Justification

MEMORANDUM OMB # 1880-0542

DATE: June 23, 2015

TO: Shelly Martinez and Sharon Mar

Office of Management and Budget

THROUGH: Kashka Kubzdela

National Center for Education Statistics

FROM: Patricia Etienne

National Center for Education Statistics

SUBJECT: Recruitment changes for NIES-Focus Group Study OMB Fast-Track Submittals

We have been informed of a change in the recruitment process for the NIES’ Reports Focus Groups scheduled to be conducted later this week, which were approved on April 24, 2015 (OMB# 1880-0542). The contractor conducting the study, Kauffman & Associates, Inc. (KAI), originally planned to send a recruitment letter through the NCAI (National  Congress of American Indians) Meetings and Events team.  However, NCAI determined that they would be unable to send a recruitment letter to all attendees and suggested for KAI to instead recruit on-site at the NCAI Conference in June 2015. In order to recruit focus group participants at the conference itself, KAI has developed a flyer based on the same language as in the OMB-approved recruitment letter. KAI plans to distribute flyers from the NIES booth and leave them on information tables and at sessions pertinent to NIES. The new recruitment flyer is included below.

NCES Response to OMB passback:

OMB: “Does ED anticipate an impact on response based on the new recruitment tool?”

Response: NCES does not anticipate an impact on response based on the new recruitment tool and KAI (the contractor performing the focus group interviews) believes that they will be able to recruit the needed participants for the focus group study. This recruitment effort should be effective given a more targeted approach in the form of distributing flyers at the NIES booth and at sessions that may crosscut NIES in terms of area of interest.

Help Improve the National Indian Education Study!

National Indian Education Study (NIES) was created in a 2004 Executive Order to fulfill the United States’ responsibility to educate American Indian and Alaska Native children according to nationwide standards for academic achievement. The study contains two parts: the first part assesses fourth and eighth grade students in reading and mathematics, and the second part asks students, teachers, and principals about the integration of the students’ native cultures in their educational experience.

We are seeking participants, 18 years and older, to provide feedback to NCES on the content, presentation, and usability of the NIES reports in order to improve future publications. The focus group sessions will give selected NCAI participants an opportunity to provide input on the NIES.

P articipants will receive a $50 gift card for their time and effort.

Focus Group Details

Focus Group to be held: June 29, 2015  6:30 p.m.  PLACE Meeting Room 12

• Participants will agree to spend no more than an hour reviewing the 2011 NIES Report before
  the focus group

• Focus group session will be no more than 1.5 hours

• All focus group participants will receive a $50 gift card for their time and effort

• The focus group will be audio-recorded
  (Your name will not appear in any oral presentation or written report. Focus group notes
  and other data will be stored without personal identifiers will be destroyed at the close of
  the project)

• Focus group will focus on the content, presentation, and usability of the NIES reports

If you are interested in taking part in this voluntary study, please contact
Kristen Hudgins, Ph.D., at 301-395-9401 or email [email protected].