[Federal Register: February 27, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 39)]
[Notices]
[Page 9090-9091]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27fe03-94]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Agency Recordkeeping/Reporting Requirements Under Emergency
Review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Title: Design and field testing of Head Start National Reporting
System on Child Outcomes.
OMB No.: New Request.
Description: The Administration on Children, Youth and Families
(ACYF), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is requesting comments
on plans to conduct the Design and Field Testing of the Head Start
National Reporting System on Child Outcomes. This study is being
conducted under contract with Westat and Xtria (282-98-0015)
to collect child outcomes information that will be used for program
improvement in Head Start.
The purpose of this field test is to create the framework and
procedures for a national outcomes report of children's ability and
progress on the Presidentially and congressionally-mandated standards
of learning. This effort will involve a subsample of 36 Head Start
programs. In these programs, we will collect direct assessment data on
approximately 1,440 sample children as well as their demographic
information, the backgrounds of their respective classroom teachers,
and the characteristics of their respective programs. This data will be
used to develop and evaluate a system to report this outcome
information.
After designing the framework and procedures for the National
Reporting System, Westat/Xtria will then evaluate how well such a
system would work, based on analysis of direct assessment data from a
national sample of programs, classes, and children. Westat will then
recommend any modifications to the design for the full national
implementation year of the National Reporting System (NRS), based on
the results of the field test. This could include recommendations on
the training procedures of field staff or modifications of the
assessment battery.
In the implementation of the NRS, staff training in collecting and
submitting data will be critical. In order to ensure high quality data
for the NRS, two different approaches to staff training will be
evaluated in two study conditions:
Standard Training
The NRS will use a ``training the trainers'' training program. This
effort will involve a subsample of 26 programs drawn from around the
country. Selected staff from each program will travel to Rockville,
Maryland to be trained in the procedures to teach other Head Start
staff members how to administer the assessment battery and how to use
the computer reporting system (Condition Two). Once trained, these
``trained trainers'' will return to their respective Head Start
programs and train their local teachers how to administer the
assessment battery and how to use the computer reporting system.
Extended Training
This training condition will involve a subsample of 10 Head Start
programs drawn from around the country. These programs will receive the
standard 3-day training workshop plus one extra day of extended
training on how to conduct training sessions for their local Head Start
staff (Condition One).
The field test will also evaluate any differences between the types
of assessors administering the assessment. Head Start classroom
teachers, the first type of assessor, will be responsible for
administering the assessment to children from their own classroom. The
second type of assessor is any other Head Start staff, or ``non-
classroom teachers,'' including program coordinators, education
coordinators, education specialists, or even teachers from other
classrooms (e.g., teacher from classroom A assesses children from
classroom B). The purpose of examining these types of assessors is to
determine if there are any differences in the administration of the
assessment and/or the scores collected by these different types of
assessors. Any possible bias or unreliability in the assessment scores
collected by the different types of assessors, and the ease of
administration and fidelity to standard administration procedures will
be evaluated.
Respondents: Head Start Children and Head Start Staff.
Annual Burden Estimates: Estimated Annual Response Burden to
Respondents for the Design and field testing of Head Start National
Reporting System on Child Outcomes.
Estimated Response Burden for Respondents in the Head Start National Reporting System Field Test--Spring 2003
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Number of Average
Activities Number of responses per burden hours Total burden
respondents respondent per response hours
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Head Start Children: Complete Direct Assessments 1440 1 1/3 480
Head Start Staff: Administer Direct Assessment.. 144 10 1/3 480
Head Start Staff: Enter Child Demographic 1440 1 1/12 120
Information....................................
Head Start Staff: Enter Teacher Background 144 1 1/30 4.8
Information....................................
Head Start Children: Parallel Child Assessments 480 1 1/3 160
administered by Field Staff....................
Program Directors Technology Survey............. 400 1 1/4 100
Condition One Head Start Staff: Training as 10 1 28 280
Trainers for the Direct Child Assessments......
Condition Two head Start Staff: Training as 26 1 20 520
Trainers for the Direct Child Assessments......
Head Start Staff: Training Local Staff for the 36 1 8 288
Direct Child Assessments.......................
Head Start Staff: Receiving Training for the 144 1 8 1152
Direct Child Assessments.......................
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Totals for Spring 2003...................... .............. .............. .............. 3,584.8
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[[Page 9091]]
Additional Information: ACF is requesting that OMB grant a 180 day
approval for this information collection under procedures for emergency
processing by March 15, 2003. A copy of this information collection,
with applicable supporting documentation, may be obtained by calling
the Administration for Children and Families, Reports Clearance
Officer, Robert Sargis at (202) 690-7275. In addition, a request may be
made by sending an e-mail request to: rsargis@acf.dhhs.gov.
Comments and questions about the information collection described
above should be directed to the following address by March 15, 2003:
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer
for ACF, Office of Management and Budget, Paper Reduction Project, 725
17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.
Dated: February 21, 2003.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-4585 Filed 3-26-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M