NHES 2019 Early Childhood Cog Lab Communication Materials - Revision Memo

MEMORANDUM OMB # 1850-0803 v. 215

DATE: November 1, 2017

TO: Robert Sivinski, Office of Management and Budget

THROUGH: Kashka Kubzdela, National Center for Education Statistics

FROM: Sarah Grady, National Center for Education Statistics

SUBJECT: National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) 2019 Early Childhood Cognitive Interviews - Revised [Revision to a previously approved package (1850-0803 v.198)]

The National Household Education Survey (NHES) is a data collection program of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) aimed at providing descriptive data on the educational activities of the U.S. population, with an emphasis on topics that are appropriate for household surveys rather than institutional surveys. NHES topics have covered a wide range of issues, including early childhood care and education, children’s readiness for school, parents’ perceptions of school safety and discipline, before- and after-school activities of school-age children, participation in adult and career education, parents’ involvement in their children’s education, school choice, homeschooling, and civic involvement. NHES uses a two-stage design in which sampled households complete a screener questionnaire to enumerate household members and their key characteristics. Within-household sampling from the screener data determines which household member receives which topical survey. NHES typically fields 2 to 3 topical surveys at a time, although the number has varied across its administrations. Surveys are administered in English and in Spanish. The last NHES was fielded in 2016 and the next full-scale NHES data collection is planned for 2019. The 2019 NHES-ECPP (Early Childhood Program Participation) survey will expand content related to childcare decision-making and school readiness.

The request to conduct cognitive interviews to assess the extent to which new NHES:ECPP survey items designed to capture data about childcare decision-making and school readiness can measure these early childhood phenomena accurately were approved in June 2017 (OMB# 1850-0803 v.198). The purpose of these interviews is to ensure that (a) the items are clear, easily understood, and interpreted the way they were intended; (b) that respondents have the information needed to answer the questions; and (c) that the questions developed are applicable for racially, ethnically, and economically diverse populations and across care settings and age groups of children—including center-based, family-based, and Head Start settings. The results are intended to guide potential revisions to the ECPP survey for NHES:2019.

Due to significant challenges encountered in recruiting participants, this request is to increase the incentive amount offered and to add a remote interviewing option. This request does not increase respondent burden or the cost to the federal government.

This study was scheduled to conclude in September 2017, but we have encountered serious difficulties recruiting participants for this study. To date, recruitment ads have been placed on social media and listserves, and posted in over 80 schools, libraries, and other relevant organizations. This outreach has resulted in a mere 51 calls to our recruiter from people interested in participating, which resulted in 30 completed interviews and 8 more interviews scheduled (some of which might result in no shows), out of the desired 65 interviews. The original advertisements mentioned the $40 incentive and we think this may have contributed to the low response, especially given that these interviews are with parents of children 0-3 years of age, for whom going to an interview site while having someone care for their young child is especially difficult and often costly. This request is to expand the methods for interviewing and to increase the incentive from $40 to $75.

To reflect the desired changes, we made the following revisions to the approved clearance documents:

On page 3 of Volume 1, in the Design section, the sentence:

However, due to the hard-to-reach nature of the population being studied, some of the interviews may need to be conducted over the phone or through the use of video-conference technology.

was inserted after the following sentence:

The interviews will be conducted in-person in the metropolitan Washington, DC area in various locations (library, community center, coffee house, etc.) as is convenient for the participant.

On page 4 of Volume 1, in the Recruiting and Paying Respondents section, $40 was replaced with $75 in the sentence: “To assure that we are able to recruit the select types of parents who are representative of those who would be taking part in the 2019 NHES and to thank them for their time and for completing the interview, during recruitment each parent will be offered a $40 incentive for participation. Participants will acknowledge receipt of the incentive (See Attachment 1).”

On page 4 of Volume 1, in the Project Schedule section, “September” was changed to “November” in the sentence: “The interviews are expected to be completed by September 2017.”

Throughout Attachment 1 and Attachment 2, the amount of the incentive was changed from $40 to $75.

On pages 8-9 of Attachment 1, in the Recruitment Flyers section, the original flyers have been replaced with slightly less specific flyers designed to result in more parents feeling the interview applies to them.

Pages 29-30 of Attachment 1, we added Receipt of Incentive for Participation in Remote Interview, in English and Spanish.

On pages 12 and 22 of Attachment 2, a “if this is a remote interview” section was added to allow us to collect the information necessary to mail the incentive check.

No edits were made to Attachment 3.

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