[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 122 (Wednesday, June 25, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37829-37830]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-16047]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

    Title: Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Research Design Development 
Project.
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    Description: The Head Start Bureau (Migrant Head Start Branch) 
within the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services is requesting comments on a 
pilot study that will be used to guide the development of appropriate 
and effective research designs for studying Migrant and Seasonal Head 
Start (MSHS) programs. This study is being conducted under contract 
with Westat, Inc. (with Aguirre International as its subcontractor) 
(282-98-0015, Task Order 44) to collect information 
that will guide the development of appropriate and effective research 
designs that could be used in an eventual national evaluation of MSHS. 
Such an evaluation would serve to bridge the evaluation gap between 
MSHS and other Head Start programs. MSHS has been excluded from 
previous congressionally-mandated evaluations of Head Start due in 
large part to the difficulty of applying standard research designs to 
MSHS' highly transient population.
    The Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Research Design Development 
Project Pilot Study will involve visits to six sites (three in the Fall 
and three in the Spring) where data collections will take place. Data 
collections will include interviews with program administrators, 
coordinators, teachers, parents, and other child care providers. There 
will also be some use of observational measures of classrooms and brief 
direct (one-to-one) assessments or parent and teacher reports for 
children ages 0-5, the full age spectrum served by the MSHS program. 
Data collection will take place during two time periods: Fall (October-
November) 2003 and Summer (June-August) 2004.
    The pilot study data will not be used to evaluate program 
performance or child outcomes, but to test the feasibility of different 
evaluation designs that could be used during an eventual national 
evaluation of MSHS programs. A primary issue to be tested is whether, 
or under what conditions, it is possible to assess program factors and 
child and family outcomes in different program sites among children and 
families who routinely migrate through multiple sites in a relatively 
unpredictable manner throughout a given growing season. Another issue 
to test is whether standardized measures of children's competencies, 
and parent/teacher reports of these competencies, are appropriate, for 
this largely Spanish-speaking sample, many of whom speak unique non-
Spanish/non-English languages, and whose cultural backgrounds are also 
unique. This pilot study is also designed to determine how children and 
families can be tracked across these multiple sites, and determine the 
kinds and intensities of MSHS program services they obtain, including 
such aspects as children's curriculum and care, parent services, and 
coordination with community resources and services.
    Respondents: Parents, Children, MSHS Teachers, MSHS Program Staff.
    Annual Burden Estimates: Estimates Response Burden for Respondents 
to the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Research Design Development 
Project.

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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
                   Instrument                        Number of     responses per     hours per     Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent       response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSHS Parent Interview I.........................             150               2             .25           75.0
MSHS Parent Interview II........................              75               2            1.5           225.0
MSHS Teacher Interview I........................               6               1             .50            3.0
MSHS Teacher Interview II.......................               6              19             .50           57.0
MSHS Child Assessment (3-5 years)...............              45               2             .50           45.0
MSHS Child Assessment (0-3 years)...............              12               2             .33            7.92
MSHS Program Staff Interviews...................              24               1             .50           12.0
                                                 -----------------
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours.........  ..............  ..............  ..............          424.92
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    In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Administration for Children and 
Families is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the 
information collection described above. Copies of the proposed 
collection of information can be obtained and comments may be forwarded 
by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of 
Administration, Office of Information Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, 
SW., Washington, DC 20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer, E-mail 
address: [email protected]. All requests should

[[Page 37830]]

be identified by the title of the information collection.
    The Department specifically requests comments on: (a) Whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection 
of information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 
Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted 
within 60 days of this publication.

    Dated: June 19, 2003.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-16047 Filed 6-24-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M