[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 87 (Friday, May 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24626-24627]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09664]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Early Care and 
Education Leadership Study (ExCELS) Descriptive Study (New Collection)

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) within 
the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) seeks approval to 
collect information for the Early Care and Education Leadership Study 
(ExCELS) Descriptive Study.

DATES: Comments due within 60 days of publication. In compliance with 
the requirements 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: The ExCELS Descriptive Study is a new information 
collection to learn about what leadership looks like in center-based 
early care and education settings serving children whose ages range 
from birth to age 5, but not yet in kindergarten, and better understand 
how leadership might improve center quality and outcomes for staff, 
children, and families. The goals of ExCELS are to (1) develop a short-
form measure of early care and education leadership that has strong 
psychometric properties, and (2) examine empirical support for the 
associations among key constructs and outcomes in the study's theory of 
change of early care and education leadership for quality improvement. 
The study will recruit 120 centers that receive funding from Head Start 
or the Child Care and Development Fund, ask the primary site leader at 
the centers to participate in two interviews, and distribute surveys to 
select center managers and all teaching staff to test hypothesized 
associations between leadership constructs and outcomes in the study's 
theory of change.
    Respondents: Management and teaching staff from center-based early 
care and education settings that receive funding from Head Start or the 
Child Care and Development Fund.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                    Number of
                                   Number of      responses per     Avg. burden
          Instrument              respondents       respondent     per response    Total burden    Annual burden
                                  (total over      (total over      (in hours)      (in hours)      (in hours)
                                request period)  request period)
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Center recruitment call script              180                1             .33              59              30
Umbrella organization                       113                1             .33              37              19
 recruitment approval call
 script.......................
Engagement interview guide....              150                1             .33              50              25
Staffing structure and                      120                1             .50              60              30
 leadership positions
 interview guide..............
Teaching staff roster.........              120                1             .25              30              15
Center manager survey.........              240                1             .42             101              51
Teaching staff survey.........            1,680                1               1           1,680             840
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,010.
    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.

    Authority: Authorized by the Head Start Act section 640 [42 
U.S.C. 9835] and section 649 [42 U.S.C. 9844]; appropriated by the 
Continuing Appropriations Act of 2019; the Child Care and 
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 section 658O [42 U.S.C. 9858], 
which also provides authority to use this discretionary funding for 
research; appropriated by the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2019; 
and the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)

[[Page 24627]]

Act of 1990 as amended by the CCDBG Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-186).

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021-09664 Filed 5-6-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-22-P