September 24, 2018

Dear Families,

As you may already know, I am a graduate student in the Department of Early and Middle Grades
Education at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, working toward my M.Ed. in Early Childhood. As
part of my Master’s degree program, I will be conducting a classroom action research assignment to
understand children’s emerging behaviors as it relates to conflict resolution and bullying in early
childhood.

For the next six weeks, I would like to include your child (and all of my students in Room 1) in my
research project on bullying in early childhood.

During a six-week period, your child will be observed as she/he engages with other children throughout
the day. I will be listening to language, and how children communicate during various activities. In
addition to observations of children’s interaction with one another, I will be interviewing children and
teachers about their experiences and responses to children’s conflict. Informal interviews will occur twice
during the six-week period and will contribute to my understanding of conflict, bullies, victims, and
bully-victims. I will also be sending home a survey for parents/caregivers to complete, regarding their
child’s behavior. Finally, I will be examining our current curriculum to understand ways in which bully
prevention and conflict resolution can be incorporated into children’s other scheduled learning
experiences.

All data that I collect (observations, interviews, curriculum, family surveys) will be kept confidential and
no references to children’s names or family members’ names will be used in my work.

I do not anticipate any risk greater than normal school life. Your child's participation in this project is
completely voluntary. Those children who are “participants” in my research will be observed and
interviewed as they interact with their peers. If you choose for your child to “not participate” she or he
will simply not be interviewed and observations of her/his experiences interacting with peers and
resolving conflicts will not be recorded or used in my research and course work. The choice to participate
or not will not impact your child’s grades or status at school in any way. You may withdraw your consent
for your child to participate 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 child's school record. Your child’s name and any other information concerning
his/her identity will be deleted from the research information. Your child’s confidentiality is most
important and every effort will be made to ensure 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.
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 child’s experiences during
peer interaction and informal interviews with your child about her/his experiences. Family surveys will be
sent during the fall as well. Simply return your survey if you wish to allow your responses to be included
in my research. Simply discard the 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,

Lizette Woods

******************************************************************************

________ I agree to allow my child to participate in the interview and observations of her/his behaviors
during the bullying in early childhood research project. I understand there is no risk to my child as there
will be no changes to daily learning experiences, 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 child’s status or participation in school experiences.

Parent’s signature and date:

_________________________________________________________________________________

If you have any questions about your child’s participation or this research project, please contact me at
our school phone or email address. Thank you!
 Data Collection Calendar

________ October 1st – October 4th - Conduct observations –

_________ October 8th – October 11th - Conduct observations – Conduct Children interview

_________ October 15th – October 18th – Conduct observations - Conduct Teacher interview

_________ October 22th _ October 25th – Conduct observations – Conduct children interview

_________ October 29th– November 1st – Conduct observations – Conduct Teacher interview

_________ November 5th – November 8th – Conduct observations –Distribute Family Surveys