FACES 2019 Fall 2021 OMB SSA_clean

Type of Request: This Information Collection Request (ICR) is for a revision to an approved collection. We are requesting three years of approval.
Progress to Date: The Administration for Children and Families’ Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) study periodically collects nationally representative information about Head Start programs, their staff, and the children and families they serve to inform program planning and technical assistance and enable research. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the FACES 2019 and American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) FACES 2019 data collections under this control number (0970-0151). This included Head Start program recruitment and center selection and fall 2019 and spring 2020 data collection activities. Data collection for the fall 2019 and spring 2020 waves of FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 is now complete. See Table B.4 in Supporting Statement Part B for the full sample sizes and response rates for those waves.
Timeline: ACF requests an additional wave of data collection in fall 2021 to understand how children, families, and staff are faring during the COVID-19¹ pandemic. Data collection is scheduled to begin in fall 2021, pending OMB approval.
Summary of changes requested: This ICR is for an additional fall 2021 wave of data collection of the FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 studies that was not originally planned, but will be conducted to learn how Head Start families and staff are faring in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collection activities added for this fall 2021 wave include a parent survey, a teacher survey, and teacher reports of children. We do not intend to use this information as the principal basis for public policy decisions.
Time Sensitivity: Recruitment of programs will begin upon OMB approval and data collection will take place starting in September 2021. Due to tribal approval processes, recruitment for Region XI Head Start programs typically takes several months. Additionally, we want to complete fall data collection before staff begin their winter breaks at the end of December. In order to begin data collection in fall 2021, the study should begin recruitment as soon as possible (upon OMB approval).

A1. Necessity for Collection

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) study is funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. FACES periodically collects nationally representative information about Head Start programs, their staff, and the children and families they serve to inform program planning and technical assistance and enable research. Within the current cohort, we refer to these activities occurring in Head Start Regions I through X as FACES 2019 and comparable activities in Region XI as AIAN FACES 2019. In April 2019, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the FACES 2019 and American Indian and Alaska Native² (AIAN) FACES 2019 data collections under this control number (0970-0151). This included Head Start program recruitment and center selection and fall 2019 and spring 2020 data collection activities. For information about previous FACES information collection requests, see: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAOMBHistory?ombControlNumber=0970-0151.

After completing data collection in spring 2020, the final planned data collection was to take place in spring 2022 with program and classroom data collection in FACES 2019 only. However, OPRE is now requesting to add a data collection in fall 2021 for FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019. This special fall 2021 wave of the FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 will provide data on a set of key indicators for Head Start programs in their respective regions³, with a focus on the specific characteristics and needs of families after nearly two years of living in the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collected on the families both returning and starting new in Head Start in the fall of 2021 is necessary help the ACF Office of Head Start (OHS) understand family and staff well-being and identify needs to tailor services and supports as a result of changes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, spring 2022 data collection will include AIAN FACES 2019, and child-level data collection in FACES 2019, in order to understand how the pandemic has impacted children and families served by Head Start. The current information collection request describes fall 2021 data collection in both samples; a later request will describe spring 2022 activities.

Study Background

ACF has contracted with Mathematica to collect information on Head Start programs and families. FACES 2019 extended a previously approved data collection (OMB number 0970-0151) to a new sample of Head Start programs, families, and children. AIAN FACES 2019 built on AIAN FACES 2015 (also OMB number 0970-0151). As with previous FACES and AIAN FACES studies, both FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 collect information from a national probability sample of Head Start programs to ascertain progress Head Start has made toward meeting program performance goals.

Legal or Administrative Requirements that Necessitate the Collection

There are two legislative bases for the FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 data collection efforts as a whole: (1) the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (P.L. 103–62), requiring that OHS move expeditiously toward developing and testing Head Start performance measures; and (2) the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 (P.L. 110–134), which outlines requirements for monitoring, research, and standards for Head Start. FACES 2019 provides the mechanism for collecting data on nationally representative samples of programs, children, and families that Head Start serves in Regions I through X to provide OHS, other federal government agencies, local programs, and the public with valid and reliable national information. Similarly, AIAN FACES 2019 collects data on a nationally representative sample in Region XI to provide data to federal, local, and other stakeholders.

A2. Purpose

Purpose and Use

For 24 years, FACES has served as a source of timely, periodic, contextualized data about the Head Start program and its participants. Starting in 2015, AIAN FACES has served as the first national study of Region XI Head Start (Region XI was not included in prior FACES studies). Both studies consist of data collection activities to capture key characteristics and indicators relating to programs, classrooms, and child and family outcomes. The information is used by the Office of Head Start and ACF staff to determine wellbeing and need, and inform program decisions to improve service quality and tailor to needs. Across the prior waves of FACES, the study design has addressed the changing information needs of OHS and ACF and has adapted the data collection accordingly, maintaining the ability to compare trends in data over time and across cohorts. The FACES study is perfectly positioned to meet the current data needs around how Head Start families are faring as a result of COVID and the social and economic changes since March 2020. The goals of FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 data collection are to provide information on whether and how the population attending Head Start has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic began and the supports families might need. It will also describe teachers’ well-being during the pandemic to help inform supports needed for teachers who work directly with children and families.

Previously Approved Requests

The study team fielded the first two waves of FACES 2019 in fall 2019 and spring 2020 in 165 Head Start programs nationwide. ACF has used data from those waves to provide descriptions of the characteristics, experiences, and outcomes for children and families served by Head Start; to describe characteristics of Head Start programs, centers, and classrooms; and to observe the associations among family and program characteristics and outcomes. Findings from FACES 2019 provide information on Head Start Performance Measures and help guide OHS, national and regional training and technical assistance providers, and local programs in supporting policy development and program improvement.

ACF has used the data collected as part of AIAN FACES 2019 (fielded in fall 2019 and spring 2020 in 22 programs) to provide rich, descriptive information about Region XI children, their parents, programs, classrooms, and teachers—with particular foci on children’s Native cultural and linguistic contexts, understanding families’ material needs, and children’s school readiness skills over the course of one Head Start year. These data inform the decisions on how ACF provides services for children and families in Region XI.

Spring 2020 data collection had just begun for FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic and the United States declared it a public health emergency (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2020). In-person data collection was cancelled but remote surveys continued. ACF added questions to the center and program director surveys to learn about how programs adjusted their services and communication with families and staff and general supports provided during the pandemic⁴.

Current Request

Although the COVID-19 pandemic began more than a year ago, families continue to face health and economic concerns and programs continue to adjust operations to determine how best to deliver services. To support programs and families, OHS needs new information on the well-being of Head Start children, families, and staff. Therefore, this request adds child-level data collection in fall 2021 for both FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019. Programs will be contacted again and samples updated. Parents and teachers will complete surveys and teachers will complete ratings of children. The data collected will help describe the children and families attending Head Start and provide information on teacher characteristics and well-being a year-and-a-half into the COVID-19 pandemic.

The information collected will contribute to the body of knowledge on ACF programs. It is not intended to be used as the principal basis for a decision by a federal decision maker, nor is it expected to meet the threshold of influential or highly influential scientific information.

Research Questions or Tests

Research questions for both studies are framed to describe (1) the children and families who participate in Head Start—families’ resources and needs, parents’ mental well-being, and children’s cognitive and social-emotional skills; (2) the changes or trends in those characteristics over time, including since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; (3) the factors or characteristics that might explain differences in children’s skills and development and family experiences; and (4) the characteristics and mental well-being of Head Start teachers. Research questions related to key subgroups of interest will also be supported (for example, by household income or race and ethnicity in FACES; or for American Indian and Alaska Native children in AIAN FACES).

The FACES 2019 fall 2021 special wave will address several types of questions:

What are the demographic characteristics of children and families served by Head Start in fall 2021? Have these characteristics changed over time?
What are the cognitive and social-emotional skills of children in fall 2021?
What are the resources, supports, and needs of families served by Head Start in fall 2021—notably related to economic situations and mental and physical health? Have these resources, supports, and needs changed over time?
What are families’ early care and education needs, and how do families make early care and education decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic?
What is the relationship between program and social supports and families’ economic situation and mental well-being?
What are the characteristics and mental well-being of Head Start teachers in fall 2021?

The AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special wave will address the following research questions:

What are the demographic characteristics of children and families that Region XI Head Start serves in fall 2021? Have these characteristics changed over time?

What are the cognitive and social-emotional skills of Region XI Head Start children in fall 2021?
What are the strengths and needs of the children and families who receive services? Have these changed over time?
What home and community-based activities (in particular concerning storytelling, Native language, and cultural or traditional ways) are available to children and families in fall 2021? Have these changed over time?
What is the relationship between social supports and families’ economic situation and mental well-being?
What are the characteristics and mental well-being of Region XI children’s teachers in fall 2021?

Study Design

The original design of FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 did not include a fall 2021 data collection wave, but ACF added it for reasons noted in earlier sections. Like previous waves, the fall 2021 and spring 2022 waves of the FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 studies use a multistage sample design with four stages: (1) Head Start programs, (2) centers within programs, (3) classrooms within centers,⁵ and (4) children within teachers. In fall 2021, the study team will administer a special teacher child report, special teacher survey, and special parent survey for both studies. In spring 2022, for FACES 2019 the study team will administer special teacher child reports and parent surveys in addition to the previously planned teacher survey, director surveys, and classroom observations. In spring 2022, for AIAN FACES 2019 the study team will administer teacher child reports, parent surveys, teacher surveys, and director surveys that were not originally planned. Table A.1 provides fall 2021 and spring 2022 study components and proposed changes since the last review of the study designs for FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019. While both studies are nationally representative, the design focuses on descriptive data and examines associations between program characteristics and experiences, and program quality and child and family well-being. The study design does not support causal statements about factors impacting quality or well-being.

Table A.1. FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 study components and proposed additions, by wave

	Fall 2019	Spring 2020	Fall 2021	Spring 2022
FACES 2019	Complete: Direct child assessment Teacher child report Parent survey	Complete: Teacher child report Parent survey Teacher survey Director surveys	Expected: no data collected Proposed to add: Special fall teacher child report Special fall teacher survey^b Special fall parent survey	Expected: Teacher survey^c Director surveys^c Classroom observations^d Proposed to add: Teacher child report Parent survey^c
AIAN FACES 2019	Complete: Direct child assessment Teacher child report Parent survey	Complete:^a Teacher child report Parent survey Teacher survey Director surveys	Expected: no data collected Proposed to add: Special fall teacher child report Special fall teacher survey^b Special fall parent survey	Expected: no data collected Proposed to add: Teacher child report Parent survey^c Teacher survey^c Director surveys^c

Fall 2019

Spring 2020

Fall 2021

Spring 2022

FACES 2019

Complete:

Direct child assessment

Teacher child report

Parent survey

Complete:

Teacher child report

Parent survey

Teacher survey

Director surveys

Expected: no data collected

Proposed to add:

Special fall teacher child report

Special fall teacher survey^b

Special fall parent survey

Expected:

Teacher survey^c

Director surveys^c Classroom observations^d

Proposed to add:

Teacher child report

Parent survey^c

AIAN FACES 2019

Complete:

Direct child assessment

Teacher child report

Parent survey

Complete:^a

Teacher child report

Parent survey

Teacher survey

Director surveys

Expected: no data collected

Proposed to add:

Special fall teacher child report

Special fall teacher survey^b

Special fall parent survey

Expected: no data collected

Proposed to add:

Teacher child report

Parent survey^c

Teacher survey^c

Director surveys^c

Note: Director surveys includes a survey of center directors and a survey of program directors.

^aAIAN FACES 2019 completed direct child assessments and classroom observations in 7 of 22 programs before cancelling in-person data collection due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

^bThe special fall 2021 teacher survey focuses on teachers’ well-being in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

^cThe spring 2022 teacher survey, parent survey, and director surveys will be similar to the surveys fielded in spring 2020, but with revised content to support learning about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

^dThere is no burden associated with the classroom observations.

In fall 2021 and spring 2022 the study team will survey the parents and teachers of 2,400 Head Start children from 120 centers in 60 programs, and ask the children’s teachers to rate children’s learning skills and social and emotional skills (Table A.2). In spring 2022, the number of programs in the FACES 2019 sample will increase from the 60 that are used to collect child-level data to all 180 programs. Surveys with program directors, center directors, and teachers will also be conducted in the spring.

Table A.2. FACES 2019 fall 2021 and spring 2022 instruments, sample size, type of administration, and periodicity

Instrument	Sample size^a	Type of administration	Fall 2021	Spring 2022
Classroom sampling form from Head Start staff	360^b	CADE on the web	X	X
Child roster form from Head Start staff^c	120	CADE on the web	X
Head Start teacher child report^c	2,400	Web with paper option	X	X
Parent survey^c	2,400	Web/CATI	X	X
Head Start teacher survey	720	Web with paper option	X	X
Program director survey	180	Web with paper option		X
Center director survey	360	Web with paper option		X
Classroom observations^d	720	Hard copy with CADE		X

^aSample size reflects the total number of responses.

^bSample size is 120 for fall 2021 and 240 for spring 2022.

^cInformation gathered from 60 programs; all other components are collected from all 180 programs.

^dThere is no burden associated with classroom observations.

CADE = computer-assisted data entry; CATI = computer-assisted telephone interviewing.

AIAN FACES 2019 is similar in structure to FACES 2019. However, AIAN FACES 2019 represents a much smaller population, with a correspondingly smaller sample. For the fall 2021 special wave, the study team will survey the parents and teachers of 800 Head Start children in 42 centers from 22 programs and ask the children’s teachers to rate children’s social and emotional skills (Table A.3). The study team will also field surveys with program directors, center directors, and teachers in the spring. The study design focuses on describing the experiences and outcomes of children and families in Region XI. While the sample is nationally representative at all levels, the sample sizes support estimates at the child-level only. Please see table B.2 for AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 minimum detectable differences.

Table A.3. AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 and spring 2022 instruments, sample size, type of administration, and periodicity

Instrument	Sample size^a	Type of administration	Fall 2021	Spring 2022
Classroom sampling form from Head Start staff	42	CADE on the web^c	X
Child roster form from Head Start staff^b	42	CADE on the web^c	X
Head Start teacher child report^b	800	Web with paper option	X	X
Parent survey^b	800	Web/CATI^c	X	X
Head Start teacher survey	90	Web with paper option	X	X
Program director survey	22	Web with paper option		X
Center director survey	42	Web with paper option		X

^aSample size reflects the total number of responses.

^cCADE = computer-assisted data entry; CATI = computer-assisted telephone interviewing.

FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 and spring 2022 activities will include several features:

Freshening a nationally representative sample of Head Start programs (FACES only), recruiting programs to participate in the study, gathering information from those programs to develop a center sampling frame, and selecting a nationally representative sample of Head Start centers.
Sampling teachers within those centers
Sampling children and recruiting families of Head Start enrollees to participate in the study
Collecting data from children and families, Head Start staff, and Head Start teachers
Analyzing and reporting findings

A future information request will include the data collection components for spring 2022 and additional information about study design and data collection activities. The remaining components of this justification package includes information related only to fall 2021. See Supporting Statement Part B for more details on data collection activities. We describe sampling procedures more fully in Section B.2 and data collection procedures more fully in Section B.4.

Universe of data collection efforts

Previously approved

Activities previously approved include those for initial program recruitment (approved August 31, 2018) and data collection activities in fall 2019 and spring 2020 (approved April 8, 2019). All previously approved information collection activities are complete. Table P.1 in Appendix P summarizes those instruments.

Current request

Table A.4 summarizes the instruments proposed for the fall 2021 FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 data collection.

Table A.4. Proposed instruments

Data Collection Activity	Respondents	Mode	Estimated time to complete	Purpose
Fall 2021 special telephone script and recruitment information collection for program directors, Regions I–X (Attachment 23) and Region XI (Attachment 24)	Head Start program directors	Telephone	1 hour	To gain cooperation of program directors and collect information necessary for center sampling
Fall 2021 special telephone script and recruitment information collection for on-site coordinators, Regions I–X (Attachment 25) and Region XI (Attachment 26)	Head Start on-site coordinators	Telephone	1 hour	To gather information necessary for data collection planning and logistics
Fall 2021 special teacher sampling forms from Head Start staff (Attachment 27, FACES 2019; Attachment 33, AIAN FACES 2019)	Head Start staff	CADE on the web	10 minutes	Used to select the sample of classrooms at each selected Head Start center
Fall 2021 special child roster form from Head Start staff (Attachment 28, FACES 2019; Attachment 34, AIAN FACES 2019)	Head Start staff	CADE on the web	20 minutes	Used to select the sample of children in each selected classroom at each selected center
Fall 2021 special parent consent form for fall 2021 and spring 2022 data collection (Attachment 29, FACES 2019; Attachment 35, AIAN FACES 2019)	Head Start parents	Paper with web option	10 minutes	Used to obtain consent from parents for the parent and child to participate in the study
Fall 2021 special Head Start parent survey (Attachment 30, FACES 2019; Attachment 36, AIAN FACES)	Head Start parents	Web and CATI	35 minutes	Used to collect information about the characteristics and development of the child, households and household members, economic and psychological well-being, family routines, resources and sources of support, and impacts of COVID-19 and recent political and racial tensions; for FACES 2019, questions also gather information on program enrollment; for AIAN FACES 2019, questions also gather information on Native culture and language experiences in the home and community
Fall 2021 special Head Start teacher child report (Attachment 31, FACES 2019; Attachment 37, AIAN FACES)	Head Start teachers	Web with paper option	10 minutes	Used to obtain information about children's academic and social-emotional development and approaches to learning
Fall 2021 special Head Start teacher survey (Attachment 32, FACES 2019; Attachment 38, AIAN FACES)	Head Start teachers	Web with paper option	10 minutes	Used to collect information about lead teachers’ well-being in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic

CADE = computer-assisted data entry; CATI = computer-assisted telephone interview.

Other Data Sources and Uses of Information

For FACES 2019 fall 2021 activities, the study team will freshen the sample of Head Start programs using data from the most recent Head Start Program Information Report (PIR),⁶ using administrative data on program characteristics as explicit and implicit stratification variables. The Supporting Statement Part B describes this approach in detail. AIAN FACES 2019 will not conduct sample freshening for the fall 2021 activities as the sample will include the same 22 programs that participated in the 2019–2020 program year. During data analysis, the study team will incorporate program characteristics data from the PIR, including program size (number of children enrolled) and auspice. There is no burden to study participants associated with using PIR data for FACES 2019.

A3. Use of Information Technology to Reduce Burden

The proposed data collection builds on the techniques that reduced burden to study participants in previous rounds and waves of the studies. The study team will offer parents and teachers the flexibility of mode choice to complete their surveys. Parent surveys will be web-based or administered using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). The study team will continue to offer Head Start teachers the option of completing their Head Start Teacher Child Report forms and surveys on the web or on paper.

A4. Use of Existing Data: Efforts to Reduce Duplication, Minimize Burden, and Increase Utility and Government Efficiency

Aside from FACES and AIAN FACES studies, there is no evidence of studies that offer comprehensive information on characteristics of Head Start staff, children, and families. In addition, previous FACES and AIAN FACES studies would not capture the unique needs children, families, and staff might have as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the study team identified and adapted many useful survey items from other studies for use in FACES, none of those studies have collected comparable data on a nationally representative sample of Head Start children and families. No available studies combine the three sources of primary data that the team will collect in fall 2021 for FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019: teacher surveys, teacher child reports, and parent surveys. There is no other source for detailed child-level information that ACF can use to describe changes in the population served by Head Start over time, and in particular, spanning the period affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A5. Impact on Small Businesses

Most of the Head Start programs included in the study will be small organizations, including community-based organizations and other nonprofits. The study team will minimize burden for respondents by restricting the length of surveys as much as possible and providing instruments in a web-based format.

A6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection

FACES 2019 aims to collect classroom and program data about every two years and child-level data about every four years to be a descriptive study of the population served by Head Start and to monitor program performance, examining both continuity and change. To date, AIAN FACES has collected data every four years to describe Region XI Head Start children and their family and program contexts. This periodicity is necessary to measure at intervals when changes to policies or programmatic features might occur. ACF has added the fall 2021 wave to FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 are the only national studies of Head Start during this unprecedented time and will help the agency understand how Head Start children, families, and staff have fared through the pandemic.

A7. Now subsumed under 2(b) above and 10 (below)

A8. Consultation

Federal Register Notice and Comments

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) and OMB regulations at 5 CFR Part 1320 (60 FR 44978, August 29, 1995), ACF published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the agency’s intention to request an OMB review of this information collection activity. The Register published this notice on March 18, 2021, Volume 86, Number 51, pages 14,754–14,756, and provided a 60-day period for public comment. During the notice and comment period, no substantive comments were received.

Consultation with Experts Outside of the Study

The AIAN FACES 2019 Workgroup formed in recognition of the unique nature of conducting research in Native communities. The Workgroup includes Region XI Head Start directors and early childhood researchers with experience in Native communities (Table A.5). Together with the AIAN FACES 2019 study senior staff and federal officials, the Workgroup represents a collaborative effort to address cultural appropriateness in providing advice on updates to the AIAN FACES 2015 study design and approach. The group first convened in March 2018 and meets regularly to (1) identify key research questions and information needs; (2) update measures as appropriate to assess the growth and development of children served by Region XI Head Start programs and describe characteristics of children’s homes and families, Head Start classrooms, and programs; (3) ensure continued use of research methods and practices that Native communities will accept, as well as effective strategies for securing the participation of programs in the study and the approval of the Native communities; and (4) discuss reporting and analysis needs. Workgroup members will continue providing input on the design and reporting of the analyses of data from the study, thus helping to ensure the study answers questions of greatest interest to Region XI programs and Native communities and reporting reflects the unique needs and strengths in Native communities, on which COVID-19 had a disproportionately large impact (Hooper et al. 2020; Tsethlikai et al. 2020).

Table A.5. AIAN FACES 2019 Workgroup members

Member	Affiliation
Jessica Barnes-Najor	Michigan State University, Tribal Early Childhood Research Center
Ann Cameron	Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan
Lana Garcia	Pueblo of Jemez Head Start
Jacki Haight	Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe Head Start
Tina Handeland*^{(3/2018–7/2018)}	Zaasijiwan Lac du Flambeau Head Start
Melissa Harris	Iswa Head Start
Charmaine Lundy*^{(3/2018–8/2020)}	Kenaitze Indian Tribe Head Start
Laura McKechnie	Sault Ste. Marie Tribe Head Start
Ethan Petticrew*^{(3/2018–10/2019)}	Cook Inlet Native Head Start
Tina Routh	Mississippi Band of Choctaw Head Start
Michelle Sarche	University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, Tribal Early Childhood Research Center
Christine Sims	University of New Mexico
WJ Strickland	Office of Head Start Region XI Senior Program Specialist (retired)
Monica Tsethlikai	Arizona State University
Mavany Calac Verdugo	Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians Head Start (retired)
Jerry West	University of Maryland
Nancy Rumbaugh Whitesell	University of Colorado, Tribal Early Childhood Research Center

* Indicates a former member as of November 2020 and gives dates of service on the AIAN FACES 2019 Workgroup.

A9. Tokens of Appreciation

Participation in FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 data collection will place some burden on program staff and families. To offset this and to acknowledge respondents’ efforts in a respectful way, the study team requests nominal tokens of appreciation for respondents, based on those the team has used effectively in previous FACES and AIAN FACES studies.

The team proposes to offer all teachers a $10 gift card for every Teacher Child Report they complete for each sampled and consented FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 child in their classrooms. The team proposes to offer parents a $30 gift card for participating in the parent survey (35 minutes for each study). Table A.6 provides an overview of the proposed tokens of appreciation for data collection compared to previously approved tokens of appreciation.

Table A.6. FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 proposed token of appreciation structure compared to prior studies and waves

		FACES 2006	FACES 2009	FACES 2014 and AIAN FACES 2015	FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019	FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 Fall 2021 wave
Instrument	Respondent
Teacher Child Report	Teacher	Fall and spring: $7 per web form $5 per paper form	Fall and spring: $7 per web form $5 per paper form	Fall and spring: $10 per form	Fall and spring: $10 per form	Fall and spring: $10 per form
Parent survey	Parent	Fall and spring: $35	Fall and spring: $35	FACES fall 2014 and spring 2015: $15 (additional $5 if completed within 2 to 3 weeks of receiving survey; additional $5 if completed on the web) AIAN FACES fall 2015 and spring 2016: $25	Fall and spring: $30	Fall and spring: $30

FACES 2014 tried a tiered parent survey token of appreciation approach, lowering the base amount to $15, relative to FACES 2009, with add-ons for a potential of $25 total. There were lower response rates to the FACES 2014 parent survey than seen in previous FACES studies. The study team conducted a nonresponse bias analysis of key child-level characteristics (based on direct assessments, teacher child reports, and sources other than the parent survey). It showed significant differences between those children whose parents responded to the parent survey at baseline (fall 2014) and those whose parents did not, in terms of teacher-reported child disability status (with those with disabilities having a higher response rate than those without disabilities), child language (with non-English speakers more likely to respond than English speakers), parents’ access to unlimited cell phone minutes (with parents with limited cell phone minutes more likely to respond than those with unlimited minutes), and the program-level report of the percentage of enrolled children who are Black and White (with children in programs with 20 percent or less Black child enrollment, and those in programs with more than 50 percent White child enrollment, more likely to respond than with children in other types of programs). The nonresponse adjustments incorporated in the analysis weights mitigated these differences, but the experiment raises concern for nonresponse bias without offering a token of appreciation. For AIAN FACES 2015, the child-level response rate was sufficiently high using a standard token of appreciation approach. Therefore, the study teams carried out the nonresponse bias analysis of AIAN FACES 2015 at the program level only. Table A.7 illustrates the historical approach to tokens of appreciation along with response rates and whether a nonresponse bias analysis was conducted.

Table A.7. Parent token of appreciation structure, response rates, and nonresponse bias information across FACES and AIAN FACES studies

	FACES 2006	FACES 2009	FACES 2014 and AIAN FACES 2015	FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019
Token of appreciation structure	Fall and spring: $35	Fall and spring: $35	FACES fall 2014 and spring 2015: $15 (additional $5 if completed within 2 to 3 weeks of receiving survey; additional $5 if completed on the web) AIAN FACES fall 2015 and spring 2016: $25	Fall and spring: $30
Response rate	Fall: 96.2%	Fall: 93.1%	FACES fall 2014: 77.5% AIAN FACES fall 2015: 83.4%	FACES fall 2019: 75%; spring 2020: 68%; AIAN FACES fall 2019: 75%; spring 2020: 67%
Nonresponse bias analysis	n.a.	n.a.	Significant differences with responders more likely to have a child with a disability, household with a non-English home language, have limited cell minutes, and attend programs with lower percentage of Black and higher percentage of White children	In FACES 2019, significant differences with responders more likely to have a home language other than English, and more likely to have Head Start as the child’s funding source

n.a. = not applicable

Based on the study team’s prior experience with FACES, the team recommends using a similar approach for FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 is the best way to achieve high response rates for the current studies. The participation of respondents in the study activities is key to gathering high-quality information. High levels of participation among the sampled Head Start programs, staff, and families are essential to help ensure estimates are nationally representative; high participation rates reduce the risk of nonresponse bias, leading to more nationally representative estimates. It is difficult to find complex studies with populations similar to FACES that did not use tokens of appreciations. For the Project LAUNCH Cross-Site Evaluation (OMB number 0970-0373, expired October 31, 2019), the study initially did not offer a token of appreciation to parents who completed the web-based parent survey. It found that early respondents (pre-tokens of appreciation) were not representative of their communities. Minorities, individuals with lower incomes and education levels, and those who worked part-time or were unemployed were underrepresented. OMB then approved a $25 post-pay token of appreciation after data collection had started. Completion rates and representativeness both improved following the added token of appreciations (Lafauve et al. 2018).

AIAN FACES 2019 will follow the same token of appreciation structure as FACES 2019, similar to FACES 2014 and AIAN FACES 2015. Although two distinct studies, the study team kept the tokens of appreciation structure the same for both after discussion with the AIAN FACES 2015 Workgroup and determining tokens of appreciations responded to the population's needs. Recent findings also support this approach. Doughty (2017) and Permuth-Wey and Borenstein (2009) found that offering tokens of appreciations for participation in research in the AIAN community showed respect for AIAN involvement in research, increased participation, and should be offered in a way consistent with local societal norms.

A10. Privacy: Procedures to Protect Privacy of Information, While Maximizing Data Sharing

Personally Identifiable Information

This collection requests personally identifiable information (PII), such as name, dates of birth, and contact information. For example, this information is needed to contact parents and teachers of sampled children, and to calculate child and parent age. All electronic data containing PII will be stored on a secure network drive; data will be backed up on secure servers for 60 days for disaster recovery purposes. Sixty days after the primary data files are securely deleted, the backed-up data will be automatically and securely deleted. These systems are accessible only by staff working on the project through individual passwords and logins. These plans are described in more detail in a data security plan, also required by the contract. Systems will be accessible only by staff working on the project through individual passwords and logins.

Our hard copy data collection instruments (consent forms, teacher surveys, and teacher-child reports) will temporarily include teacher/child names because respondents need to know for whom they are providing information when completing these instruments. All hard copy documents will be inventoried and sent to and from the field using FedEx shipping service. FedEx shipments are logged and tracked from the moment of package pick-up to the time of delivery, including the name of the person who received the package. We will also use our sample management system to track hard copy documents sent to and from the field. Hard copy materials are stored in locked cabinets during the study. Following the end of the project, and when no longer required, hard copy materials and other physical media containing sensitive data will be destroyed using a cross-cut shredder.

Following data collection, sensitive data will reside on a project-specific folder that is only accessible to Mathematica staff who have a business need-to-know, as restricted by identity-based policies and access control lists.

Information will not be maintained in a paper or electronic system from which data are actually or directly retrieved by an individuals’ personal identifier.

Assurances of Privacy

Information collected will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. Respondents will be informed of all planned uses of data, that their participation is voluntary, and that their information will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. As specified in the contract, the contractor will comply with all federal and departmental regulations for private information.

Due to the sensitive nature of this research (Section A.11 provides more information), the study has obtained a certificate of confidentiality. The certificate of confidentiality helps to assure participants that their information will be kept private to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Data Security and Monitoring

As specified in the contract, the contractor will protect respondents’ privacy to the extent permitted by law and will comply with all federal and departmental regulations for private information. The contractor has developed a data safety and monitoring plan that assesses all protections of respondents’ personally identifiable information (PII). The contractor will ensure that all of its employees, subcontractors (at all tiers), and employees of each subcontractor, who perform work under this contract or subcontract, are trained on data privacy issues and comply with the above requirements.

As specified in the evaluator’s contract, the contractor will use Federal Information Processing Standard compliant encryption (Security Requirements for Cryptographic Module, as amended) to protect all instances of sensitive information during storage and transmission. The contractor will securely generate and manage encryption keys to prevent unauthorized decryption of information, in accordance with the federal processing standard. The contractor will ensure this standard is incorporated into the contractor’s property management and control system and establish a procedure to account for all laptop computers, desktop computers, and other mobile devices and portable media that store or process sensitive information. Any data stored electronically will be secured in accordance with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requirements and other applicable federal and departmental regulations. In addition, the contractor must submit a plan for minimizing to the extent possible including sensitive information on paper records and for the protection of any paper records, field notes, or other documents that contain sensitive or PII that ensures secure storage and limits on access.

A11. Sensitive Information

To achieve its primary goal of describing the characteristics of the children and families served by Head Start and Head Start staff, the study team will ask parents and teachers a few sensitive questions, including some aimed at assessing depressive symptomatology and anxiety and use of services for emotional or mental health problems. The team will also ask parents about household income. The survey invitation will inform participating parents and teachers that the survey will ask sensitive questions (Appendix V for FACES 2019 and Appendix W for AIAN FACES 2019). The invitation will also inform them that they do not have to answer questions that make them uncomfortable and that none of the responses they provide will be reported back to program staff. We have collected this information in past FACES data collections to describe the Head Start population and staff and to examine child and family well-being and change in those characteristics over time.

In addition, the study team recognizes that AIAN families and staff can be concerned about research given past violations of trust in other research studies, and the team will emphasize the efforts taken to collaborate with Region XI Head Start directors and community leaders and early childhood researchers with experience in Native communities conducting scientifically and culturally rigorous research that will benefit AIAN Head Start programs.

A12. Burden

Explanation of Burden Estimates

Data collection for the fall 2019 and spring 2020 waves of FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 is complete; no burden remains related to these waves of data collection. Table A.8 presents the current request for fall 2021 data collection activities. The estimates include time for respondents to review instructions, search data sources, complete and review the responses, and transmit or disclose information. This information collection request covers a period of three years.

The total estimated annual burden hours for the current data collection request is 1,088. Table A.8 includes data collection activities for fall 2021 and lists the estimated annual burden hours for each of the FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 instruments. Burden estimates are based on instruments from previous waves of FACES with similar numbers of items.

Table A.8. FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 burden hours for fall 2021

Instrument	Number of Respondents (total over request period)	Number of Responses per Respondent (total over request period)	Average Burden per Response (in hours)	Total Burden (in hours)	Annual Burden (in hours)	Average Hourly Wage	Total Annual Cost
Fall 2021 special telephone script and recruitment information collection for program directors, Regions I–X	77	1	1.00	77	26	$32.40	$842.40
Fall 2021 special telephone script and recruitment information collection for program directors, Region XI	22	1	1.00	22	7	$32.40	$226.80
Fall 2021 special telephone script and recruitment information collection for on-site coordinators, Regions I–X	60	1	1.00	60	20	$32.40	$648.00
Fall 2021 special telephone script and recruitment information collection for on-site coordinators, Region XI	22	1	1.00	22	7	$32.40	$226.80
FACES 2019 fall 2021 special teacher sampling form from Head Start staff	120	1	.17	20	7	$32.40	$226.80
FACES 2019 fall 2021 special child roster form from Head Start staff	120	1	.33	40	13	$32.40	$421.20
FACES 2019 special parent consent form for fall 2021 and spring 2022 data collection	2,400	1	.17	408	136	$19.80	$2,692.80
FACES 2019 fall 2021 special Head Start parent survey	2,400	1	.58	1,392	464	$19.80	$9,187.20
FACES 2019 fall 2021 special Head Start teacher child report	240	10	.17	408	136	$32.40	$4,406.40
FACES 2019 fall 2021 special Head Start teacher survey	240	1	.17	41	14	$32.40	$453.60
AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special teacher sampling form from Head Start staff	42	1	.17	7	2	$32.40	$64.80
AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special child roster form from Head Start staff	42	1	.33	14	5	$32.40	$162.00
AIAN FACES 2019 special parent consent form for fall 2021 and spring 2022 data collection	800	1	.17	136	45	$19.80	$891.00
AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special Head Start parent survey	800	1	.58	464	155	$19.80	$3,069.00
AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special Head Start teacher child report	90	9	.17	138	46	$32.40	$1,490.40
AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special Head Start teacher survey	90	1	.17	15	5	$32.40	$162.00
Total Annual Burden					1,088		$25,171.20

Estimated Annualized Cost to Respondents

To compute the total estimated annual cost, the study team multiplied the total annual burden hours by the average hourly wage for each adult participant, based on median weekly wages from the first quarter estimates of the Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2021). The results appear in Table A.8. For teachers and other staff, the team used the median salary for full-time employees older than 25 with a bachelor’s degree ($32.40 per hour). For parents, they used the median salary for full-time employees older than 25 who are high school graduates with no college experience ($19.80 per hour).

A13. Costs

On-site coordinators (OSCs) in both studies (FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019) will receive a $500 honorarium in fall 2021 for their assistance and continued support of the study, which would be, on average, 20 hours across two months. The OSC plays a critical role communicating study information to program and center staff, gathering the data needed to perform sampling activities, and communicating center information back to study staff. The honorarium proposed aims to cover the time they will spend in those activities. The OSC’s familiarity with families and the families’ trust in the local staff member will be imperative for a successful data collection effort. The amounts provided to the OSC are the same as those provided to OSCs in previous FACES and AIAN FACES studies.

A14. Estimated Annualized Costs to the Federal Government

Table A.9. Estimated costs

Cost Category	Estimated Costs
Design, instruments, and OMB clearance	$604,000
Data collection	$1,489,000
Data preparation, analysis, and archiving	$909,000
Dissemination	$564,000
Total costs over the request period	$3,566,000
Annual costs	$1,188,667

A15. Reasons for Changes in burden

The ICR will support an additional fall 2021 wave of data collection of the FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 studies that was not originally planned but will be conducted to learn how Head Start families and staff are faring in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collection activities added for this fall 2021 wave include a special parent survey, a special teacher survey, and special teacher reports of children. This request is for these additional fall 2021 data collection activities under OMB number 0970-0151.

A16. Timeline

Table A.10 contains the timeline for the data collection and reporting activities for FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019. Recruitment will begin in late summer or early fall 2021, after obtaining OMB approval. The study team expects to collect data through fall 2021. Mathematica will produce several publications based on analysis of data from each study (see Supporting Statement Part B, section B7 for additional information about use of data collected).

Table A.10. Schedule for FACES 2019 and AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 data collection and reporting

Activity	Timing^a
Recruitment
Program recruitment	Summer/fall 2021^a
Data collection
Special parent survey	Fall 2021
Special teacher child report	Fall 2021
Special teacher survey	Fall 2021
Analysis
Key indicators	Winter 2022
Data tables Briefs	Winter 2022 Spring/summer 2022
Reporting
Key indicators	Spring 2022
Data tables Briefs Data files and documentation	Winter 2023 Spring 2023 Summer 2023

^aAfter obtaining OMB approval.

A17. Exceptions

No exceptions are necessary for this information collection.

References

The American Association for Public Opinion Research. Standard Definitions: Final Dispositions of Case Codes and Outcome Rates for Surveys. 9th edition, 2016. Washington, DC: AAPOR.

Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers: First Quarter 2021.” USDL-21-0655. Washington, DC: Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 2021.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “New ICD-10-CM Code for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).” Atlanta, GA: CDC, December 2020. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/icd/Announcement-New-ICD-code-for-coronavirus-19-508.pdf. Accessed December 10, 2020.

Doughty, Meghan. “Compensation for Study of Participation in Tribal Communities: A Research Note.” Indigenous Policy Journal, vol. 28, no. 1, 2017.

Hooper, M.W., A.M. Nápoles, and E.J. Pérez-Stable. “COVID-19 and Racial/Ethnic Disparities.” Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 323, no. 24, May 2020, pp. 2466–2467.

Kish, Leslie. Survey Sampling. Wiley Classics Library Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1965, 1995.

Lafauve, K., K. Rowan, K. Koepp, and G. Lawrence. “Effect of Incentives on Reducing Response Bias in a Web Survey of Parents.” Presented at the American Association of Public Opinion Research Annual Conference, Denver, CO, May 16–19, 2018.

Moiduddin, Emily, Julia Lyskawa, Louisa Tarullo, Jerry West, and Elizabeth Cavadel. “FACES Redesign: Stakeholder Input on Information Needs.” Final report submitted to the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research, January 19, 2012.

Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. “Questions and Answers When Designing Surveys for Information Collections.” Washington, DC: Office of Management and Budget, 2006.

Permuth-Wey, J., and A.R. Borenstein. “Financial Remuneration for Clinical and Behavioral Research Participation: Ethical and Practical Considerations.” Annals of Epidemiology, vol. 19, no. 4, 2009, pp. 280–285.

Singer E., N. Gebler, T. Raghunathan, J.V. Hoewyk, and K. McGonagle. “The Effect of Incentives in Interviewer-Mediated Surveys.” Journal of Official Statistics, vol. 15, no. 2, 1999, pp. 217–230.

Singer, E., J. Van Hoewyk, and M.P. Maher. “Experiments with Incentives in Telephone Surveys.” Public Opinion Quarterly, vol. 64, no. 2, 2000, pp. 171–188.

Singer, E., and R.A. Kulka. “Paying Respondents for Survey Participation.” In Studies of Welfare Populations: Data Collection and Research Issues, edited by Michele Ver Ploeg, Robert A. Moffitt, and Constance F. Citro, pp. 105–128. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2002.

Tsethlikai, M., M. Sarche, J. Barnes, and H. Fitzgerald. “Addressing Inequities in Education: Considerations for American Indian and Alaska Native Children and Youth in the Era of COVID-19.” Statement of the Evidence. Washington, DC: Society for Research on Child Development, September 2020.

Attachments

Attachment 23. Fall 2021 special telephone script and recruitment information collection for program directors, Regions I–X

Attachment 24. Fall 2021 special telephone script and recruitment information collection for program directors, Region XI

Attachment 25. Fall 2021 special telephone script and recruitment information collection for on-site coordinators, Regions I–X

Attachment 26. Fall 2021 special telephone script and recruitment information collection for on-site coordinators, Region XI

Attachment 27. FACES 2019 fall 2021 special teacher sampling form from Head Start staff

Attachment 28. FACES 2019 fall 2021 special child roster form from Head Start staff

Attachment 29. FACES 2019 fall 2021 special parent consent form for fall 2021 and spring 2022 data collection

Attachment 30. FACES 2019 fall 2021 special Head Start parent survey

Attachment 31. FACES 2019 fall 2021 special Head Start teacher child report

Attachment 32. FACES 2019 fall 2021 special Head Start teacher survey

Attachment 33. AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special teacher sampling form from Head Start staff

Attachment 34. AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special child roster form from Head Start staff

Attachment 35. AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special parent consent form for fall 2021 and spring 2022 data collection

Attachment 36. AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special Head Start parent survey

Attachment 37. AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special Head Start teacher child report

Attachment 38. AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special Head Start teacher survey

Appendices

Appendix P: Previously approved and completed data collection activities

Appendix Q: FACES and AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 instrument content matrices

Appendix R: FACES and AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special program information packages

Appendix S: AIAN FACES 2019 special agreement of collaboration and participation

Appendix T: AIAN FACES 2019 special tribal presentation template

Appendix U: Logic models

Appendix V: FACES 2019 fall 2021 special respondent materials

Appendix W: AIAN FACES 2019 fall 2021 special respondent materials

Appendix X: FACES and AIAN FACES 2019 and 2020 nonresponse bias analyses

1 Coronavirus disease 2019

2 In this document, we use the terms American Indian and/or Alaska Native (AIAN) and Native to refer inclusively to the broad and diverse groups of American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes, villages, communities, corporations, and populations in the United States, acknowledging that each Tribe, village, community, corporation, and population is unique from others with respect to language, culture, history, geography, political and/or legal structure or status, and contemporary context.

3 FACES 2019 focuses on Head Start Regions I through X (which are geographically based); AIAN FACES 2019 focuses on Region XI (which funds Head Start programs that serve federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes).

4 The addition of questions was approved by OMB through change requests in April and May 2020.

5 In fall 2021 and spring 2022, because programs may alter classroom configurations as a result of the pandemic, we will select teachers instead of classrooms, or groups of children associated with teachers.

6 The PIR is an administrative data system for the Head Start program as a whole that includes data collected annually from all programs. Head Start programs collect the information as approved under OMB control number 0970-0427.

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