Head Start CARES Demonstration: National Evaluation of Three Approaches to Improving Preschoolers' Social and Emotional Competence, 2009-2015

Low-income preschool children experience greater risks to their social and emotional development than their more affluent peers. These gaps are observed before children begin their formal schooling, and they remain or increase during
the elementary school years. Since social and emotional risks may compromise children's future mental health and peer relationships, addressing them is important in its own right.
In addition, social-emotional competence may aid learning: children who have difficulty regulating
their emotions and behaviors have been found to receive less instruction, to be less engaged in and
less positive about their role as
learners, and to have fewer opportunities for learning from peers.
The Head Start CARES (Classroom-based Approaches and Resources for Emotion and Social skill
promotion) demonstration tests three distinct approaches to enhancing children's social-emotional development on a large scale
within the Head Start system - the largest federally funded early-childhood education program in
the United States. Conceived and sponsored by the Office of Head Start and the Office of Planning,
Research and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families within the United States
Department of Health and Human Services, the Head Start CARES demonstration was conducted by MDRC,
a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization, in
collaboration with MEF Associates and several academic partners.
The three evidence-based social-emotional interventions selected for the Head Start CARES
evaluation included: The Incredible Years Teacher Training Program (IY), Preschool PATHS (PATHS),
and a one-year version of Tools of the Mind- Play (Tools). The interventions are referred to as
"enhancements" because they enriched and complemented existing practices and curricula used in Head
Start classrooms. These enhancements represent three "types" of social-emotional programming. That
is, while all three were
aimed at children's social-emotional development, they varied in their approach to changing this
set of child outcomes by targeting somewhat different teacher practices, because they were built on
differing theories about how social and emotional skills develop.
Baseline and Follow-up Class-level Impact Analysis Data
Files
Data included in class-level data files were collected from external observers and teachers
through two sources: Classroom Observations and Teacher Self-Surveys. Classroom Observations were conducted by observers blind to treatment status who observed the classrooms
participating in the study in four different sessions at Spring Baseline and
Pre-K Follow-up. This source includes the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) scores and
the Adapted Teaching Style Rating Scale (Adapted-TSRS) scores. Teacher Self-Surveys were
collected from lead teachers at Spring Baseline and Pre-K Follow-up. This data source includes
information on classroom composition as well as teacher demographics, teaching experience, level of
stress
and depression, and professional relationship with peers and supervisors.
Child-level Impact Analysis Data File
Data included in this file were collected at Fall
Baseline, Pre-K Follow-up and K Follow-up from teachers, children and their parents through three
sources: Teacher Reports on Individual Children, Direct Child Assessments and Parent
Surveys.Teacher Reports on Individual Children (Teacher Reports) were collected at Fall
Baseline, Pre-K
Follow-up and K Follow-up. Lead teachers filled out surveys for each child separately, including
questions about the
child's social skills and behavior, the child's specific knowledge and skills, and the teacher's
relationship with the child. Teacher reports were collected for both 4-year-olds and 3-year-olds at
Fall Baseline and Pre-K Follow-up, but
were not collected for 3-year-olds at K Follow-up. As a cover page to the Teacher Report, a
shortened version of the
Teacher Self-Survey was collected at K Follow-up and those data are included in this
dataset.Direct Child Assessments were conducted at Fall Baseline and Pre-K Follow-up. The
dataset comprises data on a set of tasks measuring different skills for each child separately,
including social
and emotional skills, self-regulation skills and academic skills. Direct Child Assessments were
collected for 4-year- olds only.Parent Surveys were collected at Fall Baseline and K
Follow-up. The survey was administered by phone and includes information on family demographics,
parent-teacher involvement, parent's perception of school safety, child's social skills and
behavior problems, parental level of stress and depression, and household composition and income.
Parent Surveys were collected for 4-year-olds only.
Class-level Implementation Analysis Data File
This data file includes data collected from coaches, trainers and teachers on teacher training,
classroom-based coaching, and classroom implementation. The data included in this dataset were
collected through five separate
instruments: (1) Teacher Training Attendance Forms, (2) Coach Weekly Logs, (3) Coach Monthly Fidelity Logs, (4) Trainer Fidelity Logs, and (5) Teacher's View of the Enhancement. Data collected from the first four data sources were
collected multiple times during the implementation year while the fifth was collected once at the
beginning of the implementation year. The instruments were administered through the Head Start
CARES management information system (MIS) with the exception of the Teacher Training Attendance
Forms, which were collected on paper. The file also includes
some Teacher Self-Survey variables. Data were collected for program group classrooms only.
Coach-level Implementation Analysis Data File
This data file includes data collected from coaches and trainers on classroom-based coaching.
The data included in this dataset were collected through five separate instruments: (1) Teacher Training Attendance Forms, (2)
Trainer Supervision Logs, (3) Trainer Logs of Coach Quality, (4) Coach Demographics Survey, and (5) Coach End-of-Year Reflections. The instruments were administered through the
Head Start CARES management information system (MIS) with the exception of the Teacher Training Attendance Forms, which were collected on paper.
Audiotape Analysis Data File
The audiotape data file includes data created using qualitative information (audiotape transcripts of coach-teacher meetings) that can be used to conduct analyses on one of the two components of the professional development model for the Head Start CARES demonstration: classroom-based coaching.
Child-level Tracking Data File
The child-level tracking data file includes parent-reported data collected in elementary school for children from the Head Start CARES sample. It includes information from parents about children's location and grade, social skills and problem behaviors at home, and receipt of special services.