The 2021–2022 Study of Family and Staff Experiences in American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start FACES Programs: Spring 2022 Data Tables and Study Design

The purpose of this report is to (1) provide information about the 2021—2022 Study, including the background, design, methodology (including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on data collection), and analytic methods; and (2) report detailed descriptive statistics (averages, response ranges, and percentages) in a series of tables containing information on children, their families, their lead teachers and classrooms, and their centers and programs. 

All data included in this report are presented at the child level. 

For children’s characteristics, family background, and home environment, the tables show the following information: 

• Demographic characteristics (for example, age, race/ethnicity, languages spoken in the home, and who lives in the household) 
• Parents’ education and employment status including changes in employment due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Family economic well-being (how the household is doing financially: for example, household income as a percentage of the federal poverty threshold; financial strain; food security; hardships with basic utilities, medical needs, and transportation; and participation in safety net programs) 
• Parents’ depressive and anxiety symptoms scores, behaviors, and stress and experiences with COVID-19
• Parents’ health status and the child’s usual source of routine medical care
• Parents’ emphasis on child’s respect for and involvement with family and elders 
• Parents’ cultural connections and identity and cultural activities they do with their child
• Parents’ Native language use and how important it is to them that the child learns Native language
• Parents’ sources of social supports and participation in group activities
• Culturally responsive practices of program staff
• Family activities and routines with children, family involvement with caregiving for the child, and child’s screen time
• Parents’ reasons for enrolling the child in Head Start, child care plans for next year, and strategies for meeting child care needs outside of their regular child care arrangements
• Parents’ satisfaction with Head Start, involvement in Head Start activities, and Head Start program transportation

For children’s social-emotional and learning skills as well as disability status and physical health, the tables show the following information: 

• Reliability of items that measure children’s social skills, problem behaviors (such as aggression and hyperactivity), approaches to learning (such as concentration and eagerness to learn) and literacy skills
• Children’s lead teachers’ reports of children’s social skills, problem behaviors, and approaches to learning 
• Children’s lead teachers’ reports of children’s literacy and math skills
• Children’s lead teachers’ reports of children’s disability status and type and the child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP)/Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) status 
• Parents’ reports of children’s health status

For children’s classroom, center, and program cultural and language environments, the tables show the following information: 

• Race ethnicity of children and classroom, center, and program staff
• Languages spoken by children’s center directors and program directors
• Cultural/language elder or specialists in children’s classroom and programs
• Characteristics of storytelling in children’s classrooms
• Exposure to Native culture and language in children’s classrooms and centers
• Level of immersion and Native language use in children’s programs
• Cultural curricula, assessment tools, and activities used in children's classrooms, centers, and programs 
• Supports for parent engagement in children’s Native language and learning in children’s centers, and resources used by children’s programs to help implement Native language and culture activities

For children’s classroom and children’s lead teacher characteristics, the tables show the following information: 

• Number of teaching staff in children’s classrooms
• How often children’s classrooms use reading, language, and math activities 
• Children’s behavior in class
• Types of curricula, assessment tools, and curriculum supports used in children’s classrooms
• Mentoring, professional development supports, and training on providing trauma-informed care for children’s lead teachers
• Supports that were available and used by teaching staff for wellness and overall well-being, children’s lead teachers’ views on whether offered supports were convenient and met their needs, and whether other supports not offered would have been useful 
• How often children’s lead teachers’ met with parents to discuss children’s progress or status 
• Children’s lead teachers’ views about how programs supported interactions between staff and parents
• Likelihood that children’s lead teachers would continue teaching at Head Start in the next program year and reasons they would stay or leave
• Children’s lead teachers’ experience, credentials, education, and earnings 
• Children’s lead teachers’ depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and self rated health 
• Children’s lead teachers’ job satisfaction, feelings at work, job-related stress, and 
• beliefs about teaching

For children’s program characteristics, the tables show the following information: 

• Enrollment in children’s programs and characteristics of children’s programs
• Types of families for which children’s programs experienced increased recruitment effort and difficulties
• Activities, expenses, revenue, and compensation types and changes in children’s programs
• Children’s programs’ emergency and disaster plans and procedures
• Children’s programs’ collection, use, storage, management, and analysis of data types
• Professional development supports and areas for improvement in children’s programs
• Staff well-being supports and activities to address trauma in children’s programs
• Substance use problems in children’s program communities and supports for dealing with substance use
• Children’s program directors’ education, credentials, and experience 
• Children’s program directors’ depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and job-related stress, including stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic

For children’s center characteristics, the tables show the following information: 

• Children’s center directors’ needs for additional leadership support 
• Professional development supports offered, areas for improvement, and staff participation in professional development in children’s centers
• Children’s centers’ consultations with Training and Technical Assistance specialists
• Physical activity and nutrition supports for staff and parents in children’s centers
• Staff trainings offered on trauma-informed care
• How often teacher performance evaluations occur in children’s centers
• Number of lead teachers, turnover, and problems related to turnover in children’s centers
• Children’s centers’ parent education or support curricula 
• Children’s center directors’ education, credentials, and experience
• Children’s center directors’ depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and job-related stress, including stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The tables provide the above information for Region XI Head Start children, regardless of whether they are American Indian or Alaska Native. Some tables also provide information for only those Region XI Head Start children who are American Indian or Alaska Native.

Spring 2022 data collection for the 2021—2022 Study occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and participation and response rates were low.  Forty-one programs were sampled and 16 agreed to participate in the study. Within the 16 programs that participated in spring 2022:

• Directors from 14 programs completed a survey, for an 88 percent response rate to the program director survey. 
• Thirty-nine centers participated in spring 2022, and center directors from 21 centers completed a survey, for a 54 percent response rate to the center director survey. 
• Seventy-nine teachers participated in spring 2022, and 34 teachers completed a survey, for a 44 percent response rate to the teacher survey. 
• Parents of 261 children participated in spring 2022, and parents of 127 children completed a survey, for a 49 percent response rate to the parent survey. 
• Teachers of 261 children participated in spring 2022, and teachers of 134 children completed a teacher child report (TCR), for a 51 percent response rate to the TCR. 

The data in this report provide a window into the experiences of a sample of Region XI Head Start children’s program directors, center directors, teachers, and parents who were able to participate in spring 2022 data collection between April and July 2022. Readers should not assume the data are nationally representative of all Region XI Head Start programs, centers, classrooms, staff, or families. These data provide a snapshot of the experiences of Region XI Head Start children’s programs, centers, classrooms, staff, and families during this difficult time and describe them in spring 2022 as COVID-19 continued to impact the country.

Cabili, Charlotte, Natalie Reid, Carla Chavez, Aden Bhagwat, Davis Straske, Will Ratner, Victoria Sims, Xinwei Li, Tutrang Nguyen, Xiaofan Sun, Jeani Choe, Jeff Harrington, Addison Larson, Judy Cannon, Sara Bernstein, Katie Gonzalez, and Nikki Aikens. (2024). The 2021—2022 Study of Family and Staff Experiences in AIAN Head Start FACES Programs: Spring 2022 Data Tables and Study Design. OPRE Report #2024-187. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.