[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 6, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 543-545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-29230]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Variations in 
Implementation of Quality Interventions (VIQI) Project (OMB #0970-0508)

AGENCY: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration 
for Children and Families, HHS.

ACTION: Request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), 
Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS), is requesting a 3-year extension with 
changes to continue collecting data for the study Variations in 
Implementation of Quality Interventions (VIQI). In addition to 
extending data collection, OPRE proposes to update burden estimates to 
accommodate a different sample size of centers, administrators, 
teachers, and coaches; to revise data collection instruments and 
activities for the impact evaluation and process study in line with 
lessons learned during the pilot study; to add a second timepoint of 
data collection for the teacher reports to questions about children; to 
provide one new instrument to collect parent report of children's 
skills and behaviors; and to provide one new instrument in anticipation 
of COVID-19 necessitating further information gathering to 
contextualize findings from the impact evaluation and process study.

DATES: Comments due within 60 days of publication. In compliance with 
the requirements of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, ACF is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects 
of the information collection described above.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the proposed collection of information can be 
obtained and comments may be forwarded by emailing 
[email protected]. Alternatively, copies can also be 
obtained by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, 
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, 330 C Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20201, Attn: OPRE Reports Clearance Officer. All 
requests, emailed or written, should be identified by the title of the 
information collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Description: Through the VIQI Project, OPRE aims to inform 
policymakers, practitioners, and stakeholders about effective ways to 
support the quality and effectiveness of early care and education (ECE) 
centers for promoting young children's learning and development. The 
VIQI Project completed a pilot study in about 40 centers in three 
metropolitan areas in 2018-2019 that is informing a year-long impact 
evaluation and process study that involves testing the effectiveness of 
two curricular and professional development models aiming to strengthen 
the quality of classroom processes and children's outcomes. The impact 
evaluation and process study is expected to begin in the fall of 2021 
and will include about 140 community-based and Head Start ECE centers 
spread across about 12 different metropolitan areas in the United 
States.
    The VIQI Project will consist of a 3-group experimental design 
where the initial quality and other characteristics of ECE centers are 
measured. For details about the study design, see the Supporting 
Statements at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewDocument?ref_nbr=202008-0970-009.
    In anticipation of changes to center characteristics due to COVID-
19, annual burden estimates and instruments have been updated to 
accommodate a different sample size of centers, administrators, 
teachers, and coaches for the impact evaluation and process study.
    The previously approved data collection instruments for the impact 
evaluation and process study include the following:
    (1) Instruments for Screening and Recruitment of ECE Centers. We do 
not propose any changes to these materials;
    (2) Baseline Instruments. Modifications made to surveys remove 
items that showed little variation in the pilot study, edit item 
wording to increase clarity and ease of understanding, and add a few 
new items to capture new constructs of interest based upon the insights 
gained from the pilot study. The child assessment and classroom 
observation instruments have been updated to reflect the selected 
assessments and observations. We added an additional time point of data 
collection (baseline) for teacher reports on questions about children 
in the classroom and have added in questions about children's academic 
skills. Parent/guardian reports to questions about children have been 
added to gather information about children's skills at the beginning of 
the impact evaluation and process study. Administrator/teacher COVID-19 
supplemental survey questions have been added to gather information 
about how the pandemic has changed typical center and classroom 
programming and functioning, if there is a need to contextualize 
findings from the impact evaluation and process study due to 
circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic at the time of data 
collection;
    (3) Follow-Up Instruments. Modifications made to surveys remove 
items that showed little variation in the pilot study, edit item 
wording to increase clarity and ease of understanding, and add a few 
new items to capture new constructs of interest based upon insights 
gained from the pilot study. The child assessment and classroom 
observation instruments have been updated to reflect the selected 
assessments and observations. We added in questions about children's 
academic skills to the teacher reports on questions about children in 
the classroom. Parent/guardian reports to questions about children have 
been added to gather information about children's skills at the end of 
the impact evaluation and process study; and
    (4) Fidelity of Implementation Instruments. Modifications to the 
Coach Log have been made to remove or consolidate items that showed 
little variation or proved less useful in the pilot study and to edit 
item wording to increase clarity and ease of understanding.
    Respondents: Staff members working in Head Start grantee and 
community-based child care oversight agencies, staff members working in 
about 140 ECE centers in about 12 metropolitan areas across the United 
States, and parents and children being served in these centers.

[[Page 544]]



                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                     Number of
                                     Number of     responses per
                                    respondents     respondent    Average burden   Total burden    Annual burden
           Instrument               (total over     (total over    per response     (in hours)      (in hours)
                                      request         request       (in hours)
                                      period)         period)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Instruments for Screening and Recruitment of ECE Centers for the Impact Evaluation and Process Study
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Landscaping protocol with                    120               1            1.50             180              60
 stakeholder agencies (staff
 burden in Head Start (HS)
 grantee and community-based
 child care agencies)...........
Screening protocol for phone                 132               1             2.0             264              88
 calls (staff burden in HS
 grantees and community-based
 child care agencies)...........
Screening protocol for phone                 336               1             1.2             403             134
 calls (HS and community-based
 child care center staff burden)
Protocol for follow-up calls/in-             610               1             1.5             915             305
 person visits for screening and
 recruitment activities (staff
 burden in HS grantees and
 community-based child care
 agencies)......................
Protocol for follow-up calls/in-             950               1             1.2           1,140             380
 person visits for screening and
 recruitment activities (HS and
 community-based child care
 center staff burden)...........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        Baseline Instruments for the Impact Evaluation and Process Study
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Baseline administrator survey...             175               1             0.6             105              35
Baseline coach survey...........              59               1             0.6              35              12
Baseline teacher/assistant                 1,050               1             0.6             630             210
 teacher survey.................
Baseline parent/guardian                   6,300               1             0.1             630             210
 information form...............
Baseline classroom observation               420               1             0.3             126              42
 protocol (teacher burden)......
Baseline protocol for child                4,200               1             0.5           2,100             700
 assessments (child burden).....
Parent/guardian reports to                 6,300               1             0.1             630             210
 questions about children
 (administered as part of the
 baseline parent/guardian
 information form)..............
Teacher reports to questions                 420              10            0.17             714             238
 about children in classroom
 (administered as part of the
 baseline teacher survey).......
Administrator/teacher COVID-19               980               1            0.25             245              82
 supplemental survey questions
 (administered as part of or in
 addition to administrator and/
 or teacher survey, to
 contextualize findings from
 impact evaluation and process
 study due to circumstances
 surrounding COVID-19 at the
 time of data collection).......
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Follow-Up Instruments for Impact Evaluation and Process Study
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow-up administrator survey..             140               1             0.5              70              23
Follow-up coach survey..........              47               1             0.5              24               8
Follow-up teacher/assistant                  840               1            0.75             630             210
 teacher survey.................
Parent/guardian reports to                 6,300               1             0.1             630             210
 questions about children.......
Teacher reports to questions                 420              10            0.17             714             238
 about children in classroom
 (administered as part of the
 follow-up teacher survey)......
Follow-up classroom observation              420               3             0.3             378             126
 protocol (teacher burden)......
Follow-up protocol for child               4,200               1             0.9           3,780           1,260
 assessments (child burden).....
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Fidelity of Implementation Instruments for the Process Study
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coach log.......................              47             108            0.25           1,269             423
Teacher/assistant teacher log...             840              36            0.25           7,560           2,520
Implementation fidelity                       80               1             0.3              24               8
 observation protocol (teacher
 burden)........................
Interview/Focus group protocol               236               1             1.5             354             118
 (administrator, teacher/
 assistant teacher and coach
 burden)........................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 7,850.

    Comments: 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.


[[Page 545]]


(Authority: 42 U.S.C. 9858(a)(5); 42 U.S.C. 9835; and 42 U.S.C. 
9844)

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-29230 Filed 1-5-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-23-P