NonSub Change Request - Parent Surveys and TCRs

Memo

To: Josh Brammer, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget

From: Mary Mueggenborg and Meryl Barofsky, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families

Date: September 20, 2019

Subject: Nonsubstantive Change Request to Response Survey - Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2019) [OMB # 0970-0151]

We are requesting nonsubstantive changes to four instruments for the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation project: Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2019) [Nationally representative studies of HS programs], OMB Information Collection Request 0970–0151. These changes are in the FACES Parent Survey (Attachment 8), American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) FACES Parent Survey (Attachment 17), FACES Teacher Child Report (Attachment 10), and AI/AN FACES Teacher Child Report (Attachment 19). The changes are described below (see page 5 for changes to the Teacher Child Reports).

FACES and AI/AN FACES Parent Surveys (Attachments 8 & 17)

We are requesting changes to the FACES and AI/AN FACES Parent Surveys to adjust question wording slightly to facilitate both web and telephone administration or to eliminate unnecessary instructions. Additionally, we are requesting changes to just the AI/AN FACES Parent Survey to: (a) add 4 items to capture information on an alternative contact for following up with respondents in the spring wave and (b) update the response options to align with the FACES Parent Survey. These changes do not affect burden estimates or meaningfully alter the survey content for the respondent.

In relation to changes to first change listed above (for both studies), we revised some questions so that they can be administered on both the web or by a telephone interviewer. For example, when the response options for question D10a1 in the AI/AN FACES parent survey or question I1 in the FACES parent survey must be read aloud, adding “would you say…” to the question stem makes it easier for the interviewer to do so without disrupting the flow of the interview. We also revised the format of questions B3-B8 to reflect the programming loops that will be followed to build the household roster. The subject matter of these questions has not changed. We also revised soft check text slightly by substituting Next for continue to match the button that web respondents will see, and to clarify the soft check text on grid-style questions to improve clarity. For the AI/AN FACES parent survey specifically, we added don’t know and refused response options throughout so that telephone interviewers can select these responses when needed. The responses are not read aloud, nor are they visible in the web survey, but they are now incorporated into the routing for subsequent questions. For the FACES parent survey, we revised or added instructions for “select one or more” (rather than “code all that apply”) and “select one only.”

In addition to the global changes noted above, we propose the following changes to the parent surveys:

FACES 2019 Parent Survey Specific Item Change Details

• Instructions on how to complete survey: Added to match the Appendix M screen shot for web administration

• Question SC2c_2_w: Move the nursery/preschool/kindergarten option to the second position on the list because it will be a common selection. Eliminate the “specify” field because it is redundant with question SC2c_2Specify_w. These changes may both reduce respondent burden.

• Question SC2c_2new_w: Add the same help screen text that appears on question SC2C_2_w so that respondents may access the definitions if they choose.

• Question SC9: Added definitions of relationship options.

• Question A1: Present boy before girl on the list of response options to match the question stem. This arrangement will be less confusing to respondents.

• Question A8: Move the definition of Early Head Start to precede the question. This arrangement will be less confusing to respondents.

• Question D10: Change response option of “other” to “another language” (in both English and Spanish).

• Questions H8 and H10: Added a hard check for web to instruct respondent that he or she entered a time but also selected that child does not have a usual bedtime/wake up at a usual time.

• Questions J17, J18, J20, K17, K18, K20, L17, and L20: Revise the question stem to add the reference period earlier for clarity.

• Questions J24, K24, and L24: Change “Up to 8th grade” to “8th grade or lower” for clarity; specify “or equivalent” in option 4 to be inclusive of all possible responses; spell out “vocational” and “technical” in options 5 and 6 instead of “voc” and “tech” for clarity.

• Question K1: Removed the response option “no explanation given.”

• Question M1: Correct a typographical error in option d.

• M3_amt and M3_per: Added a CATI probe to clarify if income is per hour, day, week, every two weeks, month, or year.

• Question M9: Expand the question stem to align the phrasing with the available response options.

• M18_Intro: Added introduction text for the section about basic family needs.

• Question N1: Clarify that child care might or might not be in the same building as Head Start to improve responses. Delete text to exclude Head Start programs as redundant with the question already being about care before or after Head Start.

• Question N6: Add instruction to exclude child care from a parent to improve responses to focus on non-parental care.

• Question N13: Remove introduction statement for redundancy.

• Question N20: Move probe of “on average” to question stem for clarity.

• Question N21: Fix typographical error in Spanish question text. Remove probe “on average” for simplicity.

• Question N23: Fix typographical error in Spanish response option 5.

• Question P1: Remove introduction statement for redundancy.

• Question P4a: Fix typographical error in Spanish question text.

• Question T1: Correct the entry conditions so that the question is asked in the spring round of data collection of respondents who did not complete the fall round of data collection.

• Question U1: Fix typographical error in Spanish question text and Spanish response option l.

• Section X: Revise format of tracking information to confirm and then as needed collected contact information.

AI/AN FACES 2019 Parent Survey Specific Item Change Details

• Instructions on how to complete survey: Delete statements that no longer apply (e.g., question numbers are not displayed) or noted elsewhere

• Question SC2c_2_w: Move the nursery/preschool/kindergarten option to the second position on the list because it will be a common selection. Eliminate the “specify” field because it is redundant with question SC2c_2Specify_w. These changes may both reduce respondent burden.

• Question SC2c_2new_w: Add the same help screen text that appears on question SC2C_2_w so that respondents may access the definitions if they choose.

• Questions SC9 and SC9_1: Change “response” to “relationship” to clarify the instruction for respondents. They are unlikely to know what “response option” means.

• Question A1: Present boy before girl on the list of response options to match the question stem. This arrangement will be less confusing to respondents.

• Question A8: Move the definition of Early Head Start to precede the question. This arrangement will be less confusing to respondents.

• Question D3: Change response options from “yes/no” to frequency scale (never, one or two days, three or four days, most days) to align response options with the FACES parent survey, increase variability, and allow comparability across regions while still supporting comparing back to prior studies.

• Question D7: Correct a typographical error.

• Question D8: Correct the entry conditions to D7=1. The question does not apply to all respondents.

• Question D19: Correct the entry conditions to include D10=33 or 34.

• Question E4: Delete the lead-in sentence because it is redundant with the introduction text for the section. Specify “on a gaming console” in item e for clarity.

• Question H9: Correct the entry conditions so that the question is not asked in the spring round of data collection if the respondent completed an interview in the fall.

• Question H10: Correct a typographical error in the web hard check.

• Question J8: Correct the maximum year for the date range.

• Question J15: Correct a typographical error in one of the response options.

• Questions J17 and J20: Revise the question stem to add the reference period earlier for clarity.

• Question J26: Correct a typographical error.

• Question J37: Correct a typographical error in the programming instructions for the text fill.

• Question J44: Add the word “agreement” to the first two response options for clarity.

• Question K8: Correct the maximum year for the date range.

• Questions K17 and K20: Revise the question stem to add the reference period earlier for clarity.

• Question K26: Correct a typographical error.

• Question K35: Correct typographical error to document weeks as a metric (in previous 2015 program and data, but inadvertently omitted in specs).

• Question K37: Correct a typographical error in the programming instructions for the text fill.

• Question K44: Add the word “agreement” to the first two response options for clarity.

• Question L17: Revise the question stem to add the reference period earlier for clarity.

• Question L24: Specify “or equivalent” in option 4 to be inclusive of all possible responses.

• Question M1: Correct a typographical error in option d.

• Question M9: Expand the question stem to align the phrasing with the available response options.

• Question M9c: Revise question to be inclusive of housing other than a “house.”

• Questions M20, M21, and M22: Combine M21 and M22 into M20 as an item series because the items use the same response options. Delete one option from previous M21 (“Internet is not available where we live”) because it is not relevant to the question.

• Question M21 (previously M23): Revise question (with approval already from original author) to clarify response options were capturing frequency (not just simple yes/no) and match other item in series to be in 2nd person voice. Updated response options to focus then on frequency for clarity on respondent.

• Question N1: Clarify that child care might or might not be in the same building as Head Start to improve responses. Delete text to exclude Head Start programs as redundant with the question already being about care before or after Head Start.

• Question N6: Add instruction to exclude child care from a parent to improve responses to focus on non-parental care.

• Question P7a and P8_0: Add language to the question to clarify the reference period.

• Question P42a: Correct a typographical error.

• Questions Q22 and Q24: Revise the question stem to clarify the reference period to ensure more consistent responses.

• Question R4: Add the definition of domestic violence so that respondents can access the definition if needed.

• Question R10: Revise the question wording for clarity.

• Question R15: Add text to question stem to present the response options to make clear on how to answer. Add periods after items that were missing them. Replace “/” with “or” to make it easier for telephone interviewers to read option d aloud. Delete “and/” for the same reason.

• Question T1: Correct the entry conditions so that the question is asked in the spring round of data collection of respondents who did not complete the fall round of data collection.

• Question V1: Replace “/” with “or” to make it easier for telephone interviewers to read option b aloud.

• Question V3: Insert “such as” to make it easier for telephone interviewers to read option c aloud.

• Section X: Revise format of tracking information to confirm and then as needed collected contact information. Add in fall collecting alternate contacts to support locating parents for spring wave.

FACES and AI/AN FACES 2019 Teacher Child Report (Attachments 10 & 19)

We are requesting changes to the FACES and AI/AN FACES Teacher Child Reports (TCRs) to: (1) add 3 items to capture address information for providing gift card, (2) update the consent page with introductory text, and (3) adjust question wording slightly to facilitate both web and hard copy administration or to eliminate unnecessary instructions. These changes do not affect burden estimates or meaningfully alter the survey content for the respondent.

Teacher Child Report Specific Item Change Details (Same item numbers and changes in FACES and AI/AN FACES)

• Consent screen. Add brief description for web TCR consent and hard checks if item missing.

• Screener section (SC0, SC0a): Add two items to confirm correct respondent for web instrument.

• Question B1: Remove of punctuation in response option to streamline and make consistent across survey.

• Question B2: Remove of question text (“Would you say”) preceding response option list and punctuation in response option to streamline for self-administration (less, unnecessary text).

• Question B3: Remove of punctuation in response option to streamline and make consistent across survey.

• Question B4, B4a: Remove of question text (“Would you say”) preceding response option list and punctuation in response option to streamline for self-administration (less, unnecessary text).

• Question D1 series, H1 series: Remove of question text redundant as list of response option list to streamline for self-administration (less, unnecessary text)

• Question F5b: Update Other response option to include gathering “specify” text to capture details of services.

• Address1, 2, 3: Add 3 items to capture address information for providing gift card