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The Expanding Children's Early Learning (ExCEL) Quality Study: Improving Preschool and Early Care and Education (ECE) Instruction through Curricula, Coaching, and Training was funded by Arnold Ventures and conducted by MDRC and its subcontractors, MEF Associates and RTI International. The study consisted of two phases: ExCEL Quality (EQ; 2019-2020) and ExCEL Quality Continuation (EQC; 2020-2021). This collection contains analysis datasets with calculated measures at the child (DS2) and classroom (DS3) levels, a samples dataset for each phase (EQ = DS1, EQC = DS20), and raw data organized by study phase and data source.

ExCEL Quality

In the EQ study, the research team conducted an experimental study testing two interventions that consisted of curricular and professional development support and that targeted different dimensions of classroom quality, namely:

• A whole-child intervention that targets structural and interactional aspects of classroom quality, using The Creative Curriculum for Preschool, 6th Edition
• A domain-specific intervention with a specific scope and sequence that targets instructional aspects of classroom quality, using Connect4Learning, 1st Edition

ECE centers were selected across four U.S. localities in Head Start and community-based child care settings and were randomly assigned to one of three research conditions (Creative Curriculum, Connect4Learning, or preschool-as-usual). The project was originally designed to assess the impacts of each of the interventions on the content of instruction, teacher practices, classroom quality, and child outcomes, as well as to collect program implementation data. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic that began in March of the 2019-2020 school year, adjustments were made to the guiding questions and research aims, data sources, and analysis.

ExCEL Quality Continuation

The EQC Study was a non-experimental study, aiming to understand ECE teachers' and administrators' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021 school year). The sample was a subset of the centers that participated in EQ in the 2019-2020 school year (n=26), plus five newly recruited centers. EQC provided stress management workshops and curricular support (Creative Curriculum or Connect4Learning) to participating centers regardless of their original research condition in EQ.

The A*CENSUS II All Archivists Survey is a national survey of individual archivists and memory workers in the U.S. that was administered in 2021 and builds on the foundation of the first Archival Census and Education Needs Survey in the United States (A*CENSUS ICPSR 4265), which collected data for the archives profession in 2004 .

Through the All Archivists Survey, the Society of American Archivists (SAA) endeavored to reach all archivists, memory workers, and every person in the U.S. who works with archival materials in any capacity, regardless of employment status or title in order to ask about their experiences in and perspectives on key issues in the archives field.

The study's primary goal is to assess whether a mixed-mode professional development (PD) model that combines virtual and in-person delivery of PD activities can serve as a viable alternative to the original face-to-face delivery approach in supporting teachers' use of the Assessment-to-Instruction (A2i) system, facilitating their implementation of differentiated small-group instruction, and improving students' reading skills in a large, diverse set of schools.

There are three datasets for this study:

• A school-level dataset that includes information collected about the 59 schools in the study. School-level information was collected from the 2017-2018 Common Core of Data provided by the National Center of Education Statistics, the 2017-2018 Civil Rights Data Collection provided by the Office of Civil Rights, and school-level reading achievement data during the 2017-2018 school year, provided by state education departments. To maintain anonymity of schools, we excluded any publicly available data about school characteristics from the dataset. In Table 3 in the study report, which compares the study schools to public elementary schools nationally, the national sample includes all public, regular elementary schools serving students in any of Grades K, 1, 2, or 3 that are not charter, magnet or virtual schools.
• A teacher-level dataset that includes teachers in the analysis sample (i.e. teachers in Grades K-1 in the 2017-2018 school year, expanding to Grades K-3 in the 2020-2021 school year). This dataset includes responses to the two teacher surveys administered in 2019 and 2021, information about teacher usage of the A2i platform, and the number of PD events attended by each teacher in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.
• A student-level dataset that includes all information used for the student-level analysis, including student demographic from district records and student achievement data from A2i assessments, Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests administered in the spring of 2019, and state/district reading tests administered in the spring of 2021.

The Archives Administrators Survey endeavored to reach administrators leading archives in the United States. Archives administrators are defined as the most senior leaders and decision makers at their archives, regardless of archive size. Administrators may oversee large archives organizations, archives departments or units situated within broader institutions, or community archives collections. Archives administrators may manage employees or volunteers or, in some cases, may be the sole steward of an archival collection.

Respondents were asked about the characteristics of their archives department or organization; staff scope; administrator responsibilities; recruitment and retention; funding and spending; organizational strategy; diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; upskilling and professional development; and community archives.

Demographic variables include respondents' years in their current role, total years of experience, degrees, age, gender, race, and sexual orientation, as well as whether they are transgender, have a disability, or are a care-giver.

The Study of Coaching Practices in Early Care and Education Settings (SCOPE), funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), aimed to examine the range of coaching options utilized in the early care and education (ECE) field. Data collection occurred in two phases, with initial data collection occurring in 2019 and follow-up data collection occurring in 2021 (referred to as SCOPE 2019 and SCOPE 2021, respectively). SCOPE 2019 examined how the prevalence, implementation, combination, and tailoring of coaching features vary across center-based classrooms and family child care (FCC) homes serving preschool-age children. In addition, the study explored programmatic and systems-level factors related to the implementation of coaching. SCOPE 2021 aimed to understand the practice and processes of coaching--and professional development more broadly--in supporting ECE settings throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and how those practices and processes have been adapted or changed in the context of the pandemic. The SCOPE 2021 surveys expanded the focus on remote versus in-person coaching strategies.

The SCOPE project was a mixed-methods study. SCOPE was conducted in seven states, and used a purposive sampling approach. The study included centers and FCCs that served preschool-age children from families with a low income. It primarily included settings funded through a Head Start grant or serving children with Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) subsidies, though settings also used other forms of funding. From February through July 2019, the project implemented web-based surveys with center directors, center teachers, FCC providers, and coaches. From July to October 2021, the study implemented follow-up web-based surveys with center directors, FCC providers and coaches who responded to the survey in 2019, and additionally conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with a subset of these respondents.

This Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) project has developed, implemented, and evaluated a series of innovative Socio-Environmental Science Investigations (SESI) using a geospatial curriculum approach. It is targeted for economically disadvantaged 9th grade high school students in Allentown, PA, and involves hands-on geospatial technology to help develop STEM-related skills. SESI focuses on societal issues related to environmental science. These issues are multi-disciplinary, involve decision-making that is based on the analysis of merged scientific and sociological data, and have direct implications for the social agency and equity milieu faced by these and other school students. This project employed a design partnership between Lehigh University natural science, social science, and education professors, high school science and social studies teachers, and STEM professionals in the local community to develop geospatial investigations with Web-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS). These were designed to provide students with geospatial skills, career awareness, and motivation to pursue appropriate education pathways for STEM-related occupations, in addition to building a more geographically and scientifically literate citizenry. The learning activities provide opportunities for students to collaborate, seek evidence, problem-solve, master technology, develop geospatial thinking and reasoning skills, and practice communication skills that are essential for the STEM workplace and beyond. Despite the accelerating growth in geospatial industries and congruence across STEM, few school-based programs integrate geospatial technology within their curricula, and even fewer are designed to promote interest and aspiration in the STEM-related occupations that will maintain American prominence in science and technology.

The SESI project is based on a transformative curriculum approach for geospatial learning using Web GIS to develop STEM-related skills and promote STEM-related career interest in students who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM-related fields. This project attends to a significant challenge in STEM education: the recognized deficiency in quality locally-based and relevant high school curriculum for under-represented students that focuses on local social issues related to the environment. Environmental issues have great societal relevance, and because many environmental problems have a disproportionate impact on underrepresented and disadvantaged groups, they provide a compelling subject of study for students from these groups in developing STEM-related skills. Once piloted in the relatively challenging environment of an urban school with many unengaged learners, the results will be readily transferable to any school district to enhance geospatial reasoning skills nationally.

This study involved random assignment of 80 school-based teams of educators to one of four conditions: (1) lesson study supported by a fractions resource kit; (2) lesson study without the fractions resource kit; (3) fractions resource kit without lesson study; or (4) practice-as-usual (no fractions resource kit, asked to refrain from lesson study). Teams were mailed the materials for their condition and used them locally. Each educator team included at least one grade 3 or 4 teacher who agreed to video record three fractions lessons, and their students comprise the student sample. Outcome measures focus on instruction, student fractions knowledge, teachers' fractions knowledge, beliefs about teaching-learning, and professional learning perceptions.

The Teacher Quality Grants Texas project was a broad, evaluative study with the goal of better understanding the professional growth in teachers who self-selected to participate in focused, long-term professional development in mathematics or science provided by the Teacher Quality Granting Program (TQGP). The TQGP, funded through No Child Left Behind (NCLB), aimed to improve the quality of teaching which, in turn, leads to improved student achievement.

The 2014-2016 cycle of this study includes administrative and qualitative data, much of which contain observation notes and comments from trained raters observing teachers in their classroom environments. The data also include ratings on classroom activities, organization, student attention, type of student cognition, instructional inquiry demonstrated by teacher, and types of assessment. Teachers in the classroom were also rated on instructional, discourse, assessment, and curriculum factors. Additional, the data contain pre- and post-scores of content tests taken by teachers at the high school level. Administrative data on teachers includes academic degree type, college hours in project topic area, whether teacher had an alternative emergency certificate, grade level(s) taught, teaching assignments related to grant topic area, certification exams passed before and after the grant project, teaching assignment after grant project, reason for leaving grant project, and number of project days and hours by year.

Additional qualitative data in this study includes participant reflective writings and interview transcripts. Teachers responded to a series of eight reflective prompts designed to elicit participant growth in subject matter, pedagogy, use of instructional technology, and development within a professional community of practice. A subset of teacher-participants were also interviewed by phone, during the summer following a year of grant participation.

The Teacher Quality Grants Texas project is a broad, ongoing evaluative study with the goal of better understanding the professional growth in teachers who have self-selected to participate in focused, long-term professional development in mathematics or science provided by the Teacher Quality Granting Program (TQGP). The TQGP, funded through No Child Left Behind (NCLB), aims to improve the quality of teaching which, in turn, leads to improved student achievement.

The 2012-2014 cycle of this study includes administrative and qualitative data, much of which contain observation notes and comments from trained raters observing teachers in their classroom environments. The data include ratings on classroom activities, organization, student attention, type of student cognition, instructional inquiry demonstrated by teacher, and types of assessment. Teachers in the classroom were also rated on instructional, discourse, assessment, and curriculum factors. Additionally, the data contain pre- and post-scores of content tests taken by teachers at the high school level. Administrative data on teachers includes academic degree type, college hours in project topic area, whether teacher had an alternative emergency certificate, grade level(s) taught, teaching assignments related to grant topic area, certification exams passed before and after the grant project, teaching assignment after grant project, reason for leaving grant project, and number of project days and hours by year.

Additional qualitative data in this study includes participant reflective writings and interview transcripts. Teachers responded to a series of eight reflective prompts designed to elicit participant growth in subject matter, pedagogy, use of instructional technology, and development within a professional community of practice. A subset of teacher-participants were also interviewed by phone, during the summer following a year of grant participation.

The ELMC Study collected data to describe the objectives, activities, approaches, strategies, and other aspects of the Early Learning Mentor Coach (ELMC) initiative from the perspectives of Head Start grantees, coaches, and staff. In October 2010, the funds to support the ELMC initiative were distributed to 130 Head Start grantees in 42 states and the District of Columbia for a seventeen month period. Grantees used the funds to hire coaches to provide on-the-job guidance, training, mentoring and technical assistance to Head Start staff. The grant recipients reflected the diversity of Head Start programs, including Migrant and Seasonal Head Start and American Indian and Alaskan Native Head Start grantees. Data was collected using a mixed-methods design (qualitative and quantitative) and the following data collection instruments: a grantee census survey; a coach census survey; coach telephone interviews; and staff telephone interviews with staff who received coaching. At this time, only the quantitative data are available via ICPSR.

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.

The Professional Development Study (PDS) is a randomized controlled evaluation of two forms of professional development delivered to over 490 early childhood education teachers: (1) coursework on effective instructional interactions (as defined by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System [CLASS], an observational measure with established links to child outcomes) and (2) video-based consultation support through MyTeachingPartner (MTP). These professional development supports aim to improve teachers' implementation of language/literacy activities and interactions with children, as well as promote gains in children's social and academic development.

The questionnaires and measures used to gather the study data were initially compiled into 76 Raw-level files. The Raw-level data were in turn used by the research team at NCRECE to create 10 comprehensive Analysis-level files in order to avoid any inaccuracies that might result from incorrectly merging the Raw files. The Analysis-level files are organized by participant and phase of study. Whenever possible, Analysis files should be utilized instead of merging individual Raw files.

Additional information about this study can be found at the NCRECE web site.

This study spans several years of data collection by the Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT) project. This project's main purpose was to develop a suite of instruments measuring K-8 teachers' Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT). These instruments are typically used to evaluate content-focused mathematics professional development. Over the years, this project piloted these measures in several contexts to establish psychometric properties of the instruments:

• With a nationally representative sample of middle school mathematics teachers in 2005 and again in 2006. The same sample was surveyed at both time points.
• With a nationally representative sample of elementary school teachers in 2008.
• With smaller samples of grade 4-8 teachers on specific mathematical topics (e.g., a form on rational number, a form on proportional reasoning).

The specific research questions varied with the sample. For the later pilots, we were interested in the psychometric properties of the measures and teacher scores' relationship to other teacher characteristics, such as their mathematical background and years of experience.

The Eurobarometer series is a unique cross-national and cross-temporal survey program conducted on behalf of the European Commission. These surveys regularly monitor public opinion in the European Union (EU) member countries and consist of standard modules and special topic modules. The standard modules address attitudes towards European unification, institutions and policies, measurements for general socio-political orientations, as well as respondent and household demographics. The special topic modules address such topics as agriculture, education, natural environment and resources, public health, public safety and crime, and science and technology.

This round of Eurobarometer surveys covers the special topics of employment and social policy, and active aging. Questions pertain to opinions about job security, starting one's own business, as well as opinions of and participation in training courses and voluntary work. Also, opinions were collected on poverty, retirement age, and general perceptions and attitudes on aging and age groups.

Demographic and other background information collected includes age, gender, nationality, marital status and parental relations, occupation, age when stopped full-time education, household composition, ownership of a fixed or mobile telephone and other goods, difficulties in paying bills, level in society, and Internet use. In addition, country-specific data includes type and size of locality, region of residence, and language of interview (select countries).

In 2000, the Kentucky General Assembly passed historic early childhood legislation (Kentucky's KIDS [Kentucky Invests in Developing Success] NOW Initiative) of which a component included the development of a seamless professional development system. The professional development system includes core content, articulation, credentials, scholarships and a training framework. This comprehensive professional development system, along with other initiative components in assuring maternal and child health, supporting families, enhancing early care and education, and establishing a support structure, have moved the field of early childhood care and education forward in the state and improved child and family outcomes.

This study was designed to build on the KIDS NOW Initiative by conducting research investigating the degree to which a statewide unified professional development system impacted the educational level of early care and education providers and subsequent classroom quality. It focused on three major predictors of professional development outcomes:

1. Individual teacher characteristics, including learning readiness, education (level and type), training experience, attitudes towards training, personality (conscientiousness, self-efficacy), job satisfaction (perceptions of support)
2. Characteristics of the program administrator, including administrator education and administrator support of professional development
3. Characteristics of the teacher's work setting, including program administration, and policies and procedures, and classroom setting (Child Care, Head Start, or Public Preschool)

The impact of these three predictors was measured on two major outcomes: (a) professional development outcomes, as measured by job status, learning and transfer of learning, and (b) organizational outcomes, as measured by program quality, child outcomes and staff retention.

The research questions guiding this research were focused on determining the degree to which (1) a unified professional development framework initiated at the state level results in positive child outcomes, and (2) the educational level of early care and education providers enhances the quality of classroom environments. Specifically:

• What components of a professional development framework are more effective in encouraging and supporting individuals to remain in early care and education settings?
• What components of a professional development framework are more effective in supporting early care and education professionals in enhancing classroom quality and child outcomes?
• Are there specific factors that impact early care and education professionals' ability to participate in professional development activities at various levels?
• Does the level and intensity of professional development experiences impact classroom quality and child outcomes?
• What personnel factors have the highest impact on quality classroom environments and child outcomes?
• What is the interaction between the personnel, professional development, and program variables on classroom quality and child outcomes?