Supporting Statement_online_educator_enrollment

Peace Corps—Office of Domestic Programs

Paul D. Coverdell World Wise Schools

Correspondence Match Educator Online Enrollment Form

OMB Approval Number: 0420-XXXX

Supporting Statement

Section A: Justification

1. The Peace Corps’ Office of Domestic Programs builds awareness of the benefits that Peace Corps Volunteers bring to the United States during their service. The Office of Domestic Programs comprises Paul D. Coverdell World Wise Schools, the Masters International program, the Fellows/USA graduate fellowship program, and Returned Volunteer Services. The Office of Domestic Programs’ activities and publications support section 2 of the Peace Corps Act, which states that one of the agency’s missions is to “promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of the American people.” Coverdell World Wise Schools was established in 1989 in order to bring the cross-cultural experience of Peace Corps Volunteers into the classrooms of the United States. Within the purview of Coverdell World Wise Schools, the Correspondence Match program connects an educator with a Peace Corps Volunteer serving overseas. The correspondence between the Volunteer, the educator, and his or her students is used to foster classroom activities and learning experiences relating to the Volunteer’s country of service and the Peace Corps. In order to participate in the program and be matched with a Volunteer, the educator must complete the Correspondence Match Educator Enrollment Form. An online form will be made available on the Peace Corps World Wise Schools website under the Correspondence Match section.

2. The Correspondence Match Educator Online Enrollment Form is the first point of contact with the participating educator. It is Coverdell World Wise Schools’ fundamental source of information from educators. Information to be collected includes educator name, school name, school address (including street number, city, state, and zip code), school phone, home phone, e-mail address, grade taught, number of students to participate in the program, educators’ preferences (geographic region of service, program or sector). Respondents include educators interested in promoting global education in the classroom. The information is used to make a suitable match between the educator and a Peace Corps Volunteer. The information will be collected annually on a continuous basis and with permission may be shared with the media, Congress, returned Volunteer groups, educational institutions, and other government agencies.

3. To improve efficiency in program administration and speed of enrollment, the information will be collected from an online form on the World Wise Schools website. The electronic submission of information is sent to the World Wise Schools e-mail inbox, [email protected].

4. Peace Corps has reviewed this enrollment form in order to avoid and identify duplications. There are no other information collected that can be used to make a suitable match in the Correspondence Match program between currently serving Peace Corps Volunteers and educators. The information collected is unique in that it applies only to the Correspondence Match program and elicits data regarding educators’ preferences for Peace Corps Volunteer partner participants.

5. The collection of information does not impact small businesses or other small entities.

6. This information cannot be collected less frequently than annually, nor does similar information exist, since each year a substantially different group of educators may participate in the program. This information is collected each time an educator enrolls or re-enrolls in the program. Re-enrollment occurs at the conclusion of the Peace Corps Volunteer match’s completion of service, early termination, separation, or evacuation.

7. There are no special circumstances. Collection will be conducted in a consistent manner with CFR 1320.6 guidelines.

   1. The collection does not require respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly.

   2. The collection does not require respondents to prepare a written response in fewer than 30 days after receipt.

   3. The collection does not require respondents to submit more than an original or facsimile copy of the form.

   4. The collection does not require respondents to retain records for more than three years.

   5. The collection is not designed to produce valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study.

   6. The collection is not statistical.

   7. The collection does not include a pledge of confidentiality.

   8. The collection does not require respondents to submit proprietary trade secrets or other confidential information.

8. The 60 day Federal Register Notice was published on 4/20/2007 on page 19983-19984. No public comments were received.

9. Peace Corps will not provide any payments of gifts to respondents.

10. Assurance of privacy provided to respondents is on the Privacy Act notice on the bottom of the form, as well as the Privacy and freedom of information policies available on every page of the website.

11. The enrollment form does not contain any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, etc. The collected information is used to make a suitable match between a Volunteer currently serving overseas with an educator.

12. Number of Respondents: 10,000

Frequency of Response: 1

Completion Time: x 10 minutes

Total Annual Hour Burden: 1667 hours

13. Cost estimate to the respondent: $0.00

14. Online Form Development: $28/hour x 40 hours = $1120.00

Employee labor to collect information:

Employee $28/hour x 1300 labor hours/fiscal year= $36,400

Federal Work Study =$5000/fiscal year

Cost to the Federal Government (2007): $42,520

15. N/A.

15. Coverdell World Wise Schools will not publish the results of the enrollment information. Collection of information does not employ statistical methods. The enrollment form is intended for continuous use.

15. The agency plans to display the expiration date for Office of Management and Budget approval of the information collection on all instruments.

15. The agency is able to certify compliance with all provisions under Item 19 of OMB Form 83-I.

Section B: Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

The collection of information does not employ statistical methods.

3