Clinical trial NCT03842111: American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey
Official title: American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (AI/AN FACES)
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Head Start Participation
Keywords: Alaska natives
child care
child development
child health
child rearing
children
curriculum
early childhood education
families
Head Start
Native Americans
parenting skills
parents
programs
school readiness
teachers
Lead sponsor: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Children's Bureau - Administration for Children and Families
name: Tribal Early Childhood Research Center
name: Department of Health and Human Services
name: Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation
First posted: 2019-02-15
Enrollment: 1194
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 3
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: OTHER
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Region XI Head Start children (and their families), Region XI Head Start programs, Region XI Head Start centers, Region XI Head Start classrooms/teachers

Brief summary: 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 (AI/AN FACES), the first national study of Region XI AI/AN Head Start children and families, is designed to fill this information gap.

For more information on FACES, please refer to the ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT03705377.

Detailed 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 (AI/AN FACES), 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 has been informed by members of the AI/AN FACES 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 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 Office of Head Start (OHS) tribal consultations, nationally-broadcast webinars, National Indian Head Start Directors' Association Board of Directors (NIHSDA) annual conferences, the 2016 Administration for Children and Families (ACF) National Research Conference on Early Childhood, and the Secretary's Tribal Advisory Council (STAC) December 2014 and 2016 meetings.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

- The Region XI AI/AN Head Start programs participating in AI/AN FACES 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. 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.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Head Start programs in Regions I through X and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (Region XII) were not eligible for AI/AN FACES. Other ACF studies (FACES-NCT03705377 and MSHS-NCT03116243) focus on those programs.

Primary outcomes:
measure: English proficiency
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Language-English receptive vocabulary
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Language-Expressive vocabulary
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Literacy-Letter word knowledge/early writing
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Literacy-Letter sounds knowledge
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Mathematics
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Mathematics
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Children's physical health
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: General health status
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Executive function
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Social-emotional development
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Social-emotional development-cognitive/social behaviors
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Social-emotional development - Approaches to learning
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Classroom quality-teacher child interactions
timeFrame: One-day observation in March-May 2016
measure: Classroom quality-global classroom environment
timeFrame: One-day observation in March-May 2016
measure: Classroom quality-Native cultural and language experiences
timeFrame: One-day observation in March-May 2016
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Washington
country: United States
facility: Mathematica Policy Research
state: District of Columbia
Study officials:
affiliation: Mathematica Policy Research
name: Lizabeth Malone, Ph.D.
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
affiliation: Mathematica Policy Research
name: Nikki Aikens, Ph.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Mathematica Policy Research
name: Louisa Tarullo, Ed.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: