Customer Survey Memo

DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

OF CUSTOMER SERVICE SATISFACTION COLLECTIONS

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Special Education Postdoctoral Fellowship Customer Satisfaction Survey

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

DESCRIPTION OF THIS SPECIFIC COLLECTION

Specify all relevant information, including:

1. intended purpose,

The Institute of Education Sciences’ National Center for Special Education Research (IES/NCSER) will use the Special Education Postdoctoral Fellowship Customer Satisfaction Survey to gather information from the Postdoctoral Fellows who have participated in the Special Education Research Training programs funded by IES/NCSER. This survey will provide systematic information about the Fellows, their accomplishments and satisfaction with their training experience, thus providing information about the overall success of the training programs.

2. need for the collection,

The IES/NCSER Special Education Research Training programs began in 2008. Information regarding the accomplishments of the Postdoctoral Fellows, as well as their overall satisfaction with their postdoctoral training, is necessary in order to ensure that the IES/NCSER training programs are meeting their stated goals with regard to providing high-quality programs that train researchers able to conduct rigorous research in special education.

3. planned use of the data,

IES/NCSER will use the data to track the accomplishments of participating Fellows, monitor fellows perceptions of their training in special education research, and identify areas of success as well as areas in need of improvement. A summary of the data will be provided as part of the Institute’s biennial reports to Congress.

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

The Special Education Postdoctoral Fellowship Customer Satisfaction Survey will be distributed via email. This is intended to be an annual collection. We anticipate distributing the survey towards the end of each academic year (e.g., April). The first survey will be distributed in April 2010.

5. collection procedures,

The survey was prepared with Microsoft Word using the fillable forms toolbar. IES/NCSER staff will email a copy of the survey individually to Fellows at all training sites (currently 7) across the country; the program directors and coordinators will be asked to alert Fellows that the survey will be emailed to them. The survey instructs individual respondents to return the completed survey by email to IES/NCSER staff within approximately one month after receiving it (e.g., May). IES/NCSER staff will follow up with email reminders 10 days before the completed surveys are due. Fellows who do not return the survey by the due date will be contacted individually by email, with the goal of achieving at least 90 percent participation. This will be an annual collection. It is expected that the number of training sites across the country will increase as the IES Special Education Research Training Grant program grows.

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

It is estimated that 15 Postdoctoral Fellows will receive the survey in the Spring of 2010. In future years, we anticipate that these numbers will increase.

7. description of respondents/participants.

The surveys will be distributed to all Postdoctoral Fellows currently participating in the Special Education Postdoctoral Education Research Training programs funded by IES/NCSER. Students who have already graduated will also be contacted.

AMOUNT OF ANY PROPOSED STIPEND OR INCENTIVE

No payments are planned for this collection.

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
Postdoctoral Fellows	15	15 mins	3.75 hours
Totals	15	15 mins	3.75 hours

BURDEN COST COMPUTATION

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Hourly Rate	Response Time	Total
Postdoctoral Fellows	15	$0
Totals	15	$0

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.

The data will be entered into an Excel spreadsheet by IES/NCSER staff and descriptive statistics (e.g., means and standard deviations) for each item will be generated. Demographic information will be examined both quantitatively and qualitatively in order to better understand the population currently being served in our fellowship programs. Fellows’ accomplishments (e.g., number of papers published or presented at conferences, other honors received) will be tabulated as an indicator of program success in producing a generation of researchers trained to do rigorous research in special education. Descriptive statistics will be generated regarding fellows’ satisfaction with their training experience, and a synthesis will be written of the types of research questions and methodologies that fellows are using in their independent research projects. Descriptive statistics regarding postfellowship employment will be used to track program success in placing fellows in special education research positions. Program contributions to field-building will also be gauged through examining fellows’ intent to apply and actual applications for IES-funded grant awards of their own. Finally, the descriptive statistics can be used to monitor and compare the success of individual programs in producing researchers prepared to do rigorous research in education.

REQUESTED APPROVAL DATE:

October 31, 2009

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON:

Celia Rosenquist, Education Research Analyst

TELEPHONE NUMBER:

202-208-2024 direct

MAILING LOCATION:

555 New Jersey Ave, NW

Washington, DC 20208

ED DEPARTMENT, OFFICE:

IES/NCSER

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