DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36804.v3
title: American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey, 2015
title: Version 3

description: The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) is a major source of information on Head Start programs and the children and families they serve. Since 1997, FACES has conducted studies in a nationally representative sample of Head Start programs, but has historically not included Region XI (programs operated by federally-recognized tribes), whose programs are designed to serve predominantly American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children and families. The American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2015 (AI/AN FACES 2015), the first national study of Region XI AI/AN Head Start children and families, is designed to fill this information gap. The design of AI/AN FACES 2015 has been informed by members of the AI/AN FACES 2015 Workgroup which includes tribal Head Start directors, researchers with expertise working with tribal communities, Mathematica Policy Research study staff, and federal officials from the Office of Head Start, Region XI, and the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. Building on FACES as the foundation, members of the AI/AN FACES 2015 Workgroup have shared insights and information on the kinds of information needed about children and families served by Region XI AI/AN Head Start programs (including children's development and school readiness, parent and family demographics, health, and program engagement, and teacher, classroom, and program characteristics). Members also provided input on recruitment practices and study methods that are responsive to the unique cultural and self-governing contexts of tribal Head Start programs. Data collection with Region XI children, families, classrooms, and programs took place in the Fall of 2015 and the Spring of 2016. Twenty-one Region XI Head Start programs participated. Procedures for tribal review and approval in each of those 21 communities were followed. Information about this study has been shared broadly with tribal Head Start programs and tribal leaders via OHS tribal consultations, nationally-broadcast webinars, National Indian Head Start Directors' Association Board of Directors (NIHSDA) annual conferences, the 2016 ACF National Research Conference on Early Childhood, and the Secretary's Tribal Advisory Council (STAC) December 2014 and 2016 meetings.
description: The AI/AN FACES 2015 data include a set of sampling weights to account for variations in the probabilities of selection as well as eligibility and cooperation rates among those selected. Consult Chapter VI of the User's Manual for a more in-depth explanation of the weights, the weighting procedure, and the specific formulas used for each of the weights. Chapter VI also providers guidance on the appropriate weight to use for different analyses.
description: Response Rates: In the AI/AN FACES 2015 study, there were high participation rates at each level and each time point of data collection. Sixty-eight percent of programs selected agreed to participate. Parent consents were received for 93 percent of the children who were sampled. Cooperation rates for the child assessments and teacher child reports were 96 and 95 percent, respectively in fall 2015. Cooperation rates for spring 2016 were 96 and 97 percent for the same instruments. Parent survey cooperation rates were 83 and 82 percent respectively in fall and spring. At least 95 percent of teachers, center and program directors completed surveys in spring 2016, and all classrooms were observed.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Preschool Language Assessment Survey (preLAS 2000): Simon Says and Art Show Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition (PPVT-4) Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition (EOWPVT) Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement-Third Edition (Spelling, Letter-Word Identification, Applied Problems) ECLS-B Letter Sounds ECLS mathematics assessment Pencil Tapping Task Leiter International Performance Scale Revised (Leiter-R) Examiner Rating Scale Selected items from the Personal Maturity Scale, Social Skills Rating System and Behavior Problems Index ECLS-K Approaches to Learning Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) Short (12-item) form of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) See Chapter III in the User's Manual for a complete listing of the measures/scales used.
description: 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. Twenty-one programs participated in AI/AN FACES 2015. An average of two centers and two classrooms in each center were selected. All children were selected in each classroom to yield 10 participating children. A description of the sample design for the data collection is found in Chapter II of the User's Manual.
description: Datasets: DS1: American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey, 2015
description: The Region XI AI/AN Head Start programs participating in AI/AN FACES 2015 were a probability sample selected from among 147 study-eligible programs on the 2012-2013 Head Start Program Information Report (PIR). To be eligible for the study, a program had to be providing services directly to children ages 3 to 5, and not be in imminent danger of losing its grantee status. Furthermore, programs in Regions I through X and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (Region XII) 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.
description: computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI); coded on-site observation; cognitive assessment test; mail questionnaire; paper and pencil interview (PAPI); web-based survey<b>Project Officers:</b> The American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey would like to acknowledge Meryl Barofsky and Mary Mueggenborg's roles as the ACF Project Officers. <b>Project Director:</b> Lizabeth Malone, Ph.D. (Mathematica Policy Research) <b>Principal Investigators:</b> Louisa Tarullo, Ph.D. and Nikki Aikens, Ph.D. (Mathematica Policy Research) <b>AI/AN FACES 2015 Team Lead:</b> Sara Bernstein, Ph.D. (Mathematica Policy Research) <b>Consultants: </b> Tribal Early Childhood Research Center and AI/AN FACES 2015 workgroup. <b>Additional Resources: </b> Reports based on this data collection are available at the Administration for Children and Families web site.