[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 119 (Monday, June 22, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33955-33956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-16556]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Quantum Opportunity Program Demonstration Information Collection;
Comment Request
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format,
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized,
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed.
Currently, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is
soliciting comments concerning the proposed new collection of
information for the Quantum Opportunity Program (QOP) Demonstration
Evaluation.
A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be
obtained
[[Page 33956]]
by contacting the office listed below in the addressee section of this
notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
addressee section below on or before August 21, 1998. The Department is
particularly interested in comments which:
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the proposed data collection, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
Minimize the burden of the collection on those who are to
respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses.
ADDRESSES: Eileen Pederson, Office of Policy and Research, Employment
and Training Administration, Room N-5637, 200 Constitution Avenue,
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210, telephone 202-219-5782, extension 145
(this is not a toll-free number). Internet address:
[email protected]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
In July 1995, under authority of Title IV of the Job Training
Partnership Act (JTPA), ETA--in partnership with The Ford Foundation--
launched the QOP demonstration in seven sites: Memphis, Tennessee;
Cleveland, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; Fort Worth, Texas; Houston, Texas;
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Yakima, Washington. Simultaneously, the
Department of Labor selected Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. to
determine the net impact of the program. This data collection covers
outcome variables for determining the program's impact on the student
participants.
QOP provides mentoring, computer-assisted instruction, course-based
tutoring, lifeskills training, and community service activities for at-
risk disadvantaged high school students. A youth was eligible for QOP
if he or she attended a high school with a four-year dropout rate equal
to or greater than 40 percent, was entering the 9th grade for the first
time in the 1995-96 academic year (the Washington, D.C. site began
operations a year later: in the 1996-1997 academic year), and was in
the lower two-thirds of the grade distribution for entering 9th graders
according to the grade point averages from the 8th grade. The
evaluation will measure QOP's impact on academic achievement in reading
and mathematics, high school graduation, and enrollment in
postsecondary education or training programs. The demonstration will
also be evaluated based on its impact on behaviors that are associated
with barriers to achieving economic self-sufficiency as adults. Such
behaviors include substance abuse, teen parenting, and criminal
activity.
II. Current Actions
This notice concerns the collection of data by means of a
questionnaire covering outcomes and behaviors, and the collection of
school records for each member of the research sample.
Type of Review: New.
Agency: Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor.
Title: Quantum Opportunity Program (QOP) Demonstration Evaluation.
OMB Number: 1205-New.
Affected Public: Individuals.
Cite/Reference/Form: The QOP promotion protocol, in-person
questionnaire, telephone questionnaire, and school record collection
protocol.
Total Respondents: 1,069 youth and 175 school administrators.
Frequency: The protocols and questionnaires will be administered as
shown in the following table:
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Item Washington, D.C. Other sites
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Promotion Protocol....................... Fall 1998, 1999............................................... Fall 1998.
In-Person Questionnaire.................. Spring 2000................................................... Spring 1999.
School Record Protocol................... Fall 2000..................................................... Fall 1999, 2000.
Telephone Questionnaire.................. Fall 2000, 2001............................................... Fall 1999, 2000, 2001.
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Estimated Average Time per Respondent: Collection of school records
(including promotion records) is estimated to require five minutes per
student. The in-person questionnaire is estimated to require 30 minutes
to complete, the telephone questionnaire is estimated to take 20
minutes to complete.
Estimated Total Burden Hours:
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Response
Item Respondents Frequency of rate Total Minutes per Burden
administration (percent) responses response hours
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Promotion Protocol............. 175 1.2 100 175 30 105
In-Person Questionnaire........ 1069 1 80 855 30 428
School Record Protocol......... 175 1.5 90 236 30 118
Telephone Questionnaire........ 1069 2.86 80 2446 20 815
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Total...................... 1244 .............. ........... ........... ........... 1466
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Total Burden Cost: The cost of collecting promotion and school
records, based on an average school staff salary of $20, is anticipated
to be $4,460. The cost to student participants to complete the
questionnaire in person and by telephone, based on the minimum wage of
$5.15, is approximately $6,401. Thus, the total burden cost is expected
to be $10,861.
Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be
summarized and/or included in the request for Office of Management and
Budget approval of the information collection request; they will also
become a matter of public record.
Dated: June 16, 1998.
Gerard F. Fiala,
Administrator, Office of Policy and Research.
[FR Doc. 98-16556 Filed 6-19-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M
