Evaluation of the REL
Appalachia Teaching Math to Young Children Toolkit
New
collection (Request for a new OMB Control Number)
No
Regular
12/04/2023
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
320
0
95
0
0
0
Mathematics knowledge acquired in
early childhood provides a critical foundation for long-term
student success in math as well as reading (Duncan et al., 2007;
Watts et al., 2014), but the professional development (PD) and
curricular support for preschool teachers often lack specific
content and training on high-quality math instruction delivered by
math content experts. To address this problem, the REL Appalachia
toolkit development team is developing a toolkit to provide
preschool teachers with support in implementing core teaching
practices essential to promoting early math skills and knowledge in
children. The toolkit is based on the Teaching Math to Young
Children IES practice guide (Frye et al., 2013) and is being
developed in collaboration with state and district partners in
Virginia. IES requests clearance for activities to support the
recruitment of schools and districts to participate in an efficacy
study of the toolkit as part of the REL Appalachia contract. A
second OMB package, which will be submitted later this year, will
request clearance for data collection instruments and the
collection of district administrative data. The study will assess
the efficacy of the professional development resources included in
the toolkit. The evaluation will also assess how teachers implement
the toolkit to provide context for the efficacy findings and
guidance to improve the toolkit and its future use. The evaluation
will take place in 50 schools across approximately 10 school
divisions in Virginia and focus on mathematics teaching practices
and student mathematics knowledge and skills in preschool
classrooms. The purpose of this study will be to measure the
efficacy and implementation of the REL AP–developed toolkit
designed to improve teacher practice and preschool students’ math
learning outcomes. The toolkit evaluation will produce a report for
district and school leaders who are considering strategies to
improve math learning in preschool. The report will be designed to
help them decide whether and how to use the toolkit to help them
implement the practice guide recommendations.
This is a new collection,
therefore all burden is new. This results in a program change
increase in burden and responses of 95 hours and 320
responses.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.