September 13, 2017

Dear Families,
I am a graduate student at West Chester University in the Department of Early and Middle
Grades Education, I am working toward my M.Ed. in Early Childhood. As a part of my Masters
degree program, I will be conducting a classroom action research assignment to understand
childrens experiences as they engage in high interest activities during the day.
For the next six to eight weeks I would like to include your child as well as the other student in
the class in my research project on childrens experience with high interest activities in their
preschool classroom. During the first two week period I will begin with a general classroom
observation of your child and observe how well the classroom runs and assess the interest level
of your child and the other children in the class. During the following three to four weeks the
teacher will be given high interest activities developed in response to pre-observation period,
which she will implement in her class. I will observe your child and the other children as they
participate in the activities to determine how children respond to the new activities. The last two
weeks I will observe the children post-implementation to see the effect the high interest activities
had on your child and the other children in the classroom, potentially including new learning
experiences as needed.
I will also send home surveys and if possible interviews to get your opinion of how the
classroom is progressing throughout this whole process on a weekly basis. I would also like to
speak with the children about their interest in the activities through informal interviews
throughout the school day.
All observations that I collect (observation, interviews, checklists or surveys) will be kept
confidential and no reference will be made to childrens names will be used in my research.
I do not anticipate any risk to your child, as their experience with the new learning activities to
be introduced during this study will not differ from a typical preschool environment. Your
participation and your childs participation in this project is completely voluntary. All children
will be involved in the high interest activities. The children who are participants in my
research will be observed and interviewed as they engage in the high interest activities. If you
choose for your child to not participate he or she will not be interviewed and observations of
his/her experiences during the high interest activities will not be recorded or used in my research
and course work. The choice you make whether to participate or not will not impact your childs
school status in any way. You may withdraw your consent of participation at any time, with no
penalty.
All information that is obtained during this research project will be kept strictly secure and will
not become a part of your childs school record. Your childs name and any other information
concerning his/her identity will be deleted from the research information. Your childs
confidentiality is most important and every effort will be made to insure that this research
remains confidential at all times.
The results of this study will be used for an online website that is required in my course, Early
Childhood Researcher, in the College of Education at WCU. Pseudonyms or codes will be
substituted for the names of children and the school. This helps protect confidentiality. The
website is a private site, viewable by myself, my classmates and my professors only. I will be
constructing a summary of my research project that will be available online to all, however,
childrens family names and the name of our school will not be included in the summary of my
research.
In the space at the bottom of this letter, please indicate whether or not you allow your child to
participate in this project. Participation includes the use written observations about your childs
experiences during the high interest activities and informal interviews with your child about
his/her experiences. Family checklists or observations will be sent home on a weekly basis
beginning with pre-implementation and continuing weekly throughout. Simply return your
checklist or survey if you wish to allow your responses to be included in my research. Simply
discard the checklist or survey if you choose not to participate.
Please return one copy of this completed form as soon as possible. The second copy is to keep
for your records. If you have any questions about this research project, please feel free to contact
me. Please keep a copy of this form for your records.
Sincerely,

Jacquelyn A. Bryant

_________ I agree to allow my child to participate in the interview and observations of his/her
experiences in high interest activities introduced in the class. I understand there is no risk to my
child and that I may withdraw my consent at any time, without penalty.

_________ I would rather my child not participate in the interviews and observations. I
understand that this decision will not negatively impact my childs status or participation in the
school experiences.

Parents signature and date:

______________________________________________________________________________

If you have any questions about your childs participation or this research project, please contact
me at the school phone or my email address mslovelieladie@yahoo.com.