OMB 0456 Spt Stmt

Supporting Statement

OMB 0704-0456,

Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Sure Start Parent Questionnaire

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Need for the Information Collection

The Sure Start Parent Questionnaire (Atch 1) is an instrument to measure the overall satisfaction level of parents of students enrolled in Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Sure Start programs. This collection is necessary to meet the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, Public Law 103-62; 107 Stat. 285, that requires agencies to have strategic plans and to consult with affected persons. A major purpose of the regulation is to improve Federal program effectiveness and public accountability by promoting a new focus on results, service quality, and customer satisfaction.  Additionally, the parent survey is also a required component of the annual program evaluation of the Sure Start program as required in section 5.5.3 of DoDEA Regulation 2020.1 (Atch 2). According to this regulation DoDEA Sure Start staff members are required to assess the quality of their program at the local level as a whole. One component of this program assessment is the completion of a parent survey, which when combined with additional data elements, will be used to develop the annual Progress Plan to ensure that the Sure Start program is being implemented as required and to make continual program improvements.

2. Use of Information

The DoDEA Sure Start Parent Questionnaire will be administered to all parents/sponsors of students enrolled in DoDEA Sure Start programs. Sure Start is the equivalent of pre-kindergarten but targets preschoolers who are "at risk" for later school failure because of economic circumstance or other health and/or family factors. In addition to offering a high-quality educational program that reflects best practices in the field, Sure Start program also provides health and nutrition, social, and parent involvement services. Close collaboration between families, schools, and the installation community is viewed as essential and a required part of the program. The survey will give parents/sponsors an opportunity to indicate their overall level of satisfaction with DoDEA Sure Start programs.

The information derived from these surveys is used to improve service and planning efforts at the school level. Individual teachers and classroom support staff use the information to make immediate programmatic changes and improvements, and often serve as a starting point for individual conversations with parents. In annual conversations with school level personnel, school and district leadership use the information to monitor the effects of the Sure Start program on a broader level and to identify areas of possible training need.

3. Improved Information Technology

No electronic information technologies will be used for administration; the parent questionnaire will be administered via a hard-copy pencil and paper format. Parents of students enrolled in the Sure Start program are junior enlisted Service members. Historical experience indicates they are less likely to have access to technology, and response rates via electronic surveys with this population have traditionally been much lower than the population at large. By making the survey available in a paper-pencil format and providing a verbal personal explanation of the purpose and importance of the survey, DoDEA has been able to increase the response rate.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

The Sure Start program in DoDEA is exclusively a school system program. Effective administration of a Sure Start Program varies from one school to another, requiring that each school conduct its own survey of its parents and use that data to make changes in the administration of the local school’s Sure Start program. Furthermore, no other agency outside of DoDEA collects parent satisfaction data concerning DoDEA’s Sure Start program. Consequently, there is no duplication of any parent survey.

5. Methods Used to Minimize Burden on Small Entities

The collection of information does not have a significant impact on small businesses or other entities.

6. Consequences of Not Collecting the Information or Collecting Less Frequently

The main purpose of the survey is to determine parent satisfaction with the local Sure Start program. Extending the time between surveys would prevent or delay the identification and implementation of needed program improvements.

7. Special Circumstances

There are no special circumstances. The collection of information will be conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

8. Agency 60-Day Federal Register Notice and Consultation Outside the Agency

The 60-day Federal Register Notice was published on Monday January 23, 2012 (FR Vol. 77, No. 14, page 3236 (Atch 3). No comments were received. Copy of the Federal Register Notice is attached.

This collection has been discussed with the following:

Francine R. Jones, CIP

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Contractor to Force Health Protection and Readiness Programs TRICARE Management Activity Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs)

Phone: 703-575-3536

Lori Pickel

Chief, DoDEA, Early Childhood Branch

4040 N. Fairfax Drive

Arlington, VA 22203

Frederick C. Licari, M.A., M.S.

Program Manager/Team Lead

Human Resources Strategic Assessment Program (HRSAP)

Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC)

Cindy Allard
Chief, OSD/JS Privacy Office
Office of Freedom of Information

571-372-0461

9. Payments to Respondents

No payments or gifts will be provided to respondents.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality

No identifying information is collected with the survey. All responses are completely anonymous.

11. Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Social Security Number (SSN), Privacy

Impact Assessment (PIA), System of Records Notice (SORN)

PII: No PII is collected.

SSN: The SSN is not collected.

Sensitive Questions: There are no sensitive questions in this survey.

PIA: A PIA is not required as no PII is collected.

SORN: A SORN not required as no PII is collected.

12. Estimates of Annual Response Burden and Labor Costs for Hour Burden to the

Respondent for Collection of Information

Estimated labor costs to the respondents based on an average of 10 minutes and 2 administrations are:

Total respondents: 1100

Frequency of Response: 2

Total Annual Responses: 2200

Burden per response: 10 minutes

Burden hours: 366 hours

Cost per response (@ $7.46/hour): $2,730.36

13. Estimates of Other Cost Burden for the Respondent for Collection of Information

1. There is no capital start-up cost associated with this information collection.

2. There are no operational or maintenance costs associated with this information collection.

14. Estimates of Cost to the Federal Government

The annualized cost to the Government of this data collection is reflective of the time required for teachers to review/collate results.

Reviewing time per response: 5 minutes

Estimated responses per year: 2200

Total annual review time: 110 hours

Average hourly wage of reviewer: $45.45

Total Government cost: $4,999.50

15. Reasons for Change in Burden

This is a revision of a previously approved collection. In renewing the OMB number for this survey, the time to complete the survey has remained the same but the respondent numbers have increased. The increase in number of respondents is due to better estimation of the number of respondents completing the survey and increases in the number of students (and therefore respondents) in the DoDEA Sure Start program.

16. Publication of Results

The survey is for internal programmatic purposes only and results will not be reported publicly.

17. Approval Not to Display Expiration Date

We do not seek approval not to display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection.

18. Exceptions to “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submission”

Exceptions to the Certification Statement are being sought:

(c) The collection of this information does not involve small businesses.

(i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology

B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

This collection of information does not employ statistical methods.

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