Supporting Statement A

Feedback from CLASS Video Pilot

Formative Data Collections for Program Support

0970 – 0531

Supporting Statement

Part A - Justification

December 2022

Submitted By:

Office of Head Start

Administration for Children and Families

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

4^th Floor, Mary E. Switzer Building

330 C Street, SW

Washington, D.C. 20201

A1. Necessity for the Data Collection

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks approval for collecting information from grant recipients who are participating in the CLASS Video Pilot to understand their experiences and perspectives.

Background

The Office of Head Start (OHS) is required by the Head Start Act to assess the quality of teacher-child interactions using a valid and reliable observation measure as part of the monitoring process. Research and experts in the field have identified the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) as the best tool that meets these requirements. In the past, CLASS observations were conducted using live in-person observers in Head Start classrooms. However, during the past two years these observations were paused during the public heath emergency. During the FY 2023 program year, OHS restarted CLASS observations as part of the monitoring process, however scores will not be considered for the Designation Renewal System (DRS) and observations will occur using a video-based protocol (e.g., the CLASS Video Pilot). OHS has not used a video-based protocol before to collect CLASS scores for DRS, therefore OHS would like to ask the participants in this year’s monitoring cycle about their experiences with the new protocol, any potential technology issues they encountered, and the potential challenges programs faced. The information collected is necessary to inform OHS internal planning.

Legal or Administrative Requirements that Necessitate the Collection

There are no legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. ACF is undertaking the collection at the discretion of the agency.

A2. Purpose of Survey and Data Collection Procedures

Overview of Purpose and Use

Information from these feedback forms will be used to understand the programs’ experience with the video pilot, inform OHS about the success of the pilot, help OHS understand the perception about how the pilot went and will help OHS plan for future CLASS observations. Information gathered from these feedback forms will be used for internal purposes and may be shared in aggregate form with training or technical assistance (T/TA) providers. OHS would also like to use information from the feedback forms to modify and improve the video collection protocol moving forward. In sharing findings, we will describe the study methods and limitations regarding generalizability and as a basis for policy.

This proposed information collection meets the following goals of ACF’s generic clearance for formative data collections for program support (0970-0531):

• Delivery of T/TA and/or workflows related to program implementation or the development or refinement of program and grantee processes.

• Obtaining feedback about processes and/or practices to inform ACF program development or support.

Processes for Information Collection

Information will be collected using an online survey platform however, information will be inputted either through program staff completing the form themselves or through an interview method where an interviewer has a conversation with the respondent and inputs the answers for them. Respondents will be asked to complete the survey independently, and respondents who do not complete the survey will be called and asked to complete the survey over the phone using an interview style method. The instrument is a survey with mostly multiple choice questions and a few open-ended as well.

Information will be collected using one of two surveys, depending on the respondent. There are two types of intended respondents: program directors/administrators and video recorders (i.e., individuals who the program has identified to video record the classrooms).

• The Program Director/Administrator Feedback Survey – This survey asks the program director/administrator staff about the number of videos they completed and approved, the technology they needed to purchase in order to successfully participate in the pilot, their perceptions of the benefits of the video observations, their feedback about any challenges they experienced with the technology, the way they selected the videos to submit for the pilot, the success of the customer service supports given throughout the pilot, and recommendations for improving the process.

• The Video Recorder Feedback Survey – This survey asks the video recorders about their perceptions of the benefits of the video observations, their feedback about any challenges they experienced with the technology, the success of the customer service supports given throughout the pilot, and recommendations for improving the process.

A3. Improved Information Technology to Reduce Burden

Information will be completed electronically. Respondents will either complete the survey themselves using the online platform, or an interviewer will complete the survey online while talking with the respondent over the phone.

A4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

This is the first time OHS has ever utilized a video protocol to collect CLASS scores for DRS. Since this has never been done with a Head Start population using this protocol for DRS, the collection of this information is entirely new and unique.

A5. Involvement of Small Organizations

Not applicable. No impact to small organizations expected.

A6. Consequences of Less Frequent Data Collection

Not applicable. This is a one-time data collection.

A7. Special Circumstances

There are no special circumstances for the proposed data collection efforts.

A8. Federal Register Notice and Consultation

Federal Register Notice and Comments

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) and Office of Management and Budget (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 request to extend approval of the umbrella generic with minor changes. The notice was published on January 28, 2022, (87 FR 4603), and provided a sixty-day period for public comment. ACF did not receive any comments on the first notice. A second notice was published, allowing a thirty-day period for public comment, in conjunction with submission of the request to OMB. ACF did not receive any comments on the second notice.

Consultation with Outside Experts

OHS has consulted with their federal contract partner on this information collection. The partner is the leading expert organization in the development and implementation of the CLASS tool and was consulted to inform the development of the instrument for this information collection.

A9. Tokens of Appreciation for Respondents

No tokens of appreciation for respondents are proposed for this information collection.

A10. Privacy of Respondents

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.

The surveys provide the opportunity for respondents to provide their email and phone number to allow the study team to follow up. Contact information will not be included in the aggregate information shared internally with OHS, which includes information about the name of the program and the individual’s role. Information will only be shared in the aggregate with OHS. Information will not be maintained in a paper or electronic system from which data are actually or directly retrieved by an individuals’ personal identifier.

A11. Sensitive Questions

There are no sensitive questions in this data collection.

A12. Estimation of Information Collection Burden

Burden Estimates

There are currently 262 grant recipients in the video pilot. We will contact each grant recipient and ask one program director/administrator to complete a survey and several video recorders to complete a different survey. There is approximately one video recorder for every five classrooms for each grant recipient. Since the number of classrooms varies by grant recipient, the number of video recorders who participate will also vary by grant recipient. There are a maximum of 1,200 video recorders who will be asked to complete this feedback form. We anticipate 100% response rate from the program directors and about an 80-90% response rate from the video recorders. Therefore, we estimate collecting data from 262 program directors and 1,000 video recorders. We estimate it will take five minutes to complete the Video Recorder Feedback Survey and 10 minutes to complete the Directors/Administrators Feedback Survey.

Cost Estimates

The cost to respondents was calculated using the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) job code for 11-9031 Education and Child Care Administrators in Preschool and Daycare and wage data from May 2021, which is $25.87per hour. To account for fringe benefits and overhead the rate was multiplied by two which is $51.74

https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm

Instrument	Total Number of Respondents	Total Number of Responses Per Respondent	Average Burden Hours Per Response	Total Burden Hours	Average Hourly Wage	Total Annual Cost
Video Recorder Feedback Survey	1,000	1	.08	80	$51.74	$4,139.20
Program Director/Administrator Feedback Survey	262	1	.16	42	$51.74	$2,173.08
Total Burden and Cost Estimates:				122	$51.74	$6,312.28

A13. Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers

There are no additional costs to respondents.

A14. Estimate of Cost to the Federal Government

Federal staff costs are estimated to be about 200 hours of the time of a staff at the GS-12 Step 4 labor category to oversee the activities of this data collection. The total cost to the federal government for the data collection activities under this current request will be $9,501.73. This includes direct and indirect costs related to data collection.

A15. Change in Burden

This is for an individual information collection under the umbrella formative generic clearance for program support (0970-0531).

A16. Plan and Time Schedule for Information Collection, Tabulation and Publication

Data collection will begin following OMB approval and is expected to take place over about 6 months. Information will be collected by our federal contract partner and shared with OHS to use for internal purposes. Data will be shared internally and used internally to help make data-informed decisions about future monitoring protocols.

A17. Reasons Not to Display OMB Expiration Date

All instruments will display the expiration date for OMB approval.

A18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

No exceptions are necessary for this information collection.

Attachments

Instrument 1: Program Director/Administrator Feedback Survey

Instrument 2: Video Recorder Feedback Survey

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