals
• Working with community partners: how the program encourages families to get involved in their community, and available resources for staff in this effort

For the parents interview, questions were grouped into the following themes:

• Choosing Head Start: how parents learned about Head Start, initial perceptions about what Head Start could do for them, satisfaction with the program
• Relationships with program and staff: how often parents talk to teachers/staff, degree of comfort and feeling welcomed by program staff, process of obtaining services, how staff help parents reach goals for children and themselves
• Family engagement in the program: leadership opportunities, activities, sharing opinions about the program
• Community engagement: program activities that allow families to connect with and support each other, encouragement to get involved outside the program in learning, training, or activism

Please refer to the Questionnaires in this collection for the full question text.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

In the FACES 2014 study, there were high participation rates at each level and each time point of data collection with a few exceptions. Ninety-percent of programs selected agreed to participate. For the FACES 2014 Family Engagement Plus study, there was a target goal of a certain number of completed parent and FSS semi-structured interviews. The completion rate was 89 percent for FSS. The completion rate was 83 percent for parents. Please consult the User's Manual for more details on response rates.

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2022-01-31

Weight View help for Weight

The FACES 2014 data contain a variety of analysis weights, a subset of which have been developed to be used specifically with FACES 2014 Family Engagement Plus study data sources. The use of weights with FACES data is important for ensuring that findings accurately represent the populations of Head Start children, their families, programs, classrooms, and teachers. FACES analysis weights account for variations in the probabilities of selection as well as for eligibility and differences in cooperation rates among those selected. They also adjust for sample attrition over time. Not all sampled families and staff participated in the FACES 2014 Family Engagement Plus study, but those data were collected from a sample meant to be nationally representative of Head Start children, teachers, and FSS. Analysis weights are to be used with survey data and constructed variables. Users interested in weighting open-ended qualitative data from semi-structured FACES 2014 Family Engagement Plus study interviews will need to code and quantify responses.

By weighting the analysis, researchers represent the target population as cases are counted relative to sample members' representation in the population. Use of analysis weights reduces the potential bias in findings that is associated with differential selection and nonresponse.