Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Study

Study Overview
=================
Brief Summary
-----------------
The MSHS Study is a nationally representative study commissioned by the U.S. Office of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families that will describe the characteristics and experiences of the children and families who enroll in MSHS and the practices and services of the MSHS programs that serve them. The MSHS Study draws heavily on the Design for MSHS Survey Report (2011) and is informed by the current context of key policy and programmatic issues and broader issues impacting the lives of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families. The MSHS Study has two components: a Program/Center component and a Classroom, Family, Child component that are based on distinct samples. The first component is off-site and consists of mailed surveys that will be sent to the universe of MSHS program directors and a representative subset of center directors to provide information on program and center operations. The second component consists of onsite data collection - including classroom observations, surveys with teachers and assistant teachers, parent interviews, teacher and parent child reports, and direct child assessments - with a nationally-representative sample of centers, classrooms, families and children. Once data are collected, the study will address a set of research questions that can be summarized into three broad categories: (1) What are the characteristics of MSHS programs, families, and children? (2) What services do MSHS programs provide, what instructional and language practices are used, and what is the quality of MSHS classrooms? and (3) What are the associations between MSHS characteristics and child/family well-being?

Official Title
-----------------
Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) Study

Conditions
-----------------
Migrant and Seasonal Head Start

Participation Criteria
=================
Eligibility Criteria
-----------------
Inclusion Criteria: infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in participating Migrant and Seasonal Head Start centers/classrooms across the U.S. and their teachers and parents. Also includes center directors and program directors. Exclusion Criteria: -
Sexes Eligible for Study
-----------------
All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
-----------------
No

Study Plan
=================
How is the study designed?
-----------------

Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| MSHS children and families<br>Cohort includes: children (1272) parents (1272) teachers (159) teaching assistants (159) program and center directors (253) | |

What is the study measuring?
-----------------
Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Language Literacy | Indicators of language literacy will be assessed during week-long site visits using Letter-Word Identification & Identificación de letras y palabras in the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey. | 1 year | 
| Emergent Literacy | Indicators of emergent literacy will be assessed during week-long site visits using the Spanish Version (or English version for children who are not Spanish speakers) of the PLS-5 Auditory Comprehension subscale. | 1 year | 
| Emotional Skills | Indicators of emotional skills will be assessed during week-long site visits using the Cognitive/ Social and Emotional/Regulations Scales from the Leiter-Third Edition Examiner Rating Scales. | 1 year | 
| Classroom Quality | Classroom quality will be assessed during the week-long site visits using the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO) Tool and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System™ (CLASS™). | 1 year | 

 Terms related to the study
=================
Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
-----------------
migrant and seasonal head start, early childhood education, head start