C13. Group 2—Recruiting Call Script 2014.04.01

C13. GROUP 2—RECRUITING CALL SCRIPT

This page has been left blank for double-sided copying.

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OMB Clearance Number:  0584-xxxx

Expiration Date:  xx/xx/xxxx

UGGESTED TEXT—FIRST CALL TO SFA DIRECTOR

Hello, my name is _____________________. I’m calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service, to follow up on a letter sent to [SFA DIRECTOR NAME] and your district about the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS). Could I speak to [SFA DIRECTOR NAME]?

IF NOT SFA DIRECTOR/SFA DIRECTOR UNAVAILABLE: And your name again? When is the best time to call [SFA DIRECTOR NAME]? Is there an assistant SFA director I can speak with about the study? ____________________________. Thank you _____________ for your help, and please let [SFA DIRECTOR NAME] know I called!

IF ASKED FOR MORE DETAILS: The SNMCS will collect data from nationally representative samples of public school food authorities (SFAs), schools, and students and parents during school year 2014–2015. These data will provide Federal, State, and local policymakers with information about how Federally sponsored school meal programs are operating after the implementation of the new nutrition standards and other changes in regulations. The study is being conducted for the USDA and participation by selected States, districts, and schools is required under Section 305 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The results from the SNMCS will be compared with previous studies (the School Nutrition and Dietary Assessment (SNDA) and the School Lunch and Breakfast Cost study (SLBC)) and will provide information on the effects of the new nutrition standards on foodservice operations, the nutrient content of school meals offered and served, meal costs and revenues, and student participation and dietary intake.

IF SPEAKING TO THE SFA DIRECTOR: I am following up on a letter sent to you and your district on [DATE] regarding the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS). The letter advised you that a member of the study team would be following up with your office to provide more information and to coordinate your district’s participation in the study. Do you recall this letter?

IF YES, RECALLS LETTER: As you know, GO TO PARAGRAPH 2 OF “SUGGESTED TEXT— SPEAKING TO SFA DIRECTOR”

IF NO, SFA DOESN’T HAVE THE LETTER: Could I have/confirm your email? I can send you a copy of the letter and tell you more about the study/call again later. [IF NOT RECEIVED, SEND AND TRY TO CONTINUE BY GOING TO PARAGRAPH 2 OF “SUGGESTED TEXT—SPEAKING TO SFA DIRECTOR”/TAKE DATE AND TIME FOR CALLBACK.] When can I call you back?

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-XXXX. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 17 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection.

SUGGESTED TEXT– SPEAKING TO SFA DIRECTOR

Hello, my name is ______________________. I’m calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service, following up on a letter sent to you and your district on [DATE] regarding the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS). Did you receive the letter? [IF NOT RECEIVED, SEND AND CONTINUE.]

The letter explains that the SNMCS will collect data from nationally representative samples of public school food authorities (SFAs), schools, and students and parents during school year 2014–2015. These data will provide Federal, State, and local policymakers with information about how Federally sponsored school meal programs are operating after the implementation of the new nutrition standards and other changes in regulations. The study is being conducted for the USDA and participation by selected States, districts, and schools is required under Section 305 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The results from the SNMCS will be compared with previous studies (the School Nutrition and Dietary Assessment (SNDA) and School Lunch and Breakfast Cost study (SLBC)) and will provide information on the effects of the new nutrition standards on foodservice operations, the nutrient content of school meals offered and served, meal costs and revenues, and student participation and dietary intake. Do you have any questions so far?

OBTAINING STUDY APPROVAL (MOU/RA):

We want to make sure we get the appropriate approvals for your district to participate in the study because the study will ask for lists of students and contact information to mail letters to households. Therefore, we sent a letter informing you and [SUPERINTENDENT NAME] about the study. Is [SUPERINTENDENT NAME] the best person to contact for district approval?

IF NOT THE RIGHT PERSON/RESEARCH APPLICATION (RA) NEEDED: [OBTAIN NAME, TITLE, EMAIL and PHONE #]

Do you know how the approval process works?

IF HE/SHE KNOWS ABOUT THE APPROVAL PROCESS

What are the steps in the process?

How long do you anticipate it will take to get approval?

What can we do to facilitate the process?

[IF RESEARCH APPROVAL IS NEEDED, INFORM THE TEAM LEADERS AND DOCUMENT ON TRACKING SPREADSHEET]

STUDY DETAILS:

Mathematica is selecting a nationally representative sample of about 500 school districts nationwide and 3 to 4 schools per district. Data collection activities will be limited to only those necessary for success of the study. Your SFA’s participation will focus on student nutrition, student meal program participation, and the school environment. You will not be asked to participate in the extensive cost and revenue portions of the study. During school year 2014–2015, your SFA and schools will be asked to:

Complete a Menu Survey. This web-based survey will collect detailed information on the foods offered and served in reimbursable lunches, breakfasts, and afterschool snacks (if offered) during a target week as well as a la carte foods offered on a single day. The Menu Survey will also include a questionnaire about foodservice operations.

SFA Director and Principal Surveys. SFA directors and principals will be asked to respond to questions in web-based surveys needed to characterize district policies and the school environment.

Competitive Foods Checklists. A member of the school staff will be asked to complete a simple set of forms detailing the availability to students of vending machine items and other sources of food such as school stores.

Student and Parent Interviews. Professional data collectors will interview a small sample of students and their parents to obtain information on student characteristics, dietary intake, and consumption of and satisfaction with school meals. Students’ height and weight will be measured as part of the interview. Data collection activities will differ for elementary school students and those in middle and high schools and have been designed to be age appropriate. Kindergarten and prekindergarten students will not be included in the study.

Cafeteria Observations. Data collectors will observe one lunch and one breakfast period in each sampled school to document cafeteria characteristics.

The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-0000, expires X/XX/XXXX.

When does school start and end for school year 2014–2015?

NEXT STEPS: CONFIRM POINTS OF CONTACT

So, you will be our point of contact for everything SFA related, and I’ll contact Mr./Ms. ________________ about obtaining approval for [DISTRICT NAME] to participate in the study. Would it be best to include you in that phone call?

IF THE SFA DIRECTOR WANTS TO BE INCLUDED IN A CONFERENCE CALL:

What day and times are good for you? I’ll call the district office to set up the call with [SUPERINTENDENT NAME]/[ADMINISTRATOR NAME] during one of the times you’ve mentioned and send you a confirmation. Would you prefer I notify you of the conference call date by email or phone?

END CALL: Thank you so much for you help, I will send you my contact information by email in case you have any questions after the call. [CONFIRM CONTACT EMAIL.] As the date of our first visit to the district approaches, a member of the data collection team will contact you to coordinate logistics.

SEND THANK YOU EMAIL AFTER CALL AND UPDATE SPREADSHEET.

CALL DISTRICT TO GAIN STUDY APPROVAL AND START MOU PROCESS.

SUGGESTED TEXT—FIRST CALL TO SUPERINTENDENT [MOU]

Hello, my name is _____________________. I’m calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), to follow up on a letter sent to [SUPERINTENDENT NAME] and your district about the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS). Could I speak to [SUPERINTENDENT NAME]?

IF NOT SUPERINTENDENT/SUPERINTENDENT UNAVAILABLE: And your name again? When is the best time to call [SUPERINTENDENT NAME]? Is there an assistant Superintendent I can speak with about the study? ____________________________. Thank you _____________ for your help, and please let [SUPERINTENDENT NAME] know I called!

IF ASKED FOR MORE DETAILS: The SNMCS will collect data from nationally representative samples of public school food authorities (SFAs), schools, and students and parents during school year 2014–2015. These data will provide Federal, State, and local policymakers with information about how Federally sponsored school meal programs are operating after the implementation of the new nutrition standards and other changes in regulations. The study is being conducted for the USDA and participation by selected States, districts, and schools is required under Section 305 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The results from the SNMCS will be compared with previous studies (the School Nutrition and Dietary Assessment and the School Lunch and Breakfast Cost study) and will provide information on the effects of the new nutrition standards on foodservice operations, the nutrient content of school meals offered and served, meal costs and revenues, and student participation and dietary intake. I spoke with [SFA NAME] about participation and need to speak with [SUPERINTENDENT NAME] regarding the district’s approval process.

IF SPEAKING TO SUPERINTENDENT: I am following up on a letter sent to you and your district on [DATE] regarding the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS). The letter advised you that a member of the study team would be following up with your office to provide more information and to coordinate your district’s participation in the study. Do you recall this letter?

IF YES, RECALLS LETTER: As you know from the letter, the USDA/FNS has contracted with Mathematica Policy Research and its research partners (Abt, Agralytica, and Relyon Media) to conduct the SNMCS for school year 2014–2015, and your school district has been selected to participate. GO TO OBTAINING STUDY APPROVAL (MOU/RA).

IF SUPERINTENDENT DOESN’T HAVE THE LETTER: Could I have/confirm your email or fax number? I can send you a copy and tell you about the study/call again later. [IF NOT RECEIVED, SEND AND TRY TO CONTINUE/SEND AND SET CALLBACK] When can I call you back? [DATE and TIME]

• According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-XXXX. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 5 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection.

OBTAINING STUDY APPROVAL (MOU/RA):

We want to make sure we get the appropriate approvals for your district to participate in the study because the study will ask for lists of students and contact information to mail letters to households. [SFA DIRECTOR NAME] has agreed to participate and has named you as the person to contact to obtain district approval in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding. Are you the correct contact for this approval?

IF NOT THE RIGHT PERSON/RESEARCH APPLICATION (RA) NEEDED: Who should I speak to about obtaining approval/RA? [OBTAIN NAME, TITLE, EMAIL and PHONE #.]

IF CORRECT CONTACT FOR APPROVAL PROCESS: I would like to send you the MOU we have prepared for participating districts describing the responsibilities of the study team and [DISTRICT NAME]. We can talk about it once you have reviewed it. IF NOT MENTIONED DURING CONVERSATION ASK:

• What are the steps in the approval process?

• How long do you anticipate it will take to get approval?

• What can we do to facilitate the process?

IF DISTRICT REQUESTS A RESEARCH APPLICATION (RA) OR OTHER DOCUMENTATION, ASK IF THE MOU CAN BE REVISED TO TAKE THE PLACE OF THE RA. IF IT CANNOT, OBTAIN COPY OF RA AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS. INFORM THE TEAM LEADERS ABOUT THIS REQUIREMENT AND DOCUMENT ON TRACKING SPREADSHEET]

END CALL: Thank you so much for you help, I will send you my contact information by email in case you have any questions after the call, and I will send you the [DISTRICT NAME] MOU shortly. [CONFIRM CONTACT EMAIL].

SEND THANK YOU EMAIL AFTER CALL AND UPDATE TRACKING SPREADSHEET

• Recruiter customizes the MOU draft and sends to the district for review. The purpose of sharing the draft is to make sure everyone is in agreement and the MOU is approved. If the district wants to make changes, there is a team to help from here on. If no changes are needed, save the MOU to [XX] as xxx and email xx.

• Recruiter follows up as needed.

• Recruiter sends final version of the MOU to the district. Enter the date the countersigned MOU was received on the tracking spreadsheet.

EMAIL TEMPLATES:

THANK YOU, MOU COMING/ATTACHED

Dear [CONTACT NAME],

Thank you for speaking with me about [DISTRICT]’s participation in the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS). [I will soon be sending you/Attached please find] a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) summarizing the data collection efforts and other details of the study, such as our data security and confidentiality procedures.

[Please review the MOU and let me know if you have any comments by [DATE]. Once we agree on the content of the MOU, I will send you the finalized document for you to sign and return. If there are no changes, please sign and return to me for countersignature.]

I look forward to working with [DISTRICT NAME] on this very important study.

Thanks again,

[RECRUITER NAME]

[RECRUITER CONTACT INFORMATION]

SENDING FINALIZED MOU TO DISTRICT:

Dear [CONTACT NAME],

Thank you for your patience as we finalized the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) summarizing data collection efforts and other details about the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS). We are happy to be able to send you the final document via email for your signature. Please keep a copy of the document for your records. After you have reviewed the document, please sign it and either send it back by email to [email protected] as a PDF or by fax to (xxx) xxx-xxxx, attn: XXX.

Thanks again, and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

[RECRUITER NAME]

[RECRUITER CONTACT INFORMATION]