DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38026
title: Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2019 (FACES 2019)
title: Archival Version

description: The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) has been a source of information on the Head Start program and the children and families it serves. The 2019 Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey, or FACES 2019, is the seventh in a series of national studies of Head Start, with earlier studies conducted in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, and 2014. It includes nationally representative samples of Head Start programs and centers, classrooms, and children and their families during the 2019-2020 program year. Data from surveys of Head Start program and center directors and classroom teachers provide descriptive information about program policies and practices, classroom activities, and the background of Head Start staff. These data compromise the Classroom Study. A sample of these programs also provides data from parent surveys, teacher child reports, and direct child assessments as part of the Classroom + Child Outcomes Study. FACES 2019 is designed to help policymakers address current policy questions and to support programs and practitioners working with Head Start families.
According to the study design, FACES would have assessed children's readiness for school, surveyed parents, and asked teachers to provide information on children in both fall 2019 and spring 2020. In response to the COVID-19 (for coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, however, FACES 2019 cancelled the first piece--the in-person data collection of child assessments in spring 2020. In-person classroom observations as part of the Classroom Study were also cancelled in spring 2020.
FACES is designed so that researchers can answer a wide range of research questions that are crucial for aiding program directors and policymakers. FACES 2019 data may be used to describe (1) the quality and characteristics of Head Start programs, teachers, and classrooms; (2) the changes or trends in the quality and characteristics of the classrooms, programs, and staff over time; (3) the school readiness skills and family characteristics of the children who participate in Head Start; (4) the factors or characteristics that predict differences in classroom quality; (5) the changes or trends in the children's outcomes and family characteristics over time; and (6) the factors or characteristics at multiple levels that predict differences in
the children's outcomes. The study also supports research questions related to subgroups of interest, such as children with identified disabilities and children who are dual-language learners (DLLs), as well as policy issues that emerge during the study. The study addresses changes in children's outcomes and experiences as well as changes in the characteristics of Head Start classrooms over time and across the rounds of FACES. Some of the questions that are central to FACES include:

What are the characteristics of Head Start programs, including structural characteristics and program policies and practices?
What are the characteristics and observed quality of Head Start classrooms?
What are the characteristics and qualifications of Head Start teachers
and management staff?
Are the characteristics of programs, classrooms, and staff changing
over time?
What are the demographic characteristics and home environments of
children and families who participate in Head Start?
Are family demographic characteristics and aspects of home
environments changing over time?
How do families make early care and education decisions?
What are the experiences of families and children in Head Start?
What are the average school readiness skills and developmental
outcomes of the population of Head Start children in fall and spring of
the Head Start year?
What gains do children make during a year of Head Start?
Are children's school readiness skills (average skills or average gains
in skills) improving over time?
Does classroom quality vary by characteristics of classrooms,
teachers, or programs?
What characteristics of programs, teachers, or classrooms are
associated with aspects of classroom quality?
Do the school readiness skills of children in fall and spring and their
gains in skills vary by child, family, program, and classroom
characteristics?
What is the association between observed classroom quality and
children's school readiness skills? Between child and family
characteristics and children's school readiness skills?
The User Guide provides detailed information about the FACES 2019 study design, execution, and data to inform and assist researchers who may be interested in using the data for future analyses. The following items are provided in the User Guide as appendices.

Appendix A. Elements of the FACES Design and Key Instruments Used (and Child Outcomes Captured): FACES 1997-FACES 2019
Appendix B. Copyright Permissions
Appendix C. Instrument Content Matrices
Appendix D. Instruments
Appendix E. Spring 2020 Center/Program Codebook
Appendix F. Spring 2020 Classroom/Teacher Codebook
Appendix G. Fall 2019-Spring 2020 Child Codebook
Appendix H. Descriptions of Composite Variables
description: Like FACES 2014, FACES 2019 involved two components: (1) the Classroom + Child Outcomes Study and (2) the Classroom Study. The Classroom + Child Outcomes Study collected information about programs, centers, classrooms, and children and families. The Classroom Study focused on programs, centers, and classrooms. The Classroom + Child Outcomes Study was conducted in fall and spring of the 2019-2020 Head Start year. According to the study design, FACES would have assessed children's readiness for school, surveyed parents, and asked teachers to provide information on children at both time points. In response to the COVID-19 (for coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, however, FACES 2019 cancelled the in-person data collection of child assessments in spring 2020.
Therefore, FACES 2019 assessed more than 2,000 children who attended 59 Head Start programs in the fall only. In fall 2019 and spring 2020, FACES surveyed parents and asked teachers to rate the children's social and emotional skills, classroom behavior, and approaches to learning, and to report on any developmental concerns about the children and how those concerns were addressed. In spring 2020, the number of programs in the FACES sample increased from the 59 programs that the FACES study team visited to collect data on children's school readiness to 165 programs for the Classroom Study. Children's teachers as well as center directors and program directors completed surveys. As with the child assessments, in spring 2020 FACES also cancelled the classroom observations.
description: The FACES 2019 data include a set of analysis weights. The weights adjust for the differential probabilities of selection
and sample attrition and can potentially help reduce the bias that may result
from differential nonresponse. 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 fall 2019, 79 percent of the sampled programs with child-level data collection participated in the study and parent consents were received for 91 percent of the children who were sampled. Completion rates for the child assessments and teacher child reports were 93 and 92 percent, respectively. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, child assessments were not conducted in spring 2020. The spring 2020 completion rate for the teacher child report was 70 percent. In spring 2020 the completion rates for the teacher, center director, and program director surveys were 62 percent, 60 percent, and 76 percent, respectively. Parent survey completion rates were 75 percent in fall 2019 and 68 percent in spring 2020. A non-response bias analysis was conducted at the child and staff levels and concluded that the risk for nonresponse bias would be mitigated when making estimates from the FACES 2019 study using the appropriate weights. Please consult Chapter IV of the User's Manual for more details on response rates and Chapter VI for the nonresponse bias analysis.
description: Presence of Common Scales: 
Preschool Language Assessment Survey (preLAS 2000): Simon Says and Art Show
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fifth Edition [PPVT-5]
Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition (EOWPVT or EOWPVT-Spanish-Bilingual Edition)
Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition (Spanish-Bilingual Edition)
Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement-Fourth Edition/Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz (Spelling, Letter-Word Identification, Applied Problems)
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort Letter Sounds
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study mathematics assessment
Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS AppTM)
Leiter International Performance Scale-Third Edition (Leiter-3) Examiner Rating Scale
Selected items from the Personal Maturity Scale, Social Skills Rating System and Behavior Problems Index
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 Approaches to Learning
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 within centers (stage three) and children within classrooms (stage four) were sampled with equal probability. A total of 180 programs were selected, 60 of which included child-level data collection in fall 2019. 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. A description of the sample design is found in Chapter II of the User's Manual.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Center/Program Data
DS2: Classroom/Teacher Data
DS3: Child Data
description: The Head Start programs participating in FACES 2019 were a probability sample selected from among 1,515 study-eligible programs on the 2017-2018 Head Start Program Information Report (PIR). To be eligible for the study, a program had to include at least one center-based classroom, 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 American Indian and Alaska Native program (Region XI) or Migrant and Seasonal Worker program (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, as were parents associated with selected children. (Child sampling is only applicable for the programs that participated in the Classroom + Child Outcomes Study.) See Chapter II of the User's Manual for more information on the FACES 2019 samples. Smallest Geographic Unit: Country
description: computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI); computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI); cognitive assessment test; mail questionnaire; paper and pencil interview (PAPI); web-based survey<strong>Project Officers:</strong>
The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey would like to acknowledge Nina Philipsen Hetzner and Alysia Blandon's roles as the ACF Project Officers.
<strong>Project Director:</strong>
Lizabeth Malone, Ph.D. (Mathematica Policy Research)
<strong>Principal Investigators:</strong>
Louisa Tarullo, Ph.D. and Nikki Aikens, Ph.D. (Mathematica Policy Research)
<strong>Acknowledgment:</strong>
Juárez and Associates, Inc. assisted in collecting data for FACES 2019. Psychometric support was provided by Educational Testing Service.
<strong>Additional Resources:</strong>
Reports based on this data collection are available at the Administration for Children and Families website.For additional information on the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) study, please visit the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation website.