California Preschool Study
RAND California Preschool Study — Provider 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, a private, not-for-profit research organization based in Santa Monica, California, is leading this study. RAND conducts objective public policy research in many areas. RAND is working with RTI International, an independent research institute, to collect some of the provider data. 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 are early care and education providers being selected?
We randomly selected households in California with preschool-age children and asked about regular care arrangements they have for their children provided in home and center settings. For children in such care arrangements, we asked permission of the parent or guardian to contact the provider to learn more about the care and education services they provide.
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 providers be asked to do?
All home-based and center-based providers who agree to participate in this study will be asked to complete an interview over the phone.
For home-based providers, the interview will take about 25 minutes on average and includes questions about the care and education activities provided and the provider’s background and beliefs about caring for children.
For center-based providers, the interview with the program director will take about 15 minutes on average. The interview has questions about the program’s services and staffing, and the director’s education and training background. We would also like to conduct a phone interview with the head teacher or caregiver in the classroom that the child in our sample attends. That interview will take about 20 minutes on average and includes questions about the care and education activities in the classroom and the caregiver’s background and beliefs about caring for children.
In addition, for a subset of the center-based programs in our study, we will ask permission to undertake an observational assessment of the classroom the child attends. That on-site assessment, which is typically conducted in the morning and lasts about 4 hours, will be conducted by specially trained data collectors from RTI and will be scheduled at a time that is convenient for the program and teacher.
What are my rights as a participant?
Your decision to take part in the RAND study is voluntary. In order for our study to be representative, 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 and RTI will keep your identifying information and your answers to our interview completely confidential. RAND and RTI will not share any information you provide about you or the children you serve to anyone, including parents. Your answers to the survey will be combined with the information we get from other providers 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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