Supplemental Statement

OMB Approval No. 1205-0436

Expiration Date: 6/30/2020

ABBREVIATED SUPPORTING STATEMENT

CLEARANCE FORM

A. SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORTING STATEMENT

A.1. Title: Survey on Apprenticeship Program Expansion Among U.S. Employers
A.2. Compliance with 5 CFR 1320.5: Yes X No __	A.3. Assurances of Confidentiality: Yes
A.4. Federal Cost: $39,868	A.5. Requested Expiration Date (Month/Year): March 15, 2020
A.6. Burden Hour Estimates: a. Number of Respondents: 250 a.1. % Received Electronically: 100% b. Frequency: Once c. Average Response Time: 15 minutes d. Total Annual Burden Hours: 62.5 hours	A7. Does the Collection Of Information Employ Statistical Methods? X No __Yes (Complete Section B and attach CEO review sheet).
A.8. Abstract: Description and Purpose: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is responsible for developing and promoting programs that enhance American workers’ skills and meet employers’ evolving needs. In conjunction with the Presidential Executive Order Expanding Apprenticeships in America (http://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/3245/), ETA is undertaking efforts to promote apprenticeship programs nationwide. The survey is part of a study being conducted by Edelman under an ETA contract regarding U.S. business leaders’ adoption and oversight of apprenticeship programs. To properly discharge on its obligations to develop and implement policy that will “provide more affordable pathways to secure, high paying jobs by promoting apprenticeships,”1 ETA needs accurate and timely information about U.S. business leaders’ current perceptions of apprenticeship and their communications preferences for receiving information about apprenticeship. The survey will focus on a variety of issues concerning apprenticeship and other education or training programs. Questions will cover: awareness, consideration, and perceived benefits and drawbacks of apprenticeship and other education or training programs; and, preferred communications channels and content for receiving information about apprenticeship. The survey will be administered via a web-based medium to reduce respondent burden and increase the efficiency of data collection and processing. The survey will be sent to U.S. business leaders nationwide, since this is the audience with decision-making power to adopt and oversee apprenticeship programs. Business leaders will be defined as those currently working in director-level or higher positions, working in C-suite/executive management or Human Resources roles, ages 25 or older, with decision-making authority over offering an apprenticeship program at their organization. DOL and its contracted partners will work with third-party sample providers who maintain a panel of individuals who have opted in to participate in research studies. Third-party sample providers will identify a list of approximately 19,000 potential respondents that are likely to qualify for the survey based on the demographic and psychographic data that they have provided. Potential participants will be emailed a survey link inviting them to participate, and we expect approximately 2,500 invitations to be sent to panel members on a rolling basis throughout the fielding of the study in order to obtain the 250 business leaders necessary to complete the study (or a 10% response rate). It should be noted that this response rate is lower than that suggested in the supporting statement for OMB # 1205-0436; however, based on our past experience surveying employers, it is reasonable to expect a lower response rate among this audience, and we will issue multiple survey reminder emails to encourage higher participation. All respondents will first be screened to ensure they meet all qualifying criteria before continuing on to complete the survey. Based on DOL’s contracted partners’ experience with similar survey audiences, we anticipate that approximately 50% of those employed full-time in the panel will qualify as being director-level or above and possess at least some decision-making authority over whether to offer an apprenticeship program at their organization. Respondents to the survey will not be offered cash incentives provided directly by DOL. Online research panel members will however, be provided with non-monetary benefits, such as points to be used within the panel, access to forums and other panel-sponsored discussion opportunities as a thank-you for participating in various studies. The information generated from the survey will be presented in a report to ETA officials to inform policy development, technical assistance, and public awareness efforts (including in DOL’s upcoming campaign) to expand apprenticeships in the U.S. The total burden hours for this survey is 62.5 hours, based on the expected number of respondents. This is well within the “low burden” estimate provided in the supporting statement for OMB # 1205-0436 and will allow for multiple other data collections under the overall burden level of 7,500 hours over three years. This survey will largely use a convenience sample, modified as explained below, a type of non-probability sampling that relies on data collection from population members who are conveniently available to participate in a study. This is the case because there currently are no national level data on business leaders with decision-making authority over apprenticeship programs – and there is thus no way to determine if the responding business leaders are representative nationally. While it is not possible to obtain data detailing the specific demographics of the relevant population of such business leaders, we will implement maximum quotas by business size and industry based on Statistics of U.S. Businesses (SUSB) or similar publicly available dataset to ensure that the sample is not skewed by business size or industry. Since no statistical analysis will be undertaken, no statistical review has been conducted in advance. Information from the data collected in the survey will be treated as strictly suggestive and no statistical inferences will be made beyond the set of persons who choose to respond. Key areas of interest in the eventual suggestive findings include: the depth of awareness and consideration for apprenticeship programs among business leaders both nationally and regionally, the perceived benefits and drawbacks of apprenticeship programs, and whether there is a desire for specific elements to assist employers in developing apprenticeship programs at their workplace, and potential areas for further and more rigorous research. This data collection will not duplicate any information currently collected since no information on this topic is being requested in DOL’s current study of WIOA implementation or any other DOL data collection. However, this data collection will complement qualitative in-depth interviews that have been conducted to assist in designing policy and a more comprehensive approach to promoting a new form of apprenticeship. DOL and its contractors will not have access to any of respondents’ personally identifiable information. All personally identifiable information will be stripped from any raw datafiles prior to delivery to DOL or its contractors, and the identities of individual respondents will not be included in published reports or data sets, nor otherwise be revealed to anyone not directly involved in the information collection. Survey respondents will be advised that their responses will be collected in accordance with local and international data protection laws and will be kept private to the extent of the law. They will also be informed that the survey is not hosted on DOL systems, and they should therefore refrain from including any personal information. Current Inventory of Surveys Under OMB control number 1205-0436: There are a total of five surveys that have been approved under OMB # 1205-0436. Three surveys have been completed and two are still in process. They concern use of technology-based learning in American Job Centers and Job Corps, a self-assessment tool for Job Corps, and apprenticeship or similar types of training provided by employers.

1 Presidential Executive Order Expanding Apprenticeships in America