Appendix E NIES Reports Consent Form

Appendix E

FOCUS GROUP CONSENT FORM

Introduction

In 2004, the National Indian Education Study (NIES) was created to fulfill the United States’ responsibility for the education of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children to meet the academic achievement standards set forth in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001. Biannually the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the primary federal entity dedicated to the collection and analysis of data on children’s education, reports on the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) on reading and mathematics assessments and on the educational experiences of AI/AN students in grades 4 and 8. The reports on the 2009 results of these two studies were released in June, 2010. Kauffman & Associates, Inc., an American Indian owned company based in Spokane, WA, is under contract with NCES to conduct focus groups with users of the National Indian Education Study 2009 - Part I: Performance of American Indian and Alaska Native Students at Grades 4 and 8 on NAEP 2009 Reading and Mathematics Assessments and on the National Indian Education Study 2009 - Part II: The Educational Experiences of American Indian and Alaska Native Students in Grades 4 and 8 Statistical Analysis Report. The purpose of the focus groups is to assess the data presentation in terms of accessibility and functionality of language, layout, ease of accessing relevant information, etc. The goal of this project is to provide feedback to NCES on the content, presentation, and usability of the reports for end users in order to improve the publications.

Participation and Confidentiality

The focus group sessions will be held with members of the National Indian Education Association (NIEA). Your participation is entirely voluntary. If you agree to participate in this project, you will be asked to take part in a 90-minute focus group. You have the right to refuse to answer any question that is asked and to refuse to participate at any point.

This study is authorized by law under the Education Sciences Reform Act (Public Law 107-279). Your responses are protected from disclosure by federal statute (P.L. 107-279, Title 1, Part E, Sec. 183). All responses that relate to or describe identifiable characteristics of individuals may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose, unless otherwise compelled by law.

Your responses will be recorded and written notes will be taken. However, your name will not appear in any oral presentation or written report and any information that you provide to us will be aggregated with other participants’ information. Electronic and hard copies of focus group notes and other data will be stored without personal identifiers in secure locations and will be destroyed at the close of the project. If you have any questions regarding this project or your participation, please contact Jeanette Hassin, PhD, Senior Researcher at KAI at (301) 588-6800 or at [email protected].

Risks and Benefits

There are no known risks from taking part in this project. The main benefits of your participation in the project include the enhancement of the NIES Reports Part I and II. Finding out this kind of information will enable NCES to better serve AI/AN students and their education.

Participant Costs and Compensation

There is no cost to you to participate in this focus group, with the exception of time. To compensate participants for their time and effort, each will receive a $50 gift card.

Consent to Participate in Project
I have read and reviewed the above information about this project. I hereby consent and voluntarily agree to participate in the NCES - NIES project. By signing, I am not waiving any legal claims, rights, or remedies.

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Participant’s Printed Name Participant’s Signature Date

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Interviewer’s Printed Name Interviewer’s Signature Date

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, “no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number.” The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1800-0011. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 2.5 hours per response, including the time to review the report.