Description: The Parent Interviews
(PIs), Father Interviews (FI), and Child Assessments (CA)
developed for the national Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (EHSRE) were designed to include instruments that assess potential
program effects on a variety of domains. The instruments included
in each data collection interview/assessment were drawn from
a variety of sources and include published instruments (many
of them are described in individual entries in this resource
guide), questions drawn from other large national surveys,
and questions that were developed specifically for this study.
The assessments used in the evaluation are summarized in
table format at www.mathematica-mpr.com/3rdLevel/ehstoc.htm.
The table in Appendix C lists key child and family measures
selected for the evaluation. In addition to scales and
standardized tests, the interviews and assessments included
a number of single items that are simple to administer
and use for comparison with the national evaluation results.
These include questions about bedtime routines, reading
to children at bedtime, frequency of reading to children,
and spanking. The interviews can be found at the web addresses
listed above.
The results of the evaluation (through age 3) are included
in two reports and their appendices and are available
at www.mathematica-mpr.com and http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/ehs_resrch/index.html.
Uses of Information: The Early
Head Start interviews and assessments can be used by programs
to obtain a wide range of parent, child, and service use information
useful for performance measurement that can be compared to
the national study findings. For copyrighted instruments,
programs must obtain permission to use the assessments and
must pay for their use.
Reliability: The technical appendices
of the two reports include internal consistency reliability
for all of the summary scores. As a general rule, summary
scores were not included in the report if their reliability
was not above .65. The single item questions do not require
computing summary scores.
Validity: The assessments were
included in the evaluation because they had been used before
in large studies and had demonstrated construct validity.
Validity work based on the data collected was not reported
in the two reports.
Method of Scoring: Each assessment
is scored according to the rules and advice from the assessment
developers or publishers. Some required complex computer scoring
programs and others could be scored by hand and were a simple
percentage. Scoring procedures for each measure are summarized
in the reports. The single item questions do not require computing
summary scores.
Interpretability: Some of the
assessments were easily interpretable, while others required
a well-trained individual.
Training Support: As part of
the evaluation project, in-depth training manuals were developed;
these can be obtained by requesting them from Jackie Allen
at jallen@mathematica-mpr.com.
In addition to the manuals, interviewers and assessors attended
a central training session and had to meet rigorous standards
before administering the study instruments. Mathematica is
not providing any training support for the measures.
Adaptations/Special Instructions for
Individuals with Disabilities: Contact Mathematica
for more information about how the protocols were adapted
for use with individuals with disabilities.
Report Preparation Support:
None described.
References:
ACYF. “Building Their Futures: How Early Head Start
Programs Are Enhancing the Lives of Infants and Toddlers
in Low-Income Families. Volume I: Technical Report.”
Washington, DC: Administration on Children, Youth and
Families, 2001. www.mathematica-mpr.com or http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/ehs_resrch/index.html.
ACF. “Making a Difference in the Lives of Infants
and Toddlers and Their Families: The Impacts of Early
Head Start.” Washington, DC: Administration for
Children and Families, June 2002. www.mathematica-mpr.com
or http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/ehs_resrch/index.html.
Sprachman, S., C. DeSaw, L. Mendenko, M. Salem, K. Boller,
and B. Kolln. “Early Head Start National Evaluation
Data Collection Training Manual for 6-Month Parents Services
Interview, 14-Month Parent-Child Interview and Assessment,
and Child Care Observations.” Princeton, NJ: Mathematica
Policy Research, Inc., December 1996.
www.mathematica-mpr.com
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