California Preschool Study
RAND California Preschool Study — Household Survey
Lynn Karoly, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
RAND Corporation
What is the purpose of this study?
The purpose of the California Preschool Study is to learn more about how California parents currently use child care and early education services as well as the quality of the services their children receive during the two years before they begin kindergarten. The information gathered during this research is intended to improve the school readiness of California's children and children's eventual success in school. It will be presented to policymakers, educators, and politicians to assist them in their decisions about how best to improve the early learning experiences of California's children.
Who is doing the study?
RAND is a private, not-for-profit research organization based in Santa Monica, California and is heading this study. RAND conducts objective public policy research in many areas. Interviewing Services of America (ISA) is working with RAND to conduct some of the parent surveys for this study. This research has been requested by the Governor's Advisory Committee on Education Excellence and funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
How was my household selected?
Your household was randomly selected from a list of residential phone numbers or from a list of households that may have preschool-age children, obtained through a company that compiles these lists using multiple sources of public information.
When will the interview be done?
The interview would be conducted at a time and date that is convenient for you. If you are busy when we call, we would be happy to schedule a more convenient time to do the interview. You can also call our toll-free telephone number and ask to speak to a California Preschool Study interviewer at your convenience.
What are some benefits of participation?
This is an opportunity to contribute to important public policy research that may help to improve the early education experiences and futures of children in California.
What will I be asked to do?
All who agree to participate in this study and have a child in the eligible age range will be asked to complete an interview over the phone. The interview should take about 30 minutes on average, although your interview may be somewhat shorter or longer depending on your circumstances. The questions you will be asked will be about the child care and early education arrangements you use for your child. We will also ask for permission to contact your child care provider so that we may ask more specific questions about the provider's program. We will not discuss your child with your provider. We may also ask for your permission to contact you in the future should we have any questions or to invite you to participate in a future survey. If that is the case, agreeing to be contacted in the future does not obligate you to do the next survey. You can decide at that point if you want to participate or not.
What are my rights as a participant?
Your decision to take part in the RAND study is voluntary. We cannot speak to every California household with preschool-age children, so we hope that everyone we select will participate. Even if you agree to participate when we call, you can change your mind at any time. In addition, during the course of the interview, you may choose not to answer specific questions or stop the interview at any time.
Will the information I provide be confidential?
RAND will keep your identifying information and your answers to our interview completely confidential. RAND will not share any information you provide about you, your household or your child to anyone, including your child care provider. Your answers to the survey will be combined with the information we get from other people that we interview. Your information will be reported in totals, averages, and statistics, and individual answers and names will not be included in any study report.
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