Assessing the Implementation and Cost of High Quality Early Care and Education Project (ICHQ) Field Test, United States, 2021

Mathematica conducted a field test for the Assessing the Implementation and Cost of High Quality Early Care and Education (ICHQ) Project. The goals of the field test were to:

Refine implementation measures to further improve and establish their psychometric properties
Refine cost measures to identify costs associated with each key function and across ages of children
Test the associations between implementation, cost, and quality measures.
The research team recruited a purposive sample of 80 centers in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, and Pennsylvania to participate in the field test and conducted data collection from April to December 2021. Implementation interviews (DS2) were conducted by phone with either one or a few key staff who knew the most about the center's operations and educational program. Cost data (DS5) were collected in an electronic spreadsheet by staff who knew the most about each center's finances. A web-based time-use survey collected information about how all teaching staff and select center administrators spend their time in activities related to providing early care and education services (DS3). The research team also conducted a center engagement interview to gather information about center characteristics (DS1), and an additional survey of all teaching staff (the same respondents identified for the time-use survey) to assess their perceptions of center practices and the work environment (DS4).