Approaches to Measuring Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships: Recommendations and Considerations
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Approaches to Measuring Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships: Recommendations and Considerations

Published: Sep 30, 2015
Publisher: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation
Human Services Quality Improvement Early Childhood Child Welfare Quality Measurement Data Analytics Research and Evaluation Surveys and Data Collection Evaluation Design
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Associated Project

A National Descriptive Study of Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships

Time frame: 2013-2018

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

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Authors

Diane Paulsell

Patricia Del Grosso

Sara Bernstein

Eileen Bandel

Key Findings

Key Findings:

  • Collecting data on the inputs to partnerships is important for building the knowledge base about the resources needed to support high quality implementation of partnerships. Items that measure input constructs are largely available from past data collection efforts.
  • We have grouped the activities needed to develop and implement partnerships into four categories: (1) partnership development activities, (2) partnership operation activities, (3) family activities, and (4) activities of other ECE systems that interact with the partnerships. To measure these constructs, we recommend collecting data from a range of respondents through surveys and qualitative interviews and focus groups.
  • Short-term outcomes for partnerships include enhancing capacity to offer high quality service options, develop strong partnerships, and increase staff professionalism. For families, short-term outcomes include increased access to services, continuity of caregiving for children, and parental involvement in work and children’s early learning. For other early childhood systems, expected short-term outcomes include alignment of rules and regulations across funding streams and quality improvement and professional supports. Longer-term outcomes, expected two years or more after formation of a partnership, include sustained partnerships, increased supply of high quality infant and toddler care, improved family and child well-being, and well-aligned early childhood systems.
  • Partnerships can be shaped by organizational culture and supportive leadership within the grantee and child care partners. Shared goals and mutual respect between partners can influence the experience of collaboration and keep lines of communication open. In addition, organizations with existing infrastructure for self-assessment and continuous quality improvement may be better prepared to work in partnership toward these goals.
The report describes our suggestions for measures of constructs in each section of the theory of change: inputs, activities, short- and long-term outcomes, and organizational and contextual factors. We describe the constructs, data elements, data collection methods, and recommended measures, as well as the types of questions that can be answered and how the proposed data collection can inform policy, practice, and research. We conclude with a description of our approach to developing and pre-testing new measures and qualitative data collection protocols.

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