0920- District Recruitment Script

Attachment E

District Recruitment Script

PRIOR TO CALLING, VERIFY THE DATE LETTER WAS SENT AND HAVE THE LETTER AND DISTRICT’S FILE FOLDER READY TO DOCUMENT THE OUTCOME OF EACH CALL.

1. Hello this is {YOUR NAME}. I’m calling to follow up on a letter from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notifying you that {NAMES(S) OF SCHOOL(S)} will soon be invited to participate in the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey Test-Retest Reliability Study sponsored by CDC. Do you have some time to talk with me right now? [IF NOT] When would you like me to call you back or would you prefer to make an appointment?

2. A letter about this was sent to {YOU; OR, NAME OF PERSON TO BE CONTACTED} on {DATE}. The letter was from Dr. Kathleen Ethier and was on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention letterhead. Along with the letter was a copy of the questionnaire. Do you recall getting this letter?

3. Have you had a chance to review the packet of materials about the project?

4. The reason for my call now is to make sure that you received the letter, to answer any questions that you may have, and to see what will be involved in getting approval from the school district to send a letter of invitation to the schools.

5. PROVIDE BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE PROJECT. The study will occur between September and December 2021. The purpose of the study is to establish the reliability of data collected by the YRBS. To do that, students take the anonymous survey two times to determine if they are answering questions on the survey the same way each time. Students will be asked to fill out the YRBS questionnaire which takes about 45 minutes of class time to complete. The questionnaire will ask about behaviors related to nutrition, physical activity, injuries, violence, and tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use. It will also ask about sexual behaviors that could lead to pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. Students will be asked to fill out the same questionnaire again approximately two weeks later. The second questionnaire will also take about 45 minutes of class time to complete. CDC is conducting this study to develop better questionnaires in the future. Reliable data is important because the results of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey are used by schools, districts, and the CDC to improve health-related education, policies, and programs. Participation in the survey is completely voluntary. However, it is very important that we achieve a high participation rate for the survey results to be valid.

6. PROVIDE INFORMATION ON BURDEN AND PROCEDURES: The first task for which we will depend on your teachers is the distribution of parental permission forms. We will follow district and/or school procedures for collecting either passive or active parental permission for students to participate in the study. For each class, the survey will be administered by specially-trained field staff during two separate class periods, approximately two weeks apart. During each administration, it will take approximately 10 minutes for the survey administrator to distribute survey materials and read directions to the students and approximately 35 minutes for the students to record their responses to {#} multiple-choice questions. The questionnaire was developed by expert panels in six health risk topic areas, with technical assistance by CDC. Representatives from state and local education agencies have reviewed the questionnaire.

7. Do you have any questions that I can answer for you? Are there any issues you would like to discuss?

8. Are there any special clearance procedures with which our research request must comply? (IF YES) Please send me any necessary forms so that we can return them as quickly as possible.

[RESOLVE APPROVAL ISSUES, THEN VERIFY SCHOOL DATA.]

9. Letting schools know that your district supports this work is important to obtaining the cooperation of the schools. We could handle that in a few different ways and would be happy to follow your guidance on what would work best for you. One option is that you personally or someone from your office could call the school(s) to inform them about the study. Or if you prefer, with your approval we will contact the school(s) and inform them that “we spoke to {DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT NAME or OTHER LEA REPRESENTATIVE NAME} on {DATE}. (He/she) has given (his/her) approval for our contacting you today.” A third option would be a letter from you, either that you draft or that we draft for you, that explains the study and lets the principals know that you have approved the study. Would any of these options work for you?

10. IF DISTRICT DENIES PERMISSION TO CONTACT SCHOOL(S): RECORD ALL REASONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES CONCERNING DENIAL. Thank you very much for the time you’ve spent talking to me today. END CONVERSATION ON POSITIVE NOTE, ALLOWING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR FUTURE CONTACT ON THIS ISSUE.

11. (IN RESPONSE TO INQUIRIES ABOUT TIMING:) We will work with each school to come up with mutually agreeable dates for data collection. Once dates are scheduled, we can let you know if needed. Data collection nationally will start in September and end by December.

12. To facilitate our contacts with the schools, we would ask that you help with certain information. Can you tell me when during the period from September to December there will be district-wide breaks and early release days that might prevent data collection during a certain time?

13. Are there any other special circumstances or requirements we should be aware of for {NAMES(S) OF SCHOOLS}? By this I mean reorganizations, anticipated permanent or temporary school closings, new principals, or something like that? Any changes in the grades offered at these schools in the past year?

14. Thank you very much for your time and cooperation with us on this very important study. Please feel free to call Barbara Queen at Westat if you have any questions. The number is (301) 294-4476. Westat has been contracted by CDC to conduct the study. You may also contact Dr. Sherry Everett Jones, at CDC. Her number is (404) 718-8288.