[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 1, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25719-25720]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10305]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

    Title: Measure Development: Quality of Family-Provider 
Relationships in Early Care and Education.
    OMB No.: New collection.

Description

    The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), the 
Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS), is proposing a data collection 
activity as part of the development of an early care and education 
(ECE) quality measurement tool to assess family-provider relationships 
that support positive child developmental outcomes and family 
wellbeing. The major goal of this project is to develop a measure of 
the quality of family-provider relationships that will be (1) 
applicable across multiple types of early care and education settings 
and diverse program structures (including Head Start/Early Head Start); 
(2) sensitive across cultures associated with racial, ethnic, and 
socioeconomic characteristics; and (3) reliable in both English and 
Spanish. At this time, four self-administered surveys (one for center- 
and home-based care directors, one for child care providers/teachers, 
and two for parents) and an environmental checklist have been 
developed, based on a literature review, a review of existing measures, 
and information collected through focus groups (under OMB Clearance 
0970-0356) and cognitive interviews (under OMB Clearance 0970-0355).
    To test these measures, two stages of data collection activities 
are proposed for this information collection request: A pilot test and 
a field test.
    The pilot test data will be used to examine the distribution of the 
items and to determine whether they behave in a manner consistent with 
the conceptual model that was developed as part of the project. The 
pilot test will also test data collection procedures prior to 
conducting a large-scale field test. Any problematic items or 
procedures identified by the pilot test will be corrected and revisions 
submitted to OMB before the field test.
    The purpose of the field test is to obtain sufficient data on a 
diverse population to enable full psychometric testing of the measures 
and compare subgroups to ensure that the measure can be used in diverse 
ECE settings.
    Respondents: In both the pilot and the field tests, the respondents 
will include directors of center--based child care programs, home-based 
child care programs, Early Head Start programs, and Head Start 
programs; center-based and home-based child care providers and ECE 
teachers; and parents whose children are enrolled in these diverse 
types of ECE settings.

                                  Annual Burden Estimate--Pilot and Field Tests
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Annual  number     Number of        Average
                   Instrument                           of         responses per   burden hours    Total annual
                                                    respondents     respondent     per response    burden hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Screening questions.............................             945               1            0.05              47
Director Survey.................................             143               1            0.08              11
Provider/Teacher Survey.........................             253               1            0.17              43
Parent Survey about FSWs........................              76               1            0.17              13
Parent Survey about Teachers....................             475               1            0.17              81
Environmental Checklist.........................             945               1            0.17            161
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 356.


[[Page 25720]]

    In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Administration for Children and 
Families is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the 
information collection described above. Copies of the proposed 
collection of information can be obtained and comments may be forwarded 
by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of 
Planning, Research and Evaluation, 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW., 
Washington, DC 20447, Attn: OPRE Reports Clearance Officer. Email 
address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0d425d5f4864636b626e626161686e796462634d6c6e6b2365657e236a627b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e4abb4b6a18d8a828b878b88888187908d8b8aa4858782ca8c8c97ca838b92">[email protected]</span></a>. All requests should be 
identified by the title of the information collection.
    The Department specifically requests comments on (a) whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection 
of information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 
Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted 
within 60 days of this publication.

    Dated: April 23, 2012.
Steven Hanmer,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-10305 Filed 4-30-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-22-P


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