Proteólisis

Two of the most important issues to be clarified in the course of the household interview were whether or not the Study Child had started Primary School in September 2012 or was

44 _{See Chapter 1 and also Greene et al., 2010 for a consideration of Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological}

intending to start in September 201345_{, as well as the name of the school in question. Signed} consent was secured from the Primary Caregiver to approach the Study Child’s teacher, with a view to asking him/her to complete a detailed questionnaire about the child’s engagement and performance in school.

The school-based component of the five year sweep adopted a multi-mode methodology based, in the first instance, on a postal approach to the school; in the second, on intensive telephone follow-up and in the third, on a personal visit to the school by a survey interviewer. School-based fieldwork began with a postal phase in September 2013 when school Principals were sent an introductory letter and information leaflet about the study, along with a poster for display in the Staff Room. The purpose of this initial contact was to inform the school that the study was taking place and that the Study Team would be contacting it again immediately after the Halloween mid-term break (first week in November 2013) to begin the process of completing the questionnaires. The purpose of the initial contact was to raise the profile of the study within the schools which had a Growing Up in Ireland Study Child and to begin the recruitment process. The Information Leaflet and poster briefly summarised the objectives of this phase of the study and outlined the three different types of questionnaires (Principal; Teacher-on-Self and Teacher-on-Pupil) which the school would be requested to complete. It was decided to wait until early November to ask Principals and Teachers to complete the questionnaires to allow the pupils to settle into the new school year and to give the teachers maximum opportunity to get to know the pupils as fully as possible before completing the detailed teacher-on-pupil questionnaire.

Following the introductory letter, information leaflet and poster sent in the post to the schools in September, a further letter containing the information leaflet was forwarded to the schools in the first week of November. This later letter included more detailed information on the following items:

1. Information leaflet for Principals and Teachers

2. A list of the children in the school who were included in Growing Up in Ireland 3. The Principal questionnaire

4. The Teacher-on-Self questionnaire 5. The Teacher-on-Pupil questionnaires.

The postal approach in November was followed within 3-4 days by the start of an intensive telephone follow-up phase, carried out by survey interviewers. This verified that the material was received in the post and that the school was willing to participate in this phase of the study. The interviewers explained what was involved in the process, going through all of the procedures and questionnaires on the phone with the Principal. The interviewer also explained that the list of Study Children who were identified in the course of the home-based interview as attending the school would be sent to the Principal in the post and that this would be followed by a phone call to ensure it was successfully delivered.46 _{Co-operation by the} schools was very high, with all questionnaires completed by almost 95 per cent of those schools which had Growing Up in Ireland children.

When the Principal was recruited into the Study, the list of Growing Up in Ireland study children who were attending that school was then issued in the post. All questionnaires (Principal and Teacher questionnaires) were sent to the Principal, who distributed them to relevant teachers of Study Children for completion. The Principal was requested to ask each teacher to complete the Teacher-on-Self and Teacher-on-Pupil questionnaires, to seal them in an envelope provided by the Study Team and to return the sealed envelopes to the Principal for postal return to the Study Team.

Following the mailing of the questionnaires to the schools, repeated phone call-backs were made over a period of 6-8 weeks to remind and encourage schools and their teachers to complete and return them, or to secure a definitive outcome on non-completions. In some instances, some of the questionnaires from a school or teacher were completed and returned to the Study Team, others were not. Part of the follow-up process involved ensuring that the non-completions were not inadvertent oversights so that a definitive outcome code could be assigned to each type of questionnaire in respect of each Study Child. Following six weeks of the intensive phone follow-up phase, an interviewer was assigned to schools in which there were outstanding questionnaires. This phase of school-based fieldwork continued from January-April 2014, with a response rate of approximately 92 per cent of children.

6.2.1 ENDORSEMENT FROM TEACHER’S UNION AND PRINCIPAL’S REPRESENTATIVE BODY

The Study Team secured endorsement and support for this phase of the project from both the Irish National Teacher’s Organisation (INTO) and the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) for this phase of the study (as had been done at the 9-year phase of the study).47