INTRODUCTION
You are being asked to participate in a research study at OhioGuidestone called “Joyful Together- ECE Pilot Training and Study”. The rest of this document will call the study “Joyful Together-ECE”. The word “you” in this document refers to a teacher/day care staff.
You are being asked to participate in this study because you are an early care and education professional (e.g. pre-K teacher) or an early childhood professional at a participating site in greater Cleveland, Ohio or northeast Ohio.
Your participation in this study is voluntary and is not required to receive services from OhioGuidestone or your organization. Please read the information below and ask questions to better understand this research study.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
OhioGuidestone wants to study a short evidence-based intervention that will help early care and education (ECE) teachers include more play with children in ECE settings. Evidence-based interventions are a type of activity that uses research results to support and improve services. OhioGuidestone wants to help children experience joy in combination with healthy relationships at an early age in hopes of building strengths in children to help them face life’s stressors.
We want to see if Joyful Together-ECE training and coaching-consultation will help ECE teachers and administrators include more play into daily activities and overall program priorities. Joyful Together has been shown to help adults and children experience more joy, lower stress, improve relationships, and build strengths in children. We want to see if Joyful Together-ECE can also do these things in ECE settings.
PROCEDURES
The main activities for this study are training and coaching-consultation. Additional activities will include surveys for teachers and student strengths. Study activities are detailed in this document.
What Trainings will I do?
During the study, ECE teachers will complete one basic training and 9-12 hours of coaching-consultation sessions between April-October 2025. ECE administrators will complete one basic training and 3-6 hours of coaching-consultation sessions between April-October 2025. Trainings and coaching-consultation will be delivered online via videoconference or in-person. Coaches will complete two basic trainings, deliver coaching-consultation sessions to ECE teachers and administrators, and participate in a six 90-minute community of learners and practitioners sessions.
What Study Paperwork will I do?
During the study, you will complete study forms and questionnaires. These will take you about 20-35 minutes to complete. Some questionnaires may be completed more than one time, for example at the beginning (“pre”) middle ("mid") and end (“post”) of the study. Study staff can help you fill out the forms, and some forms can be filled out on the internet or during videoconference coaching-consultation sessions.
Joyful Together-ECE Forms and Questionnaires
Early Childhood Teaching & Training History
Training Information Assessment
Training Evaluation Form
Teacher Stress Survey
Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA) for each child in classroom
Teacher Self-Reflection
Activity Tracker
Coaching-Consultation Forms (includes Fidelity Form)
Information Sheets for Parents
Sustainability Plan (administrators only)
What will I do in the study?
Your participation in the study will last for six-nine months.
During basic training, you will receive all materials: classroom iPad for form completion and video conference coaching-consultation sessions; Joyful Together-ECE manual; training slides; and a copy of each questionnaire/form. (Note: All forms will be available to complete online using the classroom iPad –or- alternate arrangements can be made with research staff to help safely collect your paperwork. ). You will be sent a copy of Joyful Together games and activities to try with your students, and a chart called an “Activity Tracker” to show which games you played in between coaching sessions.
Coaching-consultation sessions with teachers and administrators will be scheduled with you and the Joyful Together-ECE coach. Coaches will schedule sessions that add up to about 9-12 hours by the end of the project. Coaching-consultation sessions with administrators will be scheduled for 3-6 hours. All coaching-consultation sessions will take place through video conferencing or in person. (Video conferencing is a face-to-face meeting over the internet using a device that has both video (see) and audio (hear). We will use a safe, and secure video conferencing platform like Zoom, or Lifesize. To participate in video conferencing sessions you will use the provided iPads. Research staff will help connecting to video conferencing platforms.)
During coaching sessions coaches will help teachers reflect on the importance of play and relationships for healthy development in early childhood. Coaches will also reflect with teachers on the Joyful Together-ECE activities used by reviewing teacher’s Activity Trackers. In between coaching sessions, teachers and administrators will be asked to include as many activities into your classroom schedule and to track activities used, and if they were used with specific students, on the Activity Tracker.
Administrators will receive support for continuing the use of Joyful Together-ECE after the study during their coaching-consultation sessions. Administrators will complete a sustainability plan with coaches to make sure the study team gives as much support needed before the study ends.
Teachers and Administrators will also be invited to review the results of the study and offer additional feedback and suggestions about Joyful Together-ECE. This session will be after the study ends.
Each month, coaches will provide one-two Joyful Together-ECE Information and Activity Sample sheets for teachers to give to parents/families. These sheets will give parents and families information about Joyful Together activities that they, too, can do at home with their child(ren).
POTENTIAL RISKS
There are no known potential risks associated with participation.
ANTICIPATED BENEFITS
You may or may not benefit from this study. Possible benefits may include:
Better relationship between teachers and students
Increased fun and play in you and/or your students
Increased positive emotions and feeling in you and/or your students
Information learned from this research study may also benefit future teachers, children and families.
Continuing education units (CEUs) are available for the completion of all Joyful Together-ECE Trainings through the Ohio Professional Registry on the Ohio Child Care Resource & Referral Association (OCCRRA) and/or the Ohio Board for Counseling, Social Work and Marriage & Family Therapy (CSWMFT).
Each participating ECE site will receive a $1,400 incentive to support on-going use of play and healthy attachment activities and resources for participating classrooms. The incentive is broken down into four parts: $500 after training is completed, $450 at the mid-point, $450 at the end of the study after all study documents are received. Each site administrator will complete a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) with OhioGuidestone.
Confidentiality
Your information will be kept confidential and only used for this research study. Only people working on this research study will have access to your study information. We will collect your demographic information, but a unique number instead of your name or other identifying information will be used on study documents. Your name or anything else that could identify you will not be included in reports, presentations or publications from this study. Your information will be kept in a locked file cabinet in a locked room, and computer files will only be opened on password protected computers. All documentation with identifying information will be destroyed once the study has ended.
Voluntary Participation and Withdrawal
Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. If you choose not to participate, it will not affect your relationship with OhioGuidestone or any participating organization or program. You will still have the right to services that you are eligible for at OhioGuidestone. You will not be treated differently if you decide not to participate.
If you decide to participate, you are free to withdraw your consent and stop at any time. You will not be treated any differently by OhioGuidestone or any participating program or organization if you decide to withdraw from the study.
If you do participate in this study, your access to current and future services and client rights with OhioGuidestone will not be changed or different. There is no cost to participate in this research study.
Contacts and Questions
If you have any questions about this study, you can contact the study team at: research@ohioguidestone.org or 440-260-8865.
If you have any questions about OhioGuidestone’s services, including client rights, you can contact the agency’s Client Advocate at 440-260-8308.
You may also ask research staff any questions that you have now, or at any point during the research study.