OMB Memo for Control No 0970-0355 V2

Date:	April 24, 2014
To:	The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs; Office of Management and Budget
From:	The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation; Administration for Children and Families
Subject:	Revised Surveys and Cognitive Interview Protocols for the Second Round of Family Service Worker Cognitive Interviews for the Family-Provider Relationship Quality (FPRQ) project (OMB Control No. 0970-0355: Expiration Date: 1/31/2015)

The attached documents summarize revisions between the first and second round of cognitive testing of the Family Service Worker surveys, which were developed as part of a suite for the Family-Provider Relationship Quality (FPRQ) Study (OMB Control No. 0970-0355; Expiration Date: 1/31/2015) to assess relationships between families and providers of early care and education for children aged birth to five years. The first round of Family Service Worker cognitive interviews (N= 21) was conducted in January and February of 2014 with Family Service Workers and parents. As a result of the findings from the first round of cognitive interviews, revisions were made to the Family Service Worker surveys and cognitive interview protocols. This memo serves to update OMB on the cognitive interview findings and to document revisions for the second and final round of cognitive interviews.

Presented below are the overarching conceptual findings from the first round of cognitive testing and a summary of the revisions based on the findings.

• Parents and Family Service Workers reported that some items appeared to be geared more towards the parent-teacher relationship than the parent-Family Service Worker relationship. However, because in many Head Start centers there is cross-coordination between Family Service Workers and teachers in supporting families, we developed items that focus on the Family Service Worker’s support to parents/families (e.g., “Since September, how often have you met with or talked to parents about the following… problems parents may be having with work or school.”) that parallel child-focused items (“Since September, how often have you met with or talked to parents about the following… problems their child is having in the Head Start program.”). In total, five items focusing on FSWs’ support to parents were added across both surveys to parallel questions asked about how FSWs support children. These revisions will not affect respondent burden.

• Likewise, some parents and Family Service Workers reported that their relationships were centered more on the parents’ own goals and needs as opposed to the children’s. To ensure we are capturing Family Service Workers’ dual responsibilities--ensuring child wellbeing and supporting parents/families--we developed items that focused on parents’ goals and needs (e.g., “Since September, how often have you met with or talked to your Family Service Worker about the following… goals you have for yourself.”) that are parallel to those asked about children (“Since September, how often have you met with or talked to your Family Service Worker about the following…goals you have for your child.”). In total, four items were added across both surveys. These revisions will not affect respondent burden.

• In addition to the changes noted above, survey items were reordered and item wording revised so that the survey and question sets begin with items that are most salient to the parent-Family Service Worker relationship. Words or phrases that were not interpreted as intended were slightly revised to address comprehension issues. These revisions will not affect respondent burden.

To document the changes made after the first round of cognitive interviews, we have attached the following to this memo:

• Tables summarizing changes to items and their question wording along with the reason(s) for the change. These tables are organized by survey type (parent vs. FSW).

• The surveys to be tested in the second round with changes between the first and second round noted in track changes. The track changes denote revisions to the wording of questions as well as item deletions and additions.

• The cognitive interview protocols to be used in the second round of interviews and the ones used in the first round of cognitive interviews, to use as a reference.

In total eight documents are attached (as noted below).

1. Attachment 1_Summary Table of Changes to Parent FSW Survey

2. Attachment 2_Summary Table of Changes to FSW Survey

3. Attachment 3_Revised Parent FSW Survey_Track Changes

4. Attachment 4_Revised Parent FSW Survey_Clean

5. Attachment 5_Revised Family Service Worker Survey_Track Changes

6. Attachment 6_Revised Family Service Worker Survey_Clean

7. Attachment 7_Parent FSW Cognitive Interview Protocol

8. Attachment 8_Family Service Worker Cognitive Interview Protocol

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