[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 21, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2936-2937]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-1228]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    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

[[Page 2937]]

(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: Estimated Response Burden for Respondents 
to the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Research Design Development 
Project.

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                                                                     Number of        Average
                   Instrument                        Number of     responses per   burden hours    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent     per response        hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSHS Parent Interview I.........................             150               2             .25           75.00
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.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Copies of the proposed collection may be 
obtained 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].
    OMB Comment:
    OMB is required to make a decision concerning the collection of 
information between 30 and 60 days after publication of this document 
in the Federal Register. Therefore, a comment is best assured of having 
its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication. 
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent directly to the following: Office of 
Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, 725 17th Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attn: Desk Officer for ACF, E-mail address: 
[email protected].

    Dated: January 14, 2004.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-1228 Filed 1-20-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M