DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38290
title: Study of Coaching Practices in Early Care and Education Settings (SCOPE), United States, 2019-2021
title: Archival Version

description: The Study of Coaching Practices in Early Care and Education Settings (SCOPE), funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), aimed to examine the range of coaching options utilized in the early care and education (ECE) field. Data collection occurred in two phases, with initial data collection occurring in 2019 and follow-up data collection occurring in 2021 (referred to as SCOPE 2019 and SCOPE 2021, respectively). SCOPE 2019 examined how the prevalence, implementation, combination, and tailoring of coaching features vary across center-based classrooms and family child care (FCC) homes serving preschool-age children. In addition, the study explored programmatic and systems-level factors related to the implementation of coaching. SCOPE 2021 aimed to understand the practice and processes of coaching--and professional development more broadly--in supporting ECE settings throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and how those practices and processes have been adapted or changed in the context of the pandemic. The SCOPE 2021 surveys expanded the focus on remote versus in-person coaching strategies. The SCOPE project was a mixed-methods study. SCOPE was conducted in seven states, and used a purposive sampling approach. The study included centers and FCCs that served preschool-age children from families with a low income. It primarily included settings funded through a Head Start grant or serving children with Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) subsidies, though settings also used other forms of funding. From February through July 2019, the project implemented web-based surveys with center directors, center teachers, FCC providers, and coaches. From July to October 2021, the study implemented follow-up web-based surveys with center directors, FCC providers and coaches who responded to the survey in 2019, and additionally conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with a subset of these respondents.
description: The Study of Coaching Practices in Early Care and Education Settings (SCOPE) surveys were guided by the research question: How do the prevalence, implementation, combining, and tailoring of coaching features vary across early care and education (ECE) classrooms and family child care (FCC) homes? The 2019 surveys had two primary goals: (1) to identify and define core features of coaching to support instructional practice, and (2) to document how coaching features are implemented in center-based and FCC settings serving preschool-age children from families with low incomes. The 2021 surveys and qualitative interviews aimed to understand the practice and processes of coaching--and professional development more broadly--in supporting ECE settings throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and how those practices and processes have been adapted or changed in the context of the pandemic. The 2021 surveys expanded the focus on remote versus in-person coaching strategies. The project was guided by the following research questions: What features of coaching are evident during the COVID-19 pandemic? What was changed or remained the same since COVID-19 emerged? What is the role of coaches during the pandemic and how have they been supported? What is the role of coaching, and professional development more broadly, in supporting ECE settings during the COVID-19 pandemic? As the pandemic has progressed? What is the perceived value and role of coaching, professional development, and quality improvement more generally among ECE coaches, directors, and FCC providers during the COVID-19 pandemic? As the pandemic has progressed?
description: <strong>2019 survey development.</strong> The research team developed web-based surveys (with paper and phone options) for coaches, teachers and family child care (FCC) providers, and center directors. The center director and coach surveys were each designed to take respondents 30 minutes to complete. The teacher and FCC provider survey was designed to take 35 minutes. The 2019 surveys asked about coach training and supervision; background characteristics of coaches and teachers or providers; structural (caseload, dosage, and communication) and process (goal setting, coaching strategies, coaching activities) features of coaching; center director involvement and supports; center context; challenges to coaching; and perceptions of coaching usefulness and coaching relationships. <strong>2019 survey data collection.</strong> The first round of surveys were conducted from February to July 2019. Center directors, center teachers, FCC providers, and coaches received an email welcoming them to the study and with a personalized link to an online version of the SCOPE survey. They were offered the option of completing the survey on paper or over the phone, but only one respondent (a center teacher) selected a paper option. Teachers and FCC providers could complete the survey in English or Spanish (the center director and coach were offered surveys only in English). Three FCC providers and five center teachers responded to the survey in Spanish. All participants were given an honorarium as a thank you for participating in the study ($20 to center directors, center teachers, and coaches, and $40 to FCC providers). Connected respondents were recruited, where possible. Many coaches' caseloads included both centers and FCCs, but for the questions in the SCOPE survey that were focused on coaching activities, they were asked to report about their work in the type of setting they were connected to for the study sample. In other words, coaches who worked with a center teacher in the SCOPE sample were asked to think about their coaching work with center teachers when responding to their survey. Coaches who worked with an FCC provider in the SCOPE sample were asked to think about their coaching work with FCC providers when responding to their survey. Directors, teachers, and FCC providers were asked to report about the coaching they received from the coach they were paired with in the SCOPE sample. <strong>2021 survey development.</strong> The coach, center director, and FCC provider web-based surveys were designed to take 20 minutes to complete. The researchers drew on questions used in the 2019 surveys, adapting them as needed and creating new items. The 2021 surveys covered: the operating status of the centers and FCC homes; whether centers and FCCs were engaging in coaching and professional development more broadly during the COVID-19 pandemic and the topics, whether it was virtual or in-person, and the types of professional development; coaches' workload and roles; the structural (dosage, caseload, and communication) and process (coaching strategies, coaching activities) features of coaching; challenges to coaching; and consistent challenges faced by and/or priorities of the settings. <strong>2021 qualitative interview development. </strong>The interviews were designed to take 30-45 minutes to complete. All questions and probes included in the interviews were developed for SCOPE. The interview questions covered topics including: the context for coaching and professional development throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, communication with coaches, support for coaching and professional development more broadly, challenges to providing coaching, and challenges to providing quality care. <b>2021 survey data collection. </b>Researchers collected survey data from July to November 2021. Center directors, center teachers, FCC providers, and coaches received an email welcoming them to the study and with a personalized link to an online version of the SCOPE survey. All surveys were completed via the web. Researchers conducted outreach in Spanish to the FCC providers who responded in Spanish in 2019 to offer the option of completing the survey in Spanish again, but all chose to complete the survey in English. All participants were given an honorarium as a thank you for participating in the study ($20). <b>2021 qualitative interview data collection. </b>Researchers collected interview data from August to October 2021. To ensure the team collected high quality data, the qualitative interview team members received a training focused on: (1) how to prepare for the interview; (2) how to efficiently move through the interview protocol while collecting high quality information; and (3) how to synthesize notes after each interview to confirm completeness of the data. Coaches, center directors, and FCC providers were selected from respondents to the 2021 surveys. They were recruited first by email and then by phone (if email was unsuccessful) within two to three weeks after completing the survey. Though the research team aimed to speak with all sampled respondents for 45 minutes, respondents were given the option of a 30-minute interview if they were not otherwise able to participate. Respondents typically requested a 30-minute interview, so questions were prioritized based on survey responses. The qualitative interviews were conducted in Microsoft Teams. With the permission of respondents, the interviews were recorded to later confirm responses. Each interview was conducted by one interviewer, with a notetaker present to take high level notes. After each interview, the interviewer and notetaker debriefed to discuss and record key themes or items of interest. All interviews were conducted in English. All participants were given an honorarium as a thank you for participating in the study ($20). Nine coaches, four center directors, and six FCC providers completed interviews.
description: Response Rates: For SCOPE 2019, for ECE centers, 77 surveys were released to center directors and 66 were completed (86% response rate). For ECE center teachers, 167 surveys were released and 130 were completed (78% response rate). For coaches working with a center, 74 surveys were released and 70 were completed (95% response rate). For FCCs, 46 surveys were released to FCC providers and 38 were completed (83% response rate). For coaches working with an FCC, 36 surveys were released and 30 were completed (83% response rate). For SCOPE 2021, for ECE centers, 51 surveys were released to eligible center directors and 25 were completed (49% response rate). For coaches working with a center, 65 surveys were released to eligible coaches and 33 were completed (51% response rate). For FCCs, 38 surveys were released to FCC providers and 32 were completed (84% response rate). For coaches working with an FCC, 25 surveys were released to eligible coaches and 10 were completed (40% response rate).
description: Presence of Common Scales: The Study of Coaching Practices in Early Care and Education Settings (SCOPE) used the short version of the Early Childhood Work Environment Survey (ECWES). Several Likert-type scales were also used. The study drew on items used in prior studies of coaching and, when needed, adapted the items for use in SCOPE. Prior studies included First 5 LA's Los Angeles Early Educators Advance study (LA Advance); the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation's Early Learning Mentor Coach study, the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2014, the National Survey of Early Care and Education, and Head Start Classroom-based Approaches and Resources for Emotion and Social Skills Promotion; and the Texas School Ready End-of-Year Survey.
description: SCOPE used a purposive sampling approach. The respondents in SCOPE were from seven states across three geographic regions (East, Central, and West). There were two main criteria for participation in the SCOPE surveys in 2019. <b>1. Type of coaching.</b> SCOPE focused on coaching designed to improve instructional practice for preschool-age children. The research team first selected states for SCOPE based on information about coaching happening in the state. For a state to be included, it must have had at least one defined approach to coaching (that is, at least some documentation describing the process or model), but the team also looked for evidence of other approaches happening in the state. Researchers then intentionally selected ECE settings (centers and FCC homes) in each state that were reported to be using a variety of coaching approaches. <b>2. Funding of settings.</b> SCOPE focused on centers and FCC homes that primarily served children and families with low incomes. Those centers and FCC homes mostly received funding through a Head Start grant or Child Care and Development Fund subsidies, but some settings used other types of funding to serve children from families with low incomes. <b>SCOPE 2019 respondents.</b> For the SCOPE 2019 surveys, researchers recruited coach-teacher and coach-provider pairs when possible (88 percent of center teachers and 95 percent of FCC providers who responded are paired with a coach who also responded). For centers, the center director, a coach, and one to four teachers in the center who worked with the coach were selected for recruitment. For FCC homes, the FCC provider and a coach were selected for recruitment. Given that fewer FCC providers tend to be involved in coaching, it was expected that some of the FCC providers would be working with the same coach. All participating center teachers and FCC providers worked with their coach for at least four months or had four coaching meetings before survey participation. <b>SCOPE 2021 respondents.</b> For the SCOPE 2021 follow-up surveys and interviews, coaches who responded in 2019 were eligible to participate if they were still providing coaching at all (not necessarily to the setting they were paired with in 2019). Center directors and FCC providers who responded in 2019 were eligible to participate if they were experiencing coaching or other types of professional development.
description: Datasets: DS0: Study-Level Files DS1: SCOPE 2019 Coach Survey DS2: SCOPE 2019 Teacher and Family Child Care Provider Survey DS3: SCOPE 2019 Center Director Survey DS4: SCOPE 2021 Coach Survey DS5: SCOPE 2021 Family Child Care Provider Survey DS6: SCOPE 2021 Center Director Survey DS7: SCOPE 2021 Coach Interview Transcripts DS8: SCOPE 2021 Family Child Care Provider Interview Transcripts DS9: SCOPE 2021 Center Director Interview Transcripts
description: Early care and education center directors, teachers, family child care (FCC) providers, and coaches associated with centers and FCC homes that serve preschool-age children from families with a low income, and that engage in coaching aimed to improve instructional practice in the classroom or FCC home.
description: telephone interview; web-based surveyFor additional information on the Study of Coaching Practices in Early Care and Education Settings (SCOPE), please visit the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) website.ICPSR has zipped the 19 interview transcripts (DS7, DS8, DS9) into three qualitative data packages. These packages are available for restricted download. Please refer to the ICPSR README documentation for more information.