Generic Clearance Memo

DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

OF CUSTOMER SERVICE SATISFACTION COLLECTIONS

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

NIFL K-3 Parent Pilot Program Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ X ] SURVEY [ ] FOCUS GROUP [ ] SOFTWARE USABILITY TESTING

DESCRIPTION OF THIS SPECIFIC COLLECTION

Specify all relevant information, including:

1. intended purpose,

The NIFL K-3 Parent Pilot Program Customer Satisfaction Survey will gather information from the parent participants and program facilitators who participated in the pilot program in order to evaluate and improve the draft curriculum and parent activity guide designed for the pilot program. The Institute is hoping to learn about the merit, quality and usability of the materials developed for this project and information needs to be gathered from both the parents who participated and the facilitators who managed and provided the training.

2. need for the collection,

The NCLB law directs the Institute to disseminate information on scientifically based reading research pertaining to children, youth, and adults as well as information about development and implementation of classroom reading programs based on the research.

In the fall of 2007 the Institute contracted services to develop and manage a pilot training program specifically for low literacy parents of children in grades K-3, that would engage parent-participants in activities that develop their knowledge of how children learn to read and their ability to help their own children become successful readers. The contractor was tasked with designing a draft trainer resource manual and draft parent activity and resource guide based on the Institute’s K-3 scientific reading research products. The contractor was also tasked with conducting a test pilot of the training materials.

The Pilot Project took place in 2 elementary school districts: Warwick, Rhode Island and Somerville, Massachusetts. The pilot program for these 2 sites was called. “Our Reading and Writing Journey: Helping your Child Learn to Read.” Each site met once per week as a group for 2 hours. Parent participants in Warwick, Rhode Island come from throughout the school district. Parent participants in Sommerville, MA come from one school, Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park. Both sites completed the pilot training in May of 2008 and some attended an optional summer program as well. The final draft program materials were completed in August of 2008.

The Institute will use the survey data to addresses the written materials used in the pilot, the structure of the training and participant satisfaction The Institute is hoping to learn about the merit, quality and usability of the materials developed for this project in order to update and improve upon the materials for future use. This K-3 training is considered to part of the Institute’s scientifically based reading research practioner resource collection which when completed will available as a free resource to schools, reading programs and other education and literacy programs.

3. planned use of the data,

The Institute will use the survey data to address the written materials used in the pilot, the structure of the training and participant satisfaction. Overall findings and a summary of the data will be provided by the contractor to the Institute for in-house use only. The Institute is hoping to learn about the merit, quality and usability of the materials developed for this project. The survey information will not be shared with other sources or made public in any way.

4. date(s) and location(s),

The NIFL K-3 Parent Pilot Program Customer Satisfaction Survey will be administered in April of 2009 in Warwick, Rhode Island and Sommerville, Massachusetts.

5. collection procedures,

Participants will be scheduled for in-person interviews at a time convenient for them in locations within their community. Parent participant interviews will take no more than 30 minutes to complete survey; facilitators will take no longer than 30 minutes to complete survey. Parent participant and facilitator interviews will be tape recorded (on a digital recorder) to ensure that we capture all of the responses. Because the program will have ended more than 8 months before the interviews, program materials will be on hand to facilitate the participants’ memory. Tapes and transcripts will only be identified by IDs and data will be aggregated to ensure confidentiality. RTI’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) will oversee the protection of human subjects.

Tapes will be downloaded to the project share drive on RTI’s secure website and transcribed for subsequent analysis; transcriptions will also be kept on the share drive. Interviewers will be encouraged to take handwritten notes in case the tape recordings are difficult to understand.

6. number of focus groups, surveys, usability testing sessions

The contractor will administer the survey to parent participants and facilitators. It is anticipated that this would yield an estimated total sample of 18 parent participant responders and 3 training facilitator responders.

7. description of respondents/participants.

14 parent participants and 1 training facilitator come from throughout the school district in Warwick, Rhode Island.

4 Parent participants and 2 training facilitators come from 1 school in Sommerville, MA, Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park.

This will be a one-time collection.

AMOUNT OF ANY PROPOSED STIPEND OR INCENTIVE

Parent Participants: $20.00

Facilitators: $20.00

A suggested incentive of $20 is recommended for each parent and facilitator participant. The Institute realizes that cash incentives are not the norm for customer satisfaction survey participation, but feels this particular respondent group has a significant burden placed on them by participating in this survey. The participants come from a lower income background and any extra activity, which participating in this survey is, places a financial burden on the participants do to travel costs, missed work time, costs to secure child care. Extraordinary effort is also being required of these participants as they are being asked for feedback on program materials that were part of a training they participated in over 8 months ago placing a burden on the individual respondent to recall information and provide details of events that took place in the past, which are relevant to the completion of this customer survey and the overall purpose and need for this survey.

BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION (Number of responses (X) estimated response or participation time in minutes (/60) = annual burden hours):

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Parent Participants	18	.30	8 hours
Facilitators	3	.30	1.30 hours
Totals	21		9.30 hours

BURDEN COST COMPUTATION*

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Hourly Rate	Response Time	Total
Parent Participants	18	$30	.30	$540
Facilitators	3	$35	.30	$105
Totals	21			$765

* National Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in the New England Census Division, July 2007 was used to determine hourly rates for the participants

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

If statistical methods are to be used, fully describe the methodology, sample selection, expected response rates, and any other concepts needed to provide a full understanding of those methods.

None

REQUESTED APPROVAL DATE:

May 6, 2009

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON:

Andrea Grimaldi, Senior Program Officer

TELEPHONE NUMBER:

202-233-2036 direct

202-233-2025 main

MAILING LOCATION:

1775 I Street, NW Suite 730

Washington, DC 20006

ED DEPARTMENT, OFFICE:

National Institute for Literacy

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