Carol_White_PEP_Supporting_Statement_Part_A_4-01-2011

American Institutes for Research®

Evaluation of the Carol M. White Physical Education Program -
Supporting Statement for Paperwork Reduction Act -
Part A: Justification

April 1, 2011

Prepared By:

American Institutes for Research^®

1000 Thomas Jefferson St., NW

Washington, DC 20007

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of Education

Policy and Program Studies Service

Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development

Supporting Statement for Paperwork Reduction Act

A. Justification

1. Circumstances making collection of information necessary

The Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) is authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, Title V, Part D, Subpart 10. In establishing PEP, Congress acknowledged the critical need to improve physical education programs for K-12 students, in order to help them make progress toward meeting state standards for physical education. Since its inception in 2001, as a major federal funding source for physical education, the PEP has supported a variety of projects that encourage fitness and healthy lifestyle choices among K-12 students. Recently, in response to the current Administration’s call for action to prevent and decrease childhood overweight and obesity, the PEP underwent substantive changes to strengthen and enhance its principal objectives so that they align more closely with current best practices and research related to improving children’s health and fitness.

Given the recent changes, it is important to determine how the new PEP program is implemented by individual grantees. In particular, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is interested in gaining a good understanding of issues related to basic program implementation, partnerships, and data use, which will be addressed by this evaluation.

2. Purposes and uses of the data

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is conducting an evaluation of the Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP). The American Institutes for Research (AIR) is under contract with ED to conduct the evaluation. The survey data collected will be used to document the design and implementation of individual PEP projects, and help us learn whether the program as implemented appropriately reflects the new direction of the PEP and whether the new program priorities and requirements are adequately addressed by PEP grantees. The survey data and will provide valuable feedback to ED on program design and implementation and inform future improvement of the program.

3. Use of technology to reduce burden

The Year 1 and Year 3 program design and implementation (PDI) surveys will be administered online via the World Wide Web. The use of multiple skip patterns integrated to the on-line survey will greatly reduce burden on respondents by only presenting them with the questions that are relevant to them. All respondents will have the option to request the survey in hard copy format. The survey website for the web-based surveys will be password protected.

4. Efforts to identify duplication

The evaluation of the Carol M. White Physical Education Program represents ED’s first and only study that is aimed at compiling data on each of the new PEP projects to promote healthy living among children and adolescents. ED has not conducted any other program evaluations since the start of the program. Thus, no duplication will result from this study.

5. Methods to minimize burden on small entities

Twelve grantees are community-based organizations and some of these may be small entities. These grantees will experience the same level of burden as all other grantees and will be able to use technology to reduce burden.

6. Consequences of not collecting the data

The Carol M. White Physical Education Program is a government-funded program and is one of few federal funding sources for physical education. Given the fact that it has not been evaluated previously, ED does not know how well the PEP operates. The consequences of not collecting the data will result in the lack of information on the program’s design and implementation. Without the data collected as part of this study, ED would be unable to judge how well the program is implemented and how the program may be improved in the future. In addition, the data collection speaks directly to the current Administration’s call for action to prevent and decrease childhood overweight and obesity to improve children’s health and fitness.

7. Special circumstances

No special circumstances apply to this study.

8. Adherence to 5CFR 1320.8 guidelines and consultation outside the agency

A 30-day and 60-day notice about this study will be published in the Federal Register to provide the opportunity for public comment.

To assist with the development of the evaluation of the PEP program and the drafting and vetting of the surveys, project staff has drawn on the input of several outside experts in the fields of physical education, physical fitness/health, and nutrition.

The members for the Technical Work Group (TWG) are:

• Barbara Ainsworth, Exercise and Wellness Professor, Arizona State University

• Randy Kuhnau, High School Principal, Wisconsin Dells High School

• Sarah Lee, Health Scientist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Russell R. Pate, Associate Vice President for Health Sciences and Exercise Physiology Professor, University of South Carolina

• Patty Pursell, Physical Education Teacher, Highland Elementary School

AIR has organized two meetings to consult TWG members to ensure the rigor of the study design and provide input on the data collection instruments. In addition, project staff will also use outside experts for consultation on an as-needed basis throughout the study.

9. Payment or gifts

No payments or gifts will be used over the course of this study.

10. Assurances of confidentiality

AIR research staff will protect the privacy and confidentiality of the PDI survey respondents. The names and any other identifying information about the survey respondents will be kept completely confidential, and omitted when recording information from the surveys. Caution will be exercised in limiting data access to authorized project staff and those who have been instructed in the confidentiality requirements of the study. The PDI data will contain no information that could be used to identify subjects other than that which is publicly available. No individual identifying information will appear in any of our reports.

The electronically stored PDI data will be password protected. Paper data (if any) will be stored under lock and key. In addition, all materials will be stripped of all individually identifiable information to further protect respondent confidentiality.

11. Justification of sensitive questions

No questions of a sensitive nature will be included in this study. Respondents are reporting on program-level activities only.

12. Estimates of hour burden

The total estimated hour burden for the entire study is 154 hours (or 9,240 minutes). The hourly burden breakdown is as follows:

• PEP Year 1 PDI survey (LEA): 65 respondents * 60 minutes per survey * 100% response rate = 3,900 minutes.

• PEP Year 3 PDI survey (LEA): 65 respondents * 60 minutes per survey * 100% response rate = 3,900 minutes.

• PEP Year 1 PDI survey (CBO): 12 respondents * 60 minutes per survey * 100% response rate = 720 minutes.

• PEP Year 3 PDI survey (CBO): 12 respondents * 60 minutes per survey * 100% response rate = 720 minutes.

• Total burden = 3,900 + 3,900 + 720 + 720 = 9,240 minutes = 154 hours.

13. Estimate of cost burden to respondents

There are no additional respondent costs associated with this data collection other than the hour burden accounted for in Item 12.

14. Estimate of annual cost to the federal government

The estimated cost for the 60-month study, including development of data collection instruments, justification package, data collection, data analysis, and preparation of Year 1 Brief and Final Report, is $2,037,989 for the five-year study, or $407,597.80 per year.

15. Program changes or adjustments

The request is for a new data collection. There are no program changes or adjustments.

16. Plans for tabulation and publication of results

AIR will report study findings to ED in a Year 1 Brief and a Final Report. In preparing the Year 1 Brief, we will analyze the Year 1 program design and implementation data through descriptive analyses to understand how grantees with different design features operate during the early stage of the program. For the Final Report, we will perform descriptive analyses of the two waves of PDI survey data to describe features of program design and implementation and to document changes in program implementation over time. In drafting the brief, AIR will address the evaluation questions presented in the Overview of Study Design section and any subsequent agreed-upon modifications to the study plan. The brief will be crafted in a manner that is suitable for distribution to a broad audience, following the guidance developed by PPSS and the ED report, Guide to Publishing at the U.S. Department of Education.

In drafting the final report, AIR will first create an outline of the contents. The contents will include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Executive summary

2. Purpose of project

3. Research methodology

   1. Survey development

   2. Data collection procedures

   3. Analysis methods

4. Results from the survey of PEP Project administrators at Year 1 and Year 3

5. Implications of study findings and future directions

The final report will include results for the entire project based on the original study plan and any subsequent agreed-upon modifications to the plan. The report will also include a description of the methodology employed, findings, and implications. The report will include an executive summary in non-technical language, which will be appropriate for a wide range of audiences. The final report and brief will be provided in three formats: camera-ready copy, Microsoft Word, and a copy compatible with PPSS’s Website formatting.

17. Approval to not display OMB expiration date

All data collection instruments will include the OMB expiration date.

18. Explanation of exceptions

No exceptions are requested.

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