ECLS-K Memo

Memorandum United States Department of Education

Institute of Education Sciences

National Center for Education Statistics

DATE: March 29, 2019

TO: Robert Sivinski, OMB

THROUGH: Kashka Kubzdela, NCES

FROM: Jill McCarroll, NCES

SUBJECT: The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2022-23 (ECLS-K:2023) Preschool Children's Parents Focus Groups Update – Summary of Changes (OMB# 1850-0803 v.249, revised v.246)

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) conducts the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) program to provide descriptive data on the educational activities of the U.S. population. The ECLS program provides national data on children's status at birth and at various points thereafter; children's transitions to nonparental care, early education programs, and school; and children's experiences and growth through the eighth grade. The ECLS program also provides data to analyze the relationships between a wide range of family, school, community, and individual variables and children's development, early learning, and performance in school. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2022-23 (ECLS-K:2023) will be the fourth cohort in the series of early childhood longitudinal studies. Its purpose is to provide important information on children’s early learning and development, preschool early care and education experiences, transition into kindergarten, and progress through the elementary grades. The ECLS-K:2023 will go beyond its predecessor kindergarten cohort studies by adding a preschool round of data collection. Collecting parent data starting in preschool enables the study to measure influences on children before school entry, including their home environments and access to early care and education. The preschool data collection procedures will be field tested in spring 2020. A full OMB clearance package will be submitted for this field test in spring 2019. The request to conduct focus groups in spring and summer 2019 with parents of preschool children to obtain feedback on study messages and materials that may be used in recruiting parents and their preschool children to participate in the ECLS-K:2023 was approved in March, 2019 (OMB #1850-0803 v.246). This request is to revise the focus groups recruitment screener.

Originally, NCES planned to exclude from the focus groups any parents who work directly for or are retired from any department, agency, or office within the federal government as well as any parents who have a member of their household or an immediate family member who meet that criteria. Given the location of the first focus group in Montgomery County, MD, and the high percentage of federal employees who live in the area, our recruiters are finding it difficult to recruit using these exclusion criteria. As such, this request is to update the screener to remove this set of exclusion criteria. The focus groups will continue to exclude parents who work for or are retired from a market research company, a direct mail company or direct marketing company, an advertising agency or public relations firm, or the media (TV/radio/newspapers/magazines), as well as parents who have immediate family members who work for or are retired from these groups.

This request does not involve any changes to the estimated respondent burden or to the cost to the federal government for this study. The only requested change to the OMB package materials is revising question 1 in Attachment 1.

Attachment 1

The screener was revised to remove the exclusion criteria in question 1 related to federal employees (see the crossed out text below).

First, do you or any member of your household or immediate family work for or are retired from:

A market research company _____

A direct mail company or direct marketing company _____

An advertising agency or public relations firm _____

The media (TV/radio/newspapers/magazines)

Any department, agency, or office within the U.S. federal government _____