Leadership in Early Care and Education CentersExCELSNCT05258994
Early Care and Education Leadership Study: Descriptive Study
An observational study of Leadership in Early Care and Education Centers, run by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
Mathematica and the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at the University of Massachusetts Boston, conducted a descriptive study within the Early Care and Education Leadership Study (ExCELS). Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Any ageHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Leadership in Early Care and Education Centers
- How many people
- 1,164 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 4 Mar 2022to 15 Sep 2023
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages Any age
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Study population: Center-based early care and education settings that receive at least 20 percent of its funding from Head Start or the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and serve children whose ages range from birth to age 5 (not yet in kindergarten). Data collection included interviews with each center's primary site leader (the person in the building who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis) and surveys for select center managers and all teaching staff.
Who may be able to join
- Early care and education (ECE) centers serving children whose ages range from birth to age 5, not yet in kindergarten, who are supported by Head Start or Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) subsidies. A center is defined as a specific physical location where ECE is delivered to children whose ages range from birth to age 5 (not yet in kindergarten) with at least two classrooms.
Who cannot join
- Classrooms operated by public schools
- Centers offering less than four hours of early childcare education each day
- Drop-in child care settings
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
Mathematica
Washington D.C., District of Columbia, 20002
About this study
Mathematica and the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at the University of Massachusetts Boston, conducted a descriptive study within the Early Care and Education Leadership Study (ExCELS). ExCELS is funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The goal of the descriptive study is to develop a new measure of early care and education (ECE) leadership that has strong psychometric properties and examines associations among key constructs and outcomes on how ECE leadership could support quality improvements. In early 2022, the study team recruited 132 ECE centers serving children whose ages range from birth to age 5 (but who are not yet in kindergarten) and supported by Head Start grants or Child Care Development Fund subsidies. In spring 2022, the study team conducted phone interviews to collect center characteristics and learn about the center's staffing structure and leadership positions, and distributed surveys to center managers and teaching staff in recruited centers.
Read the detailed description
Leadership is widely recognized as an essential driver of organizational performance and improvement, but little is known about its role in driving the quality of care and education centers provide and outcomes for staff, children, and families. ExCELS seeks to fill the definitional and measurement gaps to help the early childhood field understand how effective leaders can improve quality experiences for children in early care and education (ECE) settings.
The ExCELS descriptive study includes a purposive sample of 132 ECE centers from four states. These selected four states vary on administrator qualifications; quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) participation levels; licensing requirements to reflect the regulatory environment; funding sources (e.g., Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) or Head Start funding) to support access and quality; and geographic diversity. Within each selected state, centers were selected to achieve variability in funding sources, center size, and geography. The study includes ECE centers serving children whose ages range from birth to age 5 (but who are not yet in kindergarten) who receive at least 20 percent of their funding from Head Start grants or CCDF subsidies.
The study team conducted the following activities with the recruited centers:
- An engagement interview with the primary site leader (the person in the building who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis) to collect center characteristics and confirm center eligibility for the study
- A staffing structure and leadership positions interview with the primary site leader to understand the staffing structure and formal leadership positions at the center, and
- Surveys of center managers and teaching staff to understand key leadership elements related to the care and education of young children (on who participates in decision-making, their values and beliefs, and what they do to support high quality practices, coordination among staff and with families, having a shared vision, along with efficient operations), the center's culture, climate, and communication (such as collaboration among staff or whether there is a culture of respect, shared growth, and learning), and outcomes for the center and staff (job satisfaction, staff well-being and mental health, and staff retention).
- Keywords
- Leadership, Infant-toddler care, Early child development, Early childhood education, Head Start, Child care, Day care, Preschool, Child care and early education
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Job Satisfaction
Study-developed survey on job commitment (intention to continue to work at center); and satisfaction (enjoy job, make a difference, choose career again)
Measured: 5 months
Staff well-being and mental health
Job stress; four-item scale with response options from strongly disagree to strongly agree with the stronger agreement indicating more job stress (Institute of Behavioral Research. (2005). TCU Survey of Organizational Functioning (TCU SOF). Fort Worth: Texas Christian University, Institute of Behavioral Research. Available at ibr.tcu.edu.)
Measured: 5 months
Staff retention
Study-developed survey on teaching staff turnover over past 12 months
Measured: 5 months
Teaching staff report of family involvement
Parent involvement measure from Essential 0-5 Survey (Ehrlich, Stacy B., Debra M. Pacchiano, Amanda G. Stein, Maureen R. Wagner, Stuart Luppescu, Sangyoon Park, Elizabeth Frank, Holly Lewandowski, and Christopher Young. "Organizing Early Education for Improvement: Testing a New Survey Tool." Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research and the Ounce of Prevention Fund, 2018.)
Measured: 5 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted28 Feb 2022
- Study start4 Mar 2022
- Primary completion31 Aug 2022
- Study completion15 Sep 2023
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Leadership in Early Care and Education CentersStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Other
- Time perspective
- Cross-sectional
- Enrolment
- 1,164 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Department of Health and Human Services, University of Massachusetts, Boston
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Gretchen Kirby, M.P.P., Study director, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.Lizabeth Malone, Ph.D., Principal investigator, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.Anne Douglass, Ph.D., Principal investigator, University of Massachusetts, Boston
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05258994
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 50708
- Acronym
- ExCELS
- Status last verified
- Sep 2023
- First submitted
- 17 Feb 2022
- Last updated
- 18 Sep 2023
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: The study team plans to archive a restricted-use data file at the Child and Family Data Archive for secondary analysis by qualified researchers. The study team will implement procedures to ensure that data are prepared in accordance with archive requirements, removing all linkable identifiers and geographic details as well as all open-ended text and verbatim responses from all data files.
Publications
G. Kirby, A. Douglass, J. Lyskawa, C. Jones, and L. Malone. (2021). Understanding Leadership in Early Care and Education: A literature review. OPRE Report 2021-02. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 18 Sep 2023. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Early Care and Education Leadership Study: Descriptive Study
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05258994
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- ExCELS / 50708
- Keywords
- Leadership, Infant-toddler care, Early child development, Early childhood education, Head Start, Child care, Day care, Preschool
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 1,164 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Department of Health and Human Services, University of Massachusetts, Boston
- Study start
- 4 Mar 2022 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 31 Aug 2022 (actual)
- Study completion
- 15 Sep 2023 (actual)
- First posted
- 28 Feb 2022 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Mathematica and the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at the University of Massachusetts Boston, conducted a descriptive study within the Early Care and Education Leadership Study (ExCELS). ExCELS is funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The goal of the descriptive study is to develop a new measure of early care and education (ECE) leadership that has strong psychometric properties and examines associations among key constructs and outcomes on how ECE leadership could support quality improvements. In early 2022, the study team recruited 132 ECE centers serving children whose ages range from birth to age 5 (but who are not yet in kindergarten) and supported by Head Start grants or Child Care Development Fund subsidies. In spring 2022, the study team conducted phone interviews to collect center characteristics and learn about the center's staffing structure and leadership positions, and distributed surveys to center managers and teaching staff in recruited centers.
Detailed description
Leadership is widely recognized as an essential driver of organizational performance and improvement, but little is known about its role in driving the quality of care and education centers provide and outcomes for staff, children, and families. ExCELS seeks to fill the definitional and measurement gaps to help the early childhood field understand how effective leaders can improve quality experiences for children in early care and education (ECE) settings.
The ExCELS descriptive study includes a purposive sample of 132 ECE centers from four states. These selected four states vary on administrator qualifications; quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) participation levels; licensing requirements to reflect the regulatory environment; funding sources (e.g., Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) or Head Start funding) to support access and quality; and geographic diversity. Within each selected state, centers were selected to achieve variability in funding sources, center size, and geography. The study includes ECE centers serving children whose ages range from birth to age 5 (but who are not yet in kindergarten) who receive at least 20 percent of their funding from Head Start grants or CCDF subsidies.
The study team conducted the following activities with the recruited centers:
- An engagement interview with the primary site leader (the person in the building who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis) to collect center characteristics and confirm center eligibility for the study
- A staffing structure and leadership positions interview with the primary site leader to understand the staffing structure and formal leadership positions at the center, and
- Surveys of center managers and teaching staff to understand key leadership elements related to the care and education of young children (on who participates in decision-making, their values and beliefs, and what they do to support high quality practices, coordination among staff and with families, having a shared vision, along with efficient operations), the center's culture, climate, and communication (such as collaboration among staff or whether there is a culture of respect, shared growth, and learning), and outcomes for the center and staff (job satisfaction, staff well-being and mental health, and staff retention).
Study design
- Observational model
- Other
- Time perspective
- Cross-sectional
Who may qualify
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
- Study population
- Center-based early care and education settings that receive at least 20 percent of its funding from Head Start or the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and serve children whose ages range from birth to age 5 (not yet in kindergarten). Data collection included interviews with each center's primary site leader (the person in the building who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis) and surveys for select center managers and all teaching staff.
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Early care and education (ECE) centers serving children whose ages range from birth to age 5, not yet in kindergarten, who are supported by Head Start or Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) subsidies. A center is defined as a specific physical location where ECE is delivered to children whose ages range from birth to age 5 (not yet in kindergarten) with at least two classrooms.
Key exclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Classrooms operated by public schools
- Centers offering less than four hours of early childcare education each day
- Drop-in child care settings
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Primary outcome
Job Satisfaction
Time frame: 5 months
Study-developed survey on job commitment (intention to continue to work at center); and satisfaction (enjoy job, make a difference, choose career again)
Staff well-being and mental health
Time frame: 5 months
Job stress; four-item scale with response options from strongly disagree to strongly agree with the stronger agreement indicating more job stress (Institute of Behavioral Research. (2005). TCU Survey of Organizational Functioning (TCU SOF). Fort Worth: Texas Christian University, Institute of Behavioral Research. Available at ibr.tcu.edu.)
Staff retention
Time frame: 5 months
Study-developed survey on teaching staff turnover over past 12 months
Teaching staff report of family involvement
Time frame: 5 months
Parent involvement measure from Essential 0-5 Survey (Ehrlich, Stacy B., Debra M. Pacchiano, Amanda G. Stein, Maureen R. Wagner, Stuart Luppescu, Sangyoon Park, Elizabeth Frank, Holly Lewandowski, and Christopher Young. "Organizing Early Education for Improvement: Testing a New Survey Tool." Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research and the Ounce of Prevention Fund, 2018.)
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 18 Sep 2023.
- BackgroundG. Kirby, A. Douglass, J. Lyskawa, C. Jones, and L. Malone. (2021). Understanding Leadership in Early Care and Education: A literature review. OPRE Report 2021-02. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- Early Care and Education Leadership Study (ExCELS), 2018-2023 - OverviewLink provided by the sponsor.
- Mathematica: Early Care and Education Leadership Study (ExCELS) 2018-2023Link provided by the sponsor.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. The study team plans to archive a restricted-use data file at the Child and Family Data Archive for secondary analysis by qualified researchers. The study team will implement procedures to ensure that data are prepared in accordance with archive requirements, removing all linkable identifiers and geographic details as well as all open-ended text and verbatim responses from all data files.
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Gretchen Kirby, M.P.P. study director
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Lizabeth Malone, Ph.D. principal investigator
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Anne Douglass, Ph.D. principal investigator
University of Massachusetts, Boston
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Leadership in Early Care and Education Centers, run by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 18 Sep 2023. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Job Satisfaction (time frame: 5 months). The study lists 4 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT05258994, which also lists 1 linked publication.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 18 Sep 2023.