NonSub Change - VIQI follow-up data collection

To: Jordan Cohen

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

From: Ivelisse Martinez-Beck, Tracy Carter Clopet, and Bonnie Mackintosh

Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE)

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Date: January 4, 2022

Subject: Non-Substantive Change Request – Variations in Implementation of Quality Interventions (OMB #0970-0508)

This memo requests approval of non-substantive changes to the approved information collection, Variations in Implementation of Quality Interventions (VIQI; OMB #0970-0508).

Background

Variations in Implementation of Quality Interventions: Examining the Quality-Child Outcomes Relationship in Child Care and Early Education (VIQI) is a rigorous experimental study that consists of two phases:

1. a year-long pilot study (conducted in 2018-2019); and

2. a year-long Impact Evaluation and Process Study (being conducted in 2021-2022).
   
   

OMB most recently approved data collection activities for the Impact Evaluation and Process Study on 07/22/2021 (OMB #0970-0508). The study team began data collection activities for the Impact Evaluation and Process Study in August 2021 for a set of baseline instruments. The team is currently preparing for a set of follow-up data collection activities to take place in the spring of 2022. These activities include classroom observations, direct child assessments, surveys, and teacher reports on children. The following request includes proposed adjustments for select instruments as part of the follow-up data collection.

Time Sensitivities

Because this study follows a “school year” schedule, follow-up data collection is scheduled to begin March 1, 2022, and the first round of data collector training in preparation for this is scheduled for February 2022.

Overview of Requested Changes

The specific revisions being requested as non-substantive changes to the VIQI project’s approved OMB package (0970-0508) are as follows:

1. to finalize the items (i.e., remove placeholder items) in the follow-up teacher survey and teacher reports for questions about children in classroom.

2. to adjust some language in instruments to accommodate the use of virtual coaching due to restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic

3. to confirm the list of child assessments that will be collected in the Follow-up Protocol for Child Assessments; and

4. to adjust the total burden associated with the Follow-up Protocol for Child Assessments.

The proposed changes do not impact burden estimates for respondents, with the exception of the Follow-up Protocol for Child Assessments whose burden has been reduced. The specific revisions to each instrument are outlined below.

Document/Instrument	Overview of Changes
Instrument 14: Follow-up Teacher Survey	Edited wording of some questions about the coaching provided by the project to allow for virtual/remote coaching instead of in-person coaching Updated the school year to be 2021-2022 For scales that were placeholders, finalized which set of items would be administered Updated the list of languages potentially spoken by teachers to match those spoken by staff in the recruited centers.
Instrument 17: Follow-up Protocol for Child Assessments	Finalized the follow-up child assessment to include the following assessments, all of which were listed as potential assessments in the previously approved OMB package: Quick Interactive Language Screener (QUILS) and the QUILS: English-Spanish; Child Math Assessment (CMA), Pencil Tap, and CIRCLE Progress Monitoring/ C-PALLS+ science screener. Edited the reminder letter that will go to parents prior to the spring child assessments to include information about precautions due to the pandemic Reduced the total burden associated with this instrument. The time per assessment was increased slightly to reflect the average length of the final assessment battery, but the total burden is reduced due to the number of children to be assessed, and the number of participating classrooms. The appropriate implementation of the language assessment (QUILS) requires that children who speak Spanish at home be assessed in both English and Spanish. This would add ~16 minutes of burden to the assessment for Spanish-speaking children. We anticipate approximately 18% of the children assessed will speak Spanish at home and would receive an assessment battery ~70 minutes long on average, and 82% of children would receive a battery that is ~54 minutes long, on average. These assumptions increase the average burden per response from .90 to .95. Due to a smaller number of classrooms, and therefore children to be assessed (3,200 instead of 4,200), total burden decreases.
Instrument 18: Follow-up Teacher Reports to Questions about Children in Classroom	Removed placeholder items; aligned follow-up version with questions asked in baseline version Added in an item that was accidentally missing from the Internalizing/Withdrawn Items of the Teacher Observation of Child Adaptation-Revised (TOCA-R) (Werthamer-Larsson, Kellam, & Wheeler, 1991) As a measure of child engagement, added an item about how often the child attends school. (This item was also included in the baseline teacher report.)

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