Justification

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery”

(OMB Control Number: 2030-0051; EPA ICR Number: 2434.269)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Channelview ISD Teacher discussion to identify project priorities and needs for the 2024-25 school year

PURPOSE: This proposed discussion group will serve as an initial planning session for the project team, soliciting input from Channelview ISD middle and high school educators that will be engaged by CELF and partners during the 2024-25 school year as part of the EPA EJCPS project “Engaging K-12 communities in Civic Science to Monitor Air Quality and Watershed Health in Greater Houston.” This discussion group will inform planning for professional learning sessions, teacher supports, student field trips, and student action planning that will take place during the 2024-25 school year.

Objectives of the discussion group, tentatively scheduled for April 18th, 2024 will be to:

• Identify teachers’ grade- and subject-specific curricular priorities and projected challenges for the 2024-25 school year

• Identify teachers’ “wishlist” relating to place-based field experiences and learning outcomes for their students during the 2024-25 school year

• Identify culminating student actions that civic science projects can work toward that will help educate the wider community about environmental justice challenges relating to local air and water quality.

CELF will hold this type of small discussion group once per year near the end of each academic year to take in lessons learned from the current school year and inform plans for the following school year.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: This target group of educators will include science teachers and curriculum leads from Channelview middle and high schools, including teachers with past experience engaging with CELF, Rice University’s R-STEM program, and/or Galveston Bay Foundation.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [x] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [x] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ x] Yes [ ] No

With all that teachers have on their plates, CELF finds that offering tokens of appreciation for their time to be a helpful recruitment and relationship-building approach. Teachers will be offered $50 gift cards for their participation in this discussion.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Middle and High School teachers	15	1 hour	15 hours
Totals	15	1 hour	15 hours

FEDERAL COST: $0

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ ] Yes [X] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Indicate the percentage of responses that will be collected electronically (out of 100): 100%
   
   

3. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [x] Yes [ ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Tara Stafford Ocansey

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