[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 39 (Thursday, February 27, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9090-9091]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4585]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Number of        Average
                   Activities                        Number of     responses per   burden  hours   Total  burden
                                                    respondents     respondent     per  response       hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.......................
                                                                                                 ---------------
    Totals for Spring 2003......................  ..............  ..............  ..............         3,584.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[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: [email protected].
    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