Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort Work Statement May 27, 1997 I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 A. Purpose and Nature of the Procurement . . . . . . . . .4 B. Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 B.1 Enabling Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 B.2 Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies Program . .5 B.3 The Need for National Data on Early Childhood .5 C. Key Study Areas and Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 D. NCES Study Design Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 D.1 Past Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 D.2 Current and Planned Activities . . . . . . . . 12 II. BIRTH COHORT STUDY DESIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 A. Target Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 B. Holistic Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 C. Study Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 D. Data Collection Schedule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 E. Measuring Children's Growth and Development . . . . . 17 G. Sampling Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 H. Methodological Inquiries and Data Quality . . . . . . 22 I. Optional Special Studies and Supplements . . . . . . 22 J. NCES/ED Standards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 K. Coordination with ECLS Kindergarten Cohort Study. . . 23 III. SCOPE OF WORK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 A. Overview of Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 B. Core Tasks to Be Performed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Task 1. Project Planning and General Management . . 25 Task 2. Technical Review Panel. . . . . . . . . . . 28 Task 3. Develop Survey Instruments and Procedures . 30 Task 4. Design and Select Sample. . . . . . . . . . 34 Task 5. Study Design Report . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Task 6. IMT/OMB Clearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Task 7. Develop CATI/CAPI System. . . . . . . . . . 36 Task 8. Field Test of Survey Instruments and Procedures38 Task 9. Hiring and Training CATI/CAPI Interviewers. 39 Task 10. Data Collection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Task 11. Data File Preparation and Documentation . 43 Task 12. Data Analysis and Reporting. . . . . . . . 47 Task 13. Methodology Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 C. Optional Special Studies and Supplements. . . . . . . 50 C.1 Oversample of American Indian Children. . . . . 50 C.2 Children with Disabilities. . . . . . . . . . . 50 C.3 Food and Consumer Service . . . . . . . . . . . 51 C.4 Home Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 C.5 Father Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 June 30, 1997 I. INTRODUCTION A. Purpose and Nature of the Procurement The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the United States Department of Education (ED) requires a contract to 1) design a national longitudinal study of children born January December, 1999 and 2) to conduct the base year, first and second followup waves of this study. The birth cohort study is part of a two cohort Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) program being developed by NCES. The design and conduct of the second cohort study a kindergarten cohort is being developed and fielded separately and is not part of this RFP. The contractor for the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort Study (ECLS-B) will select a nationally representative sample of children at or shortly after birth and follow these children for about a six year period, or through the end of first grade. The ECLS-B contractor will collect data that will be used by researchers to study a variety of questions relating to children and their families as they move from infancy to school and to inform policy regarding the care and education of the Nation's children. This procurement involves 1) developing the overall design for the sample, data collection methodologies, and procedures for the ECLS-B; 2) developing and field testing the instruments and procedures that will be used during the base year, first and second followup waves; 3) conducting the base-year study, and the first and second followup waves of the study; and 4) processing the data and preparing it for public release. The period of performance for the contract shall be 60 months. This procurement also contains several optional special studies and supplements. These optional studies and supplements will be exercised at the discretion of the government. All optional special studies and supplements shall be completed within the 60 month period of performance. B. Background B.1 Enabling Legislation The ECLS is being undertaken in compliance with the mandate stated in section 404 of the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 9003): "The duties of the Center are to collect, and analyze and disseminate statistics and other information related to education in the United States and in other nations, including ...conducting longitudinal studies, as well as regular and special surveys and data collections, necessary to report on the condition and progress of education..." B.2 Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies Program The ECLS program is intended to provide information that will serve to inform policy regarding children, their families, schools, and early care and education. The data collected by program and the information that is disseminated through reports prepared by NCES/ED and others will inform decision makers, educational practitioners, researchers, and parents about the ways in which children are prepared for school and how schools and early childhood programs affect the lives of the children who attend them. The central goal of the ECLS program is to provide a comprehensive and reliable set of data that may be used to describe and to better understand children's preparation for school; key transitions during the early and middle childhood years; children's experience in early care and education programs, kindergarten, and the primary and elementary grades; and how their early experiences, both school/program and family, relate to their likelihood of succeeding in school. The ECLS program has adopted a framework which recognizes the importance of factors that capture the child's health status, social/emotional and intellectual development, and incorporates factors from the child's family, community, and school/program environments. The design of the program is based on the assumption that children's preparation for school begins at birth and continues up to the point where they enter school for the first time. Children's life experiences contribute not only to this important transition but to other critical transitions before and after children enter school. The ECLS program is comprised of two cohorts a birth cohort and a kindergarten cohort. Together, these cohorts will provide the range and breadth of data required to more fully describe children's early learning and education experience. The birth cohort study is being designed to study children's early learning and development from birth through first grade. It will focus on those characteristics of children, their families, and out-of-home experiences that influence children's first experiences with the demands of formal school, i.e., kindergarten and first grade. The kindergarten cohort measures aspects of children's development and their environments (home and school) as they enter school for the first time and examines how these influence their academic achievement and experiences through fifth grade. B.3 The Need for National Data on Early Childhood Education is receiving much public attention today. Parents, educators, and policymakers are being asked to reconsider the ways in which children are being educated in our nation's schools and to develop more effective approaches to education. Much of this attention on education is being focused on children's preparation for school and the early school years. A number of factors have contributed to the amount of attention being given to children's experience prior to school entry, their first encounters with formal schooling, and their experience during the early grades. These include: increased public awareness of the importance of children's early experiences, reinforced by the National Education Goal on school readiness; the changing nature of both children's preschool and early school experience; and more calls for schools to be more responsive to the backgrounds and experiences of the children they serve. Increased public awareness of early childhood issues has been accompanied by strong calls for greater, better, and more detailed data both at the national and state levels. Many researchers and policy makers have pointed out that adequate information is not available on which to base many of the complex decisions the Nation faces concerning the care and education of our children. What information is available is often fragmented, difficult to access, and of unknown reliability. More and better data are needed to study children's life and education experiences. There is currently no study that follows a national sample of children from birth through the early formative years, and to school. Few existing data bases permit the study of children's early learning experiences, their transition into school and their early school experience by race-ethnicity, gender, region, etc. Most research on children's early development and education has been conducted on small, often nonrepresentative samples of specific groups of children (e.g., disadvantaged inner city black children). There are some notable exceptions, but most of these do not use national samples. The National Institute for Child Health and Human Develop is sponsoring a longitudinal study of 1,200 infants sampled from hospitals in 10 heterogeneous sites across the country. Children were visited and observed in their homes at 1, 6, 15, and 36 months and in child care settings at 6, 15, 24, and 36 months. The study also includes observations of the children and their mothers in a laboratory setting at 15, 24, and 36 months. The National Center for Health Statistics conducted a follow-back survey for a national sample of 11,000 mothers with live births in 1988. The children were between 2 « and 3 years old at the time of the follow-back data collection. The study collected a wide range of data on children's health and development, child care, child safety, maternal health, maternal depression, medical care, accidents, hospitalizations, etc. The Bureau of Labor Statistics sponsored the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth - Child Supplement. Interviews were conducted regarding the children born to female participants in the NLSY who were 14-21 years of age in 1979. Individual child assessments were administered in the child's home and assessments of the child's home environment were obtained through questionnaire and observational methods. The Early Head Start Child Care Study sponsored by the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families is studying more than 3,000 children and families in 17 communities in 15 states. Child and family assessments are being administered at 14, 24, and 36 months . Observations of child care settings and interviews with child care providers occur at the same three points in time. Another study approached children's transition from school from a different perspective. The National Transition Study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education used a national sample of public schools to examine activities initiated by schools and preschool programs to ease children's transition between programs from the school/program point of view. No data were collected on or from the children who experience these transitions, and the study was not able to examine the impact of these transition activities on child outcomes. However, it does provide useful and important information about how schools view this critical transition and the programs they offer children and their families. C. Key Study Areas and Questions There is a vast array of issues and research questions pertaining to children's early care and education that could be studied with a national birth cohort sample; however, certain areas and questions have been identified as central to the study. The three key areas to be addressed by the ECLS are 1) school readiness; 2) children's transitions to nonparental care and education programs, kindergarten, and first grade; 3) the relationships between children's early care and education experiences and their growth and development in critical domains. Each of these areas and questions are described in more detail in the following sections. School Readiness Some children seem to adjust to their first encounter with formal school and are able to have a positive school experience while other children experience problems. For most children, the first formal school experience is kindergarten. However, the nature of this kindergarten experience is quite variable and the demands it places on the child differ across programs. The ECLS-B will examine children's preparation for formal schooling by studying different characteristics of children, their families, out-of-home care and educational experiences during the years prior to school that influence children's developmental status (social and emotional, cognitive and language, and physical) at school entry and whether or not they have a positive experience in kindergarten and first grade. The study is particularly interested in the role that parents/family play in helping prepare children for formal school and in the effects of children's participation in early care and education arrangements. Because the way in which children adjust to school and their early school success is influenced by the schools they attend, the proposed study will pay particular attention to how schools and kindergarten programs respond to the diverse backgrounds and experiences that children bring with them as they enter school for the first time. At a minimum, the contractor shall address the following questions with its ECLS-B design:  What background and cumulative experience do children bring to school? What is the background and experience of children who exhibit varying levels of competence in the different developmental domains that define school readiness (e.g., social skills, literacy and numeracy, fine and gross motor development)?  What actions do parents take to prepare their children for school? What is the socioeconomic and cultural variation in these actions? What is the relationship between parent behaviors and children's readiness for school? Which behaviors seem to make a difference and which seem less important?  What is the relationship between parents' attitudes and beliefs about their children's abilities and their children's development? What is the relationship between parent beliefs about children in general and the way they learn and their own children's cognitive and social competence?  To what extent do different early individual and family health/medical histories relate to children's readiness for school?  Are those characteristics of children's early childhood care/education programs that are traditionally used to define "high quality" programs related to the different dimensions of school readiness? Are these relationships the same for groups of children defined by such characteristics as race-ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and family composition.  Do children with different backgrounds and experiences enter schools that are responsive to their experiences? What role do schools and preschools play in easing the transition into kindergarten? What is the relationship between the actions that schools and preschools take and a child's early experience with school? Transitions to out-of-home programs and school Children and adults are continually making transitions from one status to another. Of particular interest to the proposed program is the transition that occurs as young children go from being cared for exclusively by their parents to the care of other persons. For some children, this transition may occur shortly after birth, while for others, their first significant experience with adults other than their parents in a regular care and educational setting may be when they enter school for the first time. Other transitions of particular interest are the transition to a group-based early childhood program and from preschool to school. Specific questions to be addressed include:  When do children first make the transition from the exclusive care of their parents to the care of another person? What are the characteristics of this care? What factors do parents consider when deciding to have part of their child's care be provided by someone other than them?  What affect, if any, does the timing of this transition have on children and their families? Do children who receive regular care from a nonparent have more difficulties than children who are cared for only by their parents? Do the problems children experience vary by the type of care children receive or important characteristics of this care?  How continuous is the supplemental care and education children receive from persons other than their parents? How often do children change care settings? How consistent are the characteristics of the different settings?  What problems do children and their families experience as a result of their child care arrangements? Are these problems sporadic or continuous? What characteristics of children's child care arrangements are related to these problems?  At what point do parents decide to place their preschool-age child in an early childhood program? What factors do parents consider in making this decision and in evaluating alternative programs?  What is the nature and level of children's participation in early childhood programs? What are the characteristics of the programs that children attend?  What are the transition patterns of children as they move from preschool (or no school) to kindergarten? For example, what percentage of children go from full-time private nursery school programs to part-day public kindergarten programs? What percentage of children go from a high quality and developmentally appropriate preschool program to a kindergarten program that emphasizes academic achievement?  How much movement occurs across (e.g., private to public) and within sectors during and between preschool, kindergarten and first grade?  How do those children and families who change sectors compare with those who remain in the same sector?  Do children who make these changes experience any particular types of problems? How long do these problems persist? Children's Growth and Development The ECLS-B is especially interested in children's development during the critical years before school. A major goal of the study is to monitor children's growth and development during these years. The proposed study seeks to understand better children's social and emotional, cognitive and language, and physical development as it relates to important influences in their lives. It is also generally acknowledged that the early experiences of children born in the 1990s are different from those of children born in previous decades. Increasing numbers of young children have mothers in the labor force, live in poverty, live in single-parent households, have limited proficiency in English, have poor nutrition and receive inadequate health care. These and other changes have contributed to the erosion of the economic and social capital available to children through their families and communities. In addition, large numbers of young children experience out-of-home care/education before they reach the age of compulsory school attendance, kindergarten attendance is nearly universal and the majority of primary school children have had at least one organized group experience (i.e., daycare center and/or nursery school) prior to starting first grade (West et al., 1992). For most children, then, first grade no longer represents their first encounter with school or with an organized group led by an unrelated adult. However, the quality of these experiences is not the same for all children and the impact quality has on children's development and adjustment to school needs further study. In a recent review of the research literature on effects of child care on children's well-being, Love, Schochet, and Meckstroth conclude that: 1) there is a positive relationship between the quality of children's child care arrangements and their well-being, 2) classroom dynamics are more important than structure, 3) more research is needed to understand the combined and unique effects of quality and an array of family variables, and 4) the relationship between quality and child outcomes needs to be studied with designs that measure child outcomes before and after their participation in a care/education setting. Many of the studies that have looked at child care and child well-being have measured the two at a single point in time. Some of the specific questions the contractor shall address in the ECLS-B are:  What are the levels and rates of cognitive growth (cognitive, social, and physical) over time for different groups of children? What characteristics of children, their families, and their nonparental care providers are associated with different levels and rates of growth?  Which groups of children seem to have more developmental difficulties and which groups seem to have fewer of these difficulties and more accomplishments? What is the outlook for those children who have early difficulties as they enter school for the first time? Are there strategies that help children with a history of developmental difficulties to succeed in kindergarten and first grade?  Do children who change child care settings and early education programs many times experience any adverse effects not found among children who attend the same setting/arrangement for a continuous period?  What are the characteristics of the early childhood programs attended by children who exhibit different levels and rates of cognitive growth? How do they interact with characteristics of children and their families to affect children's social and cognitive development?  What effects does participation in different types of early care and education programs/arrangements have on children? Are the outcomes of participation the same for different groups of children defined by race-ethnicity, SES, and other characteristics of children and their families? D. NCES Study Design Activities D.1 Past Activities Before deciding to launch this major new initiative, NCES initiated a series of activities directed toward first determining the need for a new longitudinal study of the education of young children and second identifying possible design parameters for such a study. Between the fall of 1989 and the spring of 1991 NCES commissioned a number of papers from experts in the fields of child development, early childhood education, elementary education, child assessment, sampling, and research design. These papers addressed a number of substantive and methodological issues associated with the design and conduct of a national longitudinal study of young children. The authors of these papers also attended meetings to discuss these issues further. D.2 Current and Planned Activities NCES/ED has several ECLS-B design activities that are either already underway or planned. These activities are directed towards the design and implementation of the proposed study and are intended to help facilitate decisions about the ECLS-B design and to keep the project on schedule. NCES/ED is developing a content outline for the ECLS-B parent component. It is also identifying a set of questionnaire items for inclusion in the first three waves of data collection when the focus is on infants and toddlers. A copy of the draft content outline is available through the National Education Data Resource Center (NEDRC) . NCES/ED has identified and evaluated certain aspects of the different sampling approaches that are available for the ECLS-B. These include 1) a household sample, 2) a birth certificate sample, and 3) a hospital sample. Draft materials from this activity are available through the National Education Data Resource Center. NCES intends to collaborate with other parts of the U.S. Department of Education (e.g., Office of Special Education Programs) and with other agencies to the greatest extent possible. NCES staff will continue to work with representatives of relevant ED program offices and other Federal agencies both to keep them up-to-date on the progress of the ECLS-B and to solicit their participation in the study. II. BIRTH COHORT STUDY DESIGN While many decisions about the design of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) are yet to be made, NCES/ED has decided on a number of key features of the study. The contractor shall develop and implement a study design that incorporates these key features. A. Target Population The target population of the ECLS-B shall be children born in the United States during calendar year 1999. The contractor shall design a sample that can be used to support estimates of key characteristics of this population. One of the benefits arising from a national longitudinal study of children is that it can provide nationally representative data on a wide range of early learning experiences and environments. Data on the experiences and environments of children from different groups in the population defined by race-ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and other characteristics (e.g., working status of the mother, family structure) can also be collected, leading to comparative analyses within and across these different population groups. B. Holistic Approach It is imperative that the different contexts in which learning occurs be examined in detail in order to improve our understanding of why some children adjust easily to school and appear to make critical transitions without much difficulty while others experience varying degrees of difficulty. It is also important to examine children's development across a number of critical cognitive and noncognitive domains. The contractor shall design the ECLS-B to capture data about the child's home, community, and child care and early childhood program environments. The ECLS-B contractor shall design the study to capture data about children's physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive development. C. Study Components The emphasis that NCES/ED is placing on the whole child and the different environments in which learning occurs is critically important for the design of the ECLS-B. The contractor shall use children's parents as primary reporters throughout the life of the study. At varying points in the life of the study, the contractor shall gather data directly from children, their child care and early education providers, and during later waves from their schools and teachers. Parents/Guardians The parents/guardians of children selected for participation in the ECLS-B will be the primary respondents over the life of the study. Due to the young age of the children who will be participating in the ECLS-B, parents/guardians will act as proxy respondents for their children. Furthermore, they are an important source of information on themselves and on their children's early development, home environment, and neighborhood. Because the ECLS-B will rely on parents for so much data, the contractor shall conduct parent/guardian interviews at each wave of data collection. The parent/guardian to be interviewed shall be the individual who is the most knowledgeable about the sampled child's care and education. In most cases, this individual will be the child's mother. The participation of children in the ECLS-B and the level and quality of data that are collected about these children will depend on the cooperation and participation of the children's parents/guardians. Therefore, the initial interview with parents/guardians will be conducted in person. Later interviews may be conducted in person or by telephone. The contractor shall develop and implement a plan for collecting data from parents/guardians. The contractor's plan shall identify and justify the interviewing mode in terms of the data collection and analytic goals of the study and the need to control data collection costs. The contractor shall cover several important topical areas during the parent/guardian interviews. The frequency at which information on characteristics in each area shall be collected depends on the stability of the characteristics. In other words, some items may only need to be asked during the initial parent/guardian interview while others need to be asked during each interview or on some periodic basis. The content to be covered in the parent/guardian interviews in the first three waves of the study includes the following: Family Structure Immigration Status Primary Language(s) Spoken and English Proficiency Child Care Child's Health and Well-Being Family Health Care and Nutritional Practices Child's Temperament, Language, and Cognitive Development Parental Values, Beliefs, and Expectations Home Environment, Activities, and Cognitive Stimulation Socioemotional Behaviors Neighborhood Parent Education Parent Employment Parent Income and Assets Welfare and Other Public Transfers Discipline, Warmth, and Emotional Support Parent's Psychological Well-Being and Health Social Support Networks Critical Family Processes Child. A challenge facing the ECLS-B is when and how to involve children directly in the study. Decisions about the amount, level, and type of data to be collected from children must take into account the ages of the children at the time of scheduled data collection. All instruments and procedures used to gather information directly from children must be appropriate to their age-level. Special care must be taken to limit any negative impacts associated with their participation. Beginning at age 2 « - 3, children will be asked to participate directly in activities designed to measure important domains of cognitive and noncognitive development. Repeated measures for many of these characteristics will occur over the course of the study period so that change in these characteristics may be measured and related to important characteristics of children's home and out-of-home environments and child characteristics. The contractor shall develop and implement a plan for involving children directly in the ECLS-B. The contractor shall administer a direct measure of children's development only once during the first three waves of the ECLS-B. Indirect measures of children's development shall be a part of each data collection wave. Child Care Providers and Teachers. An estimated 45 percent of children under age 1 receive some type of care and education on a regular basis from someone other than their parents/guardians. By age 4, an estimated 78 percent of children who are not yet attending kindergarten will receive supplemental care and education on a regular basis. Before age 2, a majority of this care and education is provided in a home setting and at age 2 supplemental care and education is evenly distributed between home and center-based programs. Starting with 3-year-olds, most supplemental care and education is usually provided through center-based programs. Because having data on children's care and education programs is central to answering many of the questions of major importance to the ECLS-B, the contractor shall capture a variety of data on children's child care arrangements and education programs. Some of these data can be collected from parents/guardians; however, much of the data that are needed to describe the structure and quality of children's arrangements and programs and the background and experience of the providers cannot be reported validly by parents/guardians. Therefore, the contractor shall collect certain of these data from the individuals and organizations who are providing care and educational services to children. Contacting children's care and education providers also opens up other data collection opportunities (e.g., using the child's provider as a source of information about the child's development). The contractor shall develop and implement a plan for collecting data on children's child care and education arrangements. When developing its plan, the contractor shall carefully evaluate the need for such data, the quality of the data that can be provided by different sources (e.g., family day care providers, child care center directors), any baises associated with differential rates of nonresponse for these different sources, and the cost of collecting data from these different sources. The contractor shall collect data on children's child care and education arrangements from providers no more than twice during the first three waves of the ECLS-B. For children participating in multiple arrangements, the contractor shall develop a plan for choosing one of each child's arrangements and for collecting data from this arrangement. School and Teachers. During later waves of data collection, information about the schools attended by children participating in the ECLS-B will be needed in order to address critical research questions. School administrators will be asked to provide information on the physical and organizational characteristics of their schools, and on the schools' learning environment, educational philosophy and programs. As the ECLS-B children enter kindergarten and first grade, their kindergarten and first grade teachers become valuable sources for information on children's most immediate school learning environment, i.e., the classroom. Teachers also represent a source of information on the children's development, both cognitive and social. Although the contractor is not responsible for these later waves of data collection, the contractor shall take into account the need to collect these data later in the life of the study when developing the design of the study and the sampling plan. D. Data Collection Schedule Because the first data collection point will be used to get baseline data on children at the point they enter the study and because much of the data collected will pertain to prenatal care, the child's birth, and the care of the mother and child during the first few months of life, it shall be collected within six months of the child's birth. Later waves of data collection shall be conducted annually. The exact timing of base-year data collection and that of later waves of the ECLS-B may be affected by other design decisions (e.g., choice of a sampling frame) and the analytic goals of the study (e.g., tying the data collection schedule to critical developmental milestones). Various operational considerations may also come into play, such as the merits of spreading data collection out over the year versus collecting data over shorter periods of time (e.g., quarterly, semi-annually). The contractor shall develop a schedule for collecting data and implement this schedule. When designing the annual waves of data collection for the ECLS-B, the contractor shall evaluate the intensity of data collection against 1) the needs of the study and 2) the need to manage respondent burden. The contractor's schedule shall clearly indicate when data will be collected for each of the study components (parents/guardians, child, and child care and education providers). E. Measuring Children's Growth and Development An essential component of the ECLS-B is the collection of data which describes the development of young children. At a minimum, the data related to children's developmental status at a given time and across time must take into account children's health, physical abilities, social and emotional development, and cognitive and language abilities. As with the ECLS-K assessment battery, the ECLS-B assessment battery will need to be a multiple-variable battery that will enable researchers to describe children's developmental status at given points in time and over time. Although children's behavior and personality characteristics have been shown to become globally stable over time, at the younger ages (i.e., infancy to 3 years), children's day-to-day or hour-to-hour behaviors can be highly variable. In the early years, rapid changes occur in all areas of development, and these changes do not occur at the same time in all areas. Environmental factors such as the physical and social surroundings also influence behaviors by either facilitating or discouraging performance. Measurement Domains. The primary purpose of the ECLS-B battery is to obtain accurate measures of the status of children in the following dimensions of development: social and emotional development, physical development, and cognitive and language development. Current developmental theory supports a model that suggests that children's development in the physical, social and emotional, and cognitive domains is interrelated and mediated by social and environmental contexts. Social and emotional development Social and emotional development are intricately related and mutually reinforcing. Social functioning refers to the interpersonal relationships and behaviors that a child initiates with others. Emotional functioning refers to the child's feelings about himself or herself and others. Research suggests that from infancy, individuals are constitutionally predisposed to vary widely along such dimensions as affect, attention, and motor activity; collectively called temperament. Children's levels of independence, activity, attention, and distractibility have been found to be associated with children's adjustment to kindergarten. Social skills and behaviors have also been found to lead to positive adjustment to school. The social and emotional development domain covers the social, emotional, and feelings aspects of behavior children's social skills, self concepts, attitudes, likes, and such. Child health and physical development Children's health, physical growth, and motor development are integral parts of well-being. A healthy child is not simply one who is growing well and is free of disease, but is an individual who demonstrates appropriate physical competencies for his or her age and the capacity to engage successfully in age-appropriate activities. Children's height and weight are two examples of measures that are used as indicators of adequate nutrition, sufficient nurturing, and the absence of significant chronic illnesses. In addition, attributes that mediate the level and quality of individual performance include stamina, energy, strength, and physical flexibility. Visual and auditory functioning are also important aspects of children's physical health. Visual and auditory impairments in infancy and early childhood can adversely affect the development of social and emotional, cognitive/language, and physical competencies. Examples of measures of children's visual and auditory functioning include visual and auditory acuity measurements. Motor development has long been considered an important part of child development and is a recognized means for measuring the overall rate and level of development of the children during the early months and years of life. Motor development may be defined as the gradual acquisition of control and/or use of the large and small muscles of the body. The development of neuromuscular coordination will be used by the individual throughout life to deal with a variety of social, emotional, mental, and recreational dimensions of living. Motor skills can be divided into gross and fine motor skills. Examples of gross motor development skills during the early stages of life include rolling over, crawling, sitting up, and walking up stairs. Skills such as grasping a cup or toy, stringing beads, building blocks, and using writing implements to make scribbles are examples of fine motor skills. Cognitive development The cognitive domain of development represents children's knowledge base and language. The knowledge subdomain can be further subdivided into how much children know that is related to a topic or experience and their abilities and skills in performing mental operations such as comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Knowledge concepts related to school outcomes include awareness of time, spatial relationships, vocabulary, roles people play in society, and logical thinking skills. Language development The age range of birth to 6 years represents one of the most critical age ranges for the development of language skills. Language provides a critical function for interacting between the physical and social environments. As children progress through the early years, language plays an increasingly important role for accessing the many social encounters in the home, neighborhood, playground, and school. Children's use of language to communicate is essential to understanding children's cognitive development and social adaptation. Measurement Issues. While the design and selection of a nationally representative birth cohort sample presents many challenges, perhaps the greatest challenge facing the ECLS-B is the ability to measure the central constructs that are so important to understanding children's early learning and development. A variety of instruments will be needed to reliably and validly measure specific constructs. Obtaining quality measures of children's developmental growth, family, and nonparent care and education environments is critical for the proposed study. Instruments that accurately tap the different dimensions of children's development are critical. Any direct assessment of young children must be carefully planned, tested, and well executed. Existing measures shall be scrutinized to determine their psychometric properties and any new measures shall be tested and refined. It is vital that all measures of children's developmental domains and children's home and family be sensitive to the cultural diversity that exists among children's families. Valid and reliable measures of children's development. The general purpose of the assessment of children in the ECLS-B is to document children's growth and development (i.e., the extent of children's accomplishments in those critical developmental and behavioral domains that are believed to be most essential for school performance) before school entry, at school entry, during kindergarten, and at the end of first grade. The accuracy and usefulness of the information derived from measures of these characteristics depend on instrument reliability and validity. The battery of instruments selected to measure all major developmental areas such as cognition, language, motor development, and socio-emotional development must meet strict psychometric rules for standardization, reliability, and validity. Individual instruments shall be sufficiently reliable to support change measurement and must be capable of measuring across a broad range of abilities/skills. Minimizing the possibility of "floor and ceiling effects is critical in selecting or designing measurement instruments. Furthermore, all tests, procedures, and processes must be culturally, linguistically, and developmentally sensitive. Measurement approaches. Measures of children's developmental status can be collected in several ways: directly from the child or indirectly from others familiar with the child. Measurements may include objective performance tests, questionnaires/rating scales, and behavioral observations. While each of these measurement formats provide information about the child, each also poses numerous issues related to instrument variances that need to be considered in designing the methods for collecting data related to children's development or growth in each of the domains. G. Sampling Issues The contractor shall design and select a nationally representative sample of children to participate in the ECLS-B. The contractor shall 1) identify and/or develop a sampling frame; 2) design the sample to meet certain precision requirements set by NCES/ED; 3) oversample specific groups of minority children; 4) develop an approach that minimizes attrition and the effects of residential mobility; and 5) develop a sample and data collection approach that minimizes the effects of age on important child characteristics and attributes. Each of these contractor responsibilities and sample design considerations is discussed in more detail in the following sections. Sampling frame There are several frames that could be used to select a nationally representative sample of children born at specific times. These include 1) a household frame, 2) a vital records/birth records frame, and 3) a hospital frame. Each has advantages and disadvantages. For example, vital records/birth records provide a very complete sampling frame for cohort members born in the United States. In addition, minimal effort is needed to screen eligible sample units, especially when compared with a household frame. Disadvantages associated with the use of a vital records/birth records frame are: 1) more effort is required to locate sample units because of the time lag between the birth of the child and when the records are available for use as a sampling frame; and 2) the complexity of frame preparation as a result of differences in the birth record systems used in different states. The contractor shall weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the different frames and select and/or develop a sampling frame that is cost effective and will satisfy the needs of the study. Precision requirements The contractor shall use the following precision requirements to guide the development of the ECLS-B sample.  The sample size for ECLS-B should be able to produce level estimates for which the standard error is no larger than 20 percent of a proportion and 2.5 percent of a mean in each wave of data collection. Also, for a two-tailed test of significance at the .05 level with power equal to .80, the sample should be able to detect a 20 percent change in proportions and a 5 percent change in means for all waves.  These requirements should be applied not only to the entire sample but to important subgroups. These include children defined by race-ethnicity (Hispanic, non-Hispanic black, Asian and Pacific Islander and non-Hispanic white), socioeconomic status (low, middle and high), family type (two-parent and single-parent), mother's employment status (full-time, part-time, not in the labor force), birth weight (less than or equal 5.5 lbs and over 5.5 lbs), Census region, and urbanicity. NCES is also interested in estimating characteristics of children with different child care and education program experiences (e.g., in-home versus center-based care).  For the purposes of deriving preliminary sample sizes, the contractor shall assume a mean of 50 with a standard deviation of 15, a proportion of .30, and a correlation of .60 between two consecutive waves. The contractor shall assume a design effect of 2.5 when deriving ECLS-B sample sizes. Oversampling of minority children In order to detect differences or changes for certain racial-ethnic minorities (e.g., blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Pacific Islanders) at the level of precision set for this study, it may be necessary for the contractor to oversample some of these groups. Even if sufficient numbers of these children are expected to be selected into the sample using equal probability methods, differential rates of attrition may result in the contractor having to oversample one or more of these groups. Sample attrition and mobility The contractor shall carefully examine attrition when designing the ECLS-B sample. A moderate level of attrition for each single wave may become a severe problem when summed over the life of the study. In addition, when designing the ECLS-B sample, the contractor shall evaluate the impact of residential mobility on the sample and the cost of study over time. The Bureau of the Census reports (see Census Report P20-481) that between March 1992 and March 1993, 22 percent of children from 1 to 4 years old had moved. According to data from the 1993 National Household Education Survey, an estimated 25.7 percent of 5-year-olds enrolled in kindergarten or a higher grade had moved 3 or more times between their birth and fifth birthday. Another 14.4 percent of these children had moved twice and 26.3 percent had moved once. Only 33.7 percent of these children had never moved. Thus, young children not only move in large proportions, they also move frequently. Mobility rates may change over time. In addition, they differ by socioeconomic, geographic, and demographic characteristics such as family income, locality, and race-ethnicity. To ensure that a sufficient number of children in important policy-relevant subgroups (e.g., racial-ethnic minorities, disadvantaged children) will be maintained in all waves of the study, the contractor shall take these factors into account when devising its sampling plans for the base year and followup waves. Elapsed time between sample selection and data collection As mentioned earlier, the target population of the ECLS-B is all children born in the United Stated from January December, 1999. If all children are selected at the same time as most surveys do, there is an age difference of 12 months between the oldest and the youngest children in the sample. The impact of this age difference on many of the attributes likely to be measured in the ECLS-B may be substantial. For example, the physical development of a child at 3 months will be significantly different from that of a child at 12 months. One way of minimizing the potential impact of this age difference is to select children for the base-year sample at several points in time instead of selecting all children at once. For example, children might be selected at 4 different points in time. One-fourth of the base-year sample would be selected in the first quarter of 1999. All children born between January 1st and March 31st would be eligible for this selection. In the second quarter of 1999, one-fourth of the sample would be selected from those children born between April 1st and June 30th. The sample selection would continue in the same fashion until the last fourth of the base-year sample is selected. If the elapsed time between sample selection and data collection is approximately equal for all children, then the age difference can be reduced to 3 months instead of 12 months. There are other ways of reducing the age difference, and the contractor shall explore these when devising its sampling plan for the ECLS-B. H. Methodological Inquiries and Data Quality The contractor shall give considerable attention to identifying potential sources of error, quantifying this error, and designing techniques to either reduce the error or minimize its impact on study estimates. The contractor shall carry out a variety of activities that are directed toward improving the quality of the survey data. The methods and procedures used by the contractor during the conduct of the study shall undergo continued evaluation. NCES/ED hopes to be able to set aside funds for the contractor to conduct experiments and studies designed to enhance knowledge of the effects of different design features on the quality of the data. NCES/ED is interested in studies that measure the validity and reliability of the data collected from parents concerning their children's educational experiences and learning environments. It is also especially interested in studies that assess the validity and reliability of data that are used to describe children's status on different developmental dimensions. During the design and conduct of the ECLS-B, the contractor shall work to reduce nonsampling errors as well as to reduce errors introduced through the sample selection process. I. Optional Special Studies and Supplements NCES/ED will support the development and implementation of a core study design that will achieve the goals of the program and provide the data required to answer the major research and policy questions guiding the study. NCES/ED plans to explore other ways of enriching the study. The study may be expanded in scope or enriched through a variety of special studies and supplements. Some of these may be supported by NCES/ED depending on the availability of funds, while others may be sponsored by other Federal agencies and private foundations. NCES/ED is considering expanding the ECLS design in several ways, including: 1) oversampling specific populations of children, 2) adding questions to one or more questionnaires in order to explore more fully an area of interest, 3) using supplemental instruments that will be administered to one or more groups of respondents, and 4) expanding the range of persons who will report on the early care and experiences of children in the study. The special studies and supplements that NCES/ED is considering at this time are described in the Scope of Work. The final decision as to whether or not to incorporate one or all of these studies and supplements will depend on the availability of funds. J. NCES/ED Standards NCES/ED has developed and implemented a set of standards that set guidelines to insure the quality of NCES/ED's work. The contractor shall adhere to these standards during the design and conduct of the ECLS-B. A copy of the NCES/ED publication NCES Statistical Standards and Policies (U. S. Department of Education, June 1992) can be obtained by calling the Statistical Standards and Methodology Division of the National Center for Education Statistics at (202) 219-1643. K. Coordination with ECLS Kindergarten Cohort Study Some of the issues of interest to the ECLS program span the two cohorts, birth cohort and kindergarten cohort. For example, a question of interest to many is how children's experiences in nonparental care and education programs during the years prior to school affect their later school achievement. Also, how does the literacy environment of the home during the early formative years influence children's reading in the primary and elementary grades. It is not clear exactly how, and if, the design of the ECLS-B sample should be changed in order to facilitate the analysis of research questions spanning the two cohorts. For example, should the ECLS-B and ECLS-K samples use the same Primary Sampling Units (PSUs)? The contractor shall consider these and other questions when designing the ECLS-B sample. If necessary, the contractor shall design the ECLS-B sample in such a way as to increase NCES/ED's ability to address questions that span the preschool and early school years. However, the contractor shall not make changes that might limit the ability of the ECLS-B to address issues surrounding the birth through first grade period. NCES/ED is finalizing the design of the kindergarten cohort of the ECLS. A large field test is being conducted in 1996-97 and the base-year data collection is scheduled for fall of the 1998-99 school year. The contractor shall examine carefully the design of the ECLS-K and the possible impact of that activity on the design of the ECLS-B. III. SCOPE OF WORK A. Overview of Tasks This Scope of Work is written in two sections (Core Tasks and Optional Special Studies and Supplements). The first section describes the core tasks that are required to prepare for and conduct the first three waves of the ECLS-B (base-year and the first and second followup waves). The contractor shall perform a series of tasks that will lead to 1) the final design and selection of a national sample of children born between January and December, 1999; 2) the collection of data from the parents of these children at three times; and 3) the processing of data collected at each of these three times and the preparation of public release data files. The second section describes a set of optional special studies and supplements. B. Core Tasks to Be Performed The core tasks represent activities that are required to prepare for and implement the first three waves of the ECLS-B. A few of these tasks will be performed only once (e.g., task 1 and 3), while most will be repeated for each of the data collections. While the outcome of some tasks will be the same each time they are performed, the level of effort required to accomplish these outcomes will not necessarily be the same. For example, task 10 requires that the contractor design and produce a set of training materials, design training sessions, and train staff for each wave of data collection. However, much of the material that the contractor develops for base-year training, and many of the activities planned for the training sessions, can be used and modified for later rounds of data collection. Task 1. Project Planning and General Management 1.1 Project Initiation and Planning. The contractor shall work closely with the COTR and other NCES/ED staff to develop and conduct the first three waves of the ECLS-Bl. The contractor shall keep the project on schedule and within budget. Upon award of the contract, NCES/ED will provide the contractor with copies of all final design reports and instruments developed for the ECLS-K. It will also provide the contractor with final copies of all papers and documents pertaining to the design and conduct of a birth cohort prepared in advance of contract award. Within two weeks of contract award, the contractor shall meet with NCES/ED to review the contract's tasks and to discuss issues related to the conduct of the study. The meeting shall be held in Washington, D.C. at the offices of NCES/ED. The contractor shall provide NCES/ED with an agenda and any background material at least five working days in advance of the meeting. The contractor shall come prepared to identify any areas of concern and to suggest ways of responding to these concerns. The contractor shall also be prepared at this meeting to recommend members for the ECLS-B Technical Review Panel (see task 2). 1.2 General Project Management and Monthly Progress Reports. Under this task, the contractor shall perform its general project management functions. A routine aspect of this management shall be the development and submission of regular monthly project reports. 1.3 Other Meetings with NCES/ED. Key contractor staff shall travel to Washington, DC for meetings with the COTR throughout the contract period. The contractor shall participate in the development of the goals and agenda for each meeting. The contractor shall provide a final agenda at least five working days in advance of the meeting. The contractor shall be responsible for distributing the agenda and other meeting materials, if any, to about 12 meeting attendees. Materials to be distributed shall be approved, in advance, by the COTR. All materials shall be distributed at least five working days prior to each meeting. 1.4 Briefings and Descriptive Materials. From time to time throughout the course of the project, NCES/ED shall provide interested individuals and agencies with information about the nature, findings, and progress of the ECLS-B. The contractor shall support these activities by developing up to three sets of materials that describe different components of the ECLS-B (e.g., ECLS-B assessment battery and ECLS-B field test). These materials will be used by NCES/ED. Each set of materials shall be no more than 10 typewritten pages of text (double-spaced) with accompanying graphs and/or tables suitable for display (such as transparencies or slides). Within two weeks of a request, a set of materials shall be submitted to NCES/ED for review and comment. The contractor shall make necessary revisions to the materials based on this review and resubmit the materials within one week of receipt of comments. The contractor shall also be prepared to give up to ten briefings and/or demonstrations about the ECLS-B over the life of the contract. The COTR will notify the contractor at least two weeks in advance of each briefing or demonstration. Examples of the kinds of meetings at which the contractor might be asked to discuss the ECLS-B and to present preliminary findings from the field test and main study are the annual meetings of the American Educational Research Association and NCES' Summer Data Conference. They might also include briefings with other federal agencies and with the Office of Management and Budget. 1.5 Project Brochure. The contractor shall assist NCES/ED in developing two brochures describing the ECLS-B. Each brochure shall describe the general goals of the ECLS-B and the larger ECLS program. It shall identify the types of data that are being collected and the project development and data collection schedule. These brochures are used to describe the ECLS-B to individuals and organizations requesting information about the study and are included as part of the information packets used to secure the cooperation of study participants. A draft of the first brochure shall be submitted within 12 weeks of contract award. A draft of the second brochure shall be submitted 12 weeks prior to the start of base-year data collection. The content of the second brochure shall reflect any changes made as a result of the ECLS-B field test. NCES/ED shall review the drafts and provide comments and suggestions within two weeks. NCES/ED shall provide the contractor with an electronic version of the ECLS-B logo, which the contractor shall use on the cover of the brochure. The contractor shall revise the materials based on NCES/ED suggestions and submit camera-ready, color-separated copy of the materials no later than two weeks following receipt of NCES/ED s comments. An electronic version of each brochure s text and graphics should be delivered with the camera-ready copy; the electronic version should be in a Web-compatible format in accordance with existing NCES guidelines. 1.6 Project Bibliography. Throughout the course of the contract, the contractor shall maintain a bibliography of reports and articles which cite any of the ECLS (both birth and kindergarten components) surveys. A draft of the first bibliography shall be submitted to NCES/ED for review no later than 52 weeks following contract award. NCES/ED will review the draft and provide comments within two weeks of receipt. The contractor shall revise the bibliography and submit one camera-ready and ten stapled copies within two weeks of receipt of NCES/ED comments. This bibliography shall be updated on an annual basis thereafter to include citations of reports or articles which cite the ECLS. 1.7 Electronic formats of transmittals and study products. The contractor shall transmit all correspondence directly to the COTR via cc:Mail or another mutually agreed-upon communications package. NCES/ED currently uses Word, WordPerfect, PowerPoint, and Excel as its primary software packages for communicating documents, charts, and tables. NCES/ED uses the Department of Education s cc:Mail software as its communications package. All deliverables are to be in a format that is compatable with these packages. 1.8 Confidentiality procedures. In order to ensure the anonymity of individual respondents, the contractor must comply with Section 408 of the National Education Statistics Act of 1994, P.L. 103-382 (20 U.S.C. 9007). A copy of the Act is attached. The Act authorizes fines or imprisonment for disclosure of individually identifiable information for any purpose other than statistical purposes. Under no circumstances may the contractor release personally identifiable information. Information which identifies persons must be maintained in files which are physically separate from other research data and which are accessible only to sworn agency and contractor personnel. Individual identifiers used during the course of the project shall be associated with data only for purposes of data gathering, matching new data with old, establishing sample composition, authenticating data collections, editing data based on callbacks, or obtaining missing information. The contractor shall enforce strict procedures for ensuring confidentiality. These procedures shall apply to all phases of the project. Any employee needing access to confidential information shall first swear to an Affidavit of Nondisclosure. The contractor shall execute these Affidavits of Nondisclosure and the originals shall be transmitted to the COTR. As part of the transmission, the contractor shall indicate the position in the organization of the person signing the Affidavit of Nondisclosure and the person s functional relationship to this project. As new persons are assigned to the project, an Affidavit of Nondisclosure shall be executed for them on the first working day of assignment to the project. Throughout the life of the contract, the Affidavits of Nondisclosure for interviewers and other short-term personnel shall be submitted on a schedule designated by the COTR or at a minimum of three times a year. A copy of the Affidavit is attached. All respondents shall be informed of the following: NCES enabling legislation; the purposes for which the information is needed; uses that may be made of the data; and the methods of reporting the data so that an individual s responses are not revealed. The contractor shall maintain security on the complete set (and deliverable backups) of all master data files and documentation. The contractor shall present a detailed security plan that expands upon what was presented in its proposal to the COTR for approval 8 weeks after the award of the contract. Task 2. Technical Review Panel and Outside Review 2.1 Role of the technical review panel. Studies of this scope, complexity, and importance require input from a number of individuals and organizations in order to address the data needs of policy makers and of those performing policy studies and educational research. The contractor shall form and work with a Technical Review Panel (TRP). The contractor shall ensure that the TRP provides the contractor with review and comment on such matters as technical design and implementation, administrative practices, policy and research topics that are appropriate for the ECLS and other technical and policy matters that arise from time to time. The contractor shall ensure that the TRP plays an active role in the study by reviewing and commenting on overall research priorities, identifying policy and research questions, providing input about questionnaire and assessment instrument content, proposing analytical models and methods, reviewing work plans and their implementation, and reviewing and suggesting modifications to draft reports. The contractor shall not ask the TRP to function as a consensus group. Instead, the contractor shall ask that the individuals on the panel review and respond to matters concerning the design of the ECLS-B and to offer their individual opinions and evaluations on such matters. It is the responsibility of the contractor to compile and weigh these different opinions and recommendations, and to provide a recommended course of action to NCES/ED. 2.2 Contractor's responsibilities. The contractor's responsibilities related to the TRP shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: 1. Identify and recruit up to 10 non-government members for the TRP. Members shall be national authorities in those substantive and methodological areas critical to the design and implementation of the ECLS-B. Within two weeks of contract award, the contractor shall identify, in writing, individuals with the needed expertise for possible membership on the TRP. The contractor shall identify the institutional affiliation of each nominee and provide a short biographical sketch highlighting expertise and prior work related to the ECLS. Following NCES/ED review of the list of individuals nominated for membership, which shall take no more than four weeks, the contractor shall contact each individual to solicit and finalize his/her participation. 2. Inform the TRP of the progress of the study. In addition to the regular meetings, the contractor shall summarize the progress of the study for the panelists at least on a semi-annual basis. 3. Prepare all materials and correspondence required for TRP consideration and review. After NCES/ED review and approval, the contractor shall share materials with the TRP for review and comment. 4. Schedule the meetings with panel members. The first panel meeting shall occur within 16 weeks of contract award. All meetings with the exception of the first shall be scheduled at least 36 weeks in advance. The contractor shall hold all meetings in Washington, D.C. unless otherwise approved by the COTR. The contractor shall convene the TRP an average of two times per year for the life of the contract. 5. Arrange for TRP meetings (e.g., meeting space and accommodations) and pay all associated expenses. Non-government panelists shall be paid an honorarium plus per diem and travel expenses. Government participants and guests at the TRP meetings will usually include 4-6 staff from NCES/ED and 1-2 staff from each of the government agencies sponsoring components of the ECLS-B. 6. The contractor shall prepare and submit an agenda for each meeting to NCES/ED at least 4 weeks in advance. The contractor shall deliver the agenda and any other materials that will be used by panel members for discussion at the meetings to panel members at least 1 week prior to the meeting. 7. Prepare minutes of the meetings. The contractor shall tape record the meetings and submit a written summary to NCES/ED within two weeks of each meeting. The minutes shall include a summary of the discussions (There is no requirement for a verbatim transcript) and activities that took place during the meeting, highlighting major issues that were raised and decisions made. The minutes shall identify actions (long-term and immediate) the contractor will take to respond to issues that were raised and not resolved during these meetings. The minutes of the meeting shall be distributed to panel members and invited guests within three weeks of each meeting after NCES/ED review. 8. Arrange and pay for specific work products not tied to a meeting. For example, TRP members might be asked to review and comment on a particular draft paper. Again, non-government panelists shall be paid an honorarium. 9. Supply NCES/ED with copies of all correspondence and other materials exchanged with panelists. 2.3 Other outside review. In addition to the contractor's TRP, other review panels may be required from time to time. For example, the ECLS-K has used groups of subject area specialists to review the specifications of the ECLS-K assessment framework and drafts of the assessment battery. It has also convened groups to consider different approaches for collecting data on and about special populations (e.g., children with disabilities and language minority children). If such panels of consultants are used, the contractor shall have the same responsibilities for these panels as are outlined for the contractor's TRP (see 2.2 above). The contractor shall assume that three such groups will be convened over the life of the contract for a one-day meeting in Washington, D.C. Each group will be comprised of up to 8 non-federal members. Task 3. Develop Survey Instruments and Procedures A draft content outline for the first three waves of data collection has been developed and is available through NEDRC. Immediately upon award of the contract, NCES/ED will give the contractor a copy of the final content outline and a set of recommended items for the parent interview developed from this content outline. Even though a set of recommended items will be available at the time of contract award, the contractor will need to do additional work to develop and produce the parent interview instrument and other data collection instruments and procedures for use in the ECLS-B. The contractor shall implement an approach to developing these instruments and procedures that follows the steps outlined in the following subtasks. 3.1 Identify key questions and variables. As needed, and with the knowledge of the COTR, the contractor shall consult with the staff of NCES, the various offices in the U.S. Department of Education, other Federal agencies (including OMB), education policy groups, and members of the ECLS TRPs for input on the key research and policy questions that should be addressed by the ECLS-B and on what variables to include. The contractor shall provide short 1-2 page written summaries of all such consultations within one week of each consultation. 3.2 Prepare Content Outline Matrix. Within 16 weeks of contract award, the contractor shall prepare and submit a draft final content outline for the ECLS-B. This outline should update and revise the outline provided to the contractor at the beginning of the contract. The content outline shall list the recommended constructs and variables for inclusion along with a brief rationale for each. The constructs and variables shall be organized by the research and policy issues they address. This information shall be submitted using a matrix format. The matrix shall identify the source(s) of data for each variable. The draft final content outline shall reflect the outcomes of project activities and revise as necessary the content outline contained in the contractor's proposal. Following NCES/ED review of the draft final content outline, the contractor shall submit a revised outline which incorporates suggestions made by NCES/ED. With the approval of the COTR, the contractor shall provide members of the Technical Review Panel with a copy of the content outline for review and comment. All comments from the TRP members shall be summarized by the contractor and presented to the COTR prior to the submission of the final content outline or no later than 18 weeks after contract award. 3.3 Develop Study Instruments and Procedures. The contractor shall develop and revise the study instruments and procedures needed to address the research and policy issues being addressed by the ECLS-B. In designing the study instruments, the contractor shall take into account the comments and suggestions made by TRP members and NCES/ED regarding the content outline. Where the ECLS-B consists of topical components and variables being used in the ECLS-K or where questions are being asked that build upon the data collection efforts of other agencies, special consideration shall be given to maintaining the comparability of items across time and/or across studies. Draft copies of all study instruments shall be submitted to NCES/ED for review and comment no later than 30 weeks following award of the contract. NCES/ED will provide comments on the draft instruments within two weeks. Within one week of receipt of NCES/ED's review comments, the contractor shall revise the instruments incorporating the comments and suggestions of NCES/ED and submit a second draft of the instruments. The contractor shall produce the ECLS-B parent/guardian instruments in both English and Spanish. In addition, the contractor shall develop approaches for increasing the participation of respondents from other language minority backgrounds. The contractor shall reproduce or acquire all the materials and program all the systems necessary to support the collection of data for the ECLS-B. The contractor shall reproduce or arrange for the reproduction of all questionnaires. A sufficient number of copies of each form shall be reproduced to meet the needs of the study, plus a 10 percent overage. The contractor must be familiar with the requirements of the Government Printing Office for such reproductions; all reproductions shall be done in accordance with government printing regulations. 3.4 Conduct Cognitive Laboratory Research. Most of the data items that will be used in the ECLS-B will have been used in previous studies and many will have been subjected to cognitive laboratory research. However, some of the items will be new or modified from their original version. As such, the contractor shall design and conduct limited cognitive laboratory research on certain items or sets of items. This research shall be directed toward an understanding of the extent to which the questionnaire items are understood by respondents and how the questionnaire flow might be improved. This research shall seek to identify any areas of ambiguity and confusion. Prior to conducting any cognitive laboratory research, the contractor shall develop and submit a memorandum that outlines its plan for the conduct of such research. This plan shall be submitted to NCES/ED no later than 16 weeks after contract award. This plan shall describe the contractor's general approach to this work and identify the specific methods and procedures that shall be used. Justification shall be provided for the selection of certain methods over others relative to the objectives of the research. The plan shall also describe how the outcomes of the cognitive laboratory research will be used to improve the overall quality of the ECLS-B instruments and procedures. The contractor shall allow two weeks for NCES/ED review of the plan. Implementation of the plan shall be contingent upon NCES/ED approval. The contractor shall submit a draft Cognitive Research Report to NCES/ED within two weeks of completing the research outlined in the approved cognitive research plan. This short report shall summarize the cognitive research conducted for the ECLS-B and changes that are recommended to study instruments and procedures as a result of this work. The contractor shall allow two weeks for NCES/ED review of the draft report. The report shall be revised in response to NCES/ED's comments and the final report submitted one week later. 3.5 Develop birth cohort assessment battery. Developing an assessment battery for the ECLS-B is extremely important to the success of the study. The assessment battery for the ECLS-B shall include all instruments designed to collect indicators of children's status within a number of critical dimensions associated with school performance. The dimensions include 1) physical development, 2) social and emotional development and 3) cognitive and language development. The contractor shall develop this battery following the steps outlined below. The contractor shall conduct a review of the relevant research in the field, review and evaluate existing assessment instruments, and review relevant materials from the NCES/ED development activities for the ECLS-K. The contractor shall engage in discussions with child development specialists, education content area researchers, related professionals, and the ECLS-B TRP. All instruments used in the ECLS-B shall meet psychometric standards (e.g., validity and reliability) at the highest level. Identify key elements of each assessment domain. The contractor shall 1) develop an inventory of the variables for each of the key assessment domains, 2) select those elements that are closely related to the study issues and have been shown to be related to children's later school performance, and 3) describe their relationship to the types of school outcomes identified in the ECLS-K. Operationalize elements in each domain. The contractor shall define each of the identified key elements and its relationship to each of the essential dimensions of learning and development. Both conceptual and operational definitions shall be provided. Identify data source for each element. Information for each element may be obtained from a variety of sources. The sources may include children, their parents, and when they enter school, their teachers. The contractor shall identify the appropriate source(s) for information pertaining to each element and the best method(s) or procedure(s) for obtaining the information. All methods and procedures advanced for collecting information directly from children shall be appropriate for their age. Special care shall be taken to limit any negative impact of children's participation. Review instruments from other studies. The contractor shall review the designs and instruments of relevant studies and data collection programs that collect data on the types of issues and populations of particular interest to the ECLS-B. After the review, the contractor shall recommend those instruments and/or elements of instruments that are most appropriate for use in the ECLS-B. The contractor shall include empirical evidence establishing the importance and relevance of the instruments/items for the ECLS-B. Conduct small-scale pretest. To determine the feasibility and appropriateness of methods and procedures proposed by the contractor, the contractor shall conduct small-scale tests. All such tests shall be separate from and precede the full-scale field test. Such early testing may include cognitive laboratory work. Assessment Plan. The contractor shall prepare and submit to NCES/ED a report that summarizes its plans for the design and conduct of the assessment. At a minimum, the plan shall: 1) identify the key assessment domains and the critical elements within each domain to be collected; 2) describe the methods and procedures that will be used to conduct the assessment and identify the sources of data for each domain/element; 3) include copies of any questionnaires and assessment instruments; 4) describe in detail any procedure that involves the direct assessment of young children and steps that will be taken to minimize the impact of children's direct participation; and 5) describe procedures for analyzing the data. A draft copy of this plan shall be submitted to NCES/ED within 32 weeks of contract award. NCES/ED will provide comments on the draft plan within two weeks. The contractor shall revise the plan based on the comments and suggestions of NCES/ED and submit a revised draft of the plan. The plan shall be reviewed by members of the ECLS TRP and other experts in child development and assessment. The contractor shall notify the COTR prior to sending the plan out for review. A final version of this plan shall be appended to the Study Design Report (see Task 5). Assessment reproduction and materials. The contractor shall be responsible for reproducing all printed materials associated with the ECLS-B assessment battery (both the direct and indirect instruments). A sufficient number of copies shall be reproduced to meet the needs of each round of data collection, plus a 10 percent overage. The contractor shall be responsible for acquiring all materials and supplying all equipment needed to administer the ECLS-B assessment battery. The contractor shall protect the security of the cognitive assessment battery by restricting the number of copies published to the number needed to conduct the study and maintaining a record of the location of each copy of the assessment battery instruments. A copy of this record shall be made available to the COTR upon request. Under no circumstances shall copies of the assessment battery instruments be distributed or loaned out without the permission of the COTR. The contractor shall employ strict procedures for ensuring that all project staff adhere to this requirement. The contractor shall protect the proprietary rights of all copyrighted assessment instruments used in the ECLS-B assessment battery. The contractor shall provide proper notice of copyright. Individual ECLS assessment battery data and individual item data shall not be released without the permission of NCES/ED. The contractor shall negotiate and pay all royalties associated with the use of copyrighted material. The contractor shall secure the written permission of the copyright holder to change or modify individual items that are part of a copyrighted instrument if such changes are a part of the contractor's approach to assessing children in the ECLS-B. The contractor shall provide NCES/ED with a copy of each agreement between the contractor and a copyright holder prior to it being finalized. Task 4. Design and Select Sample The contractor shall design and select a sample of children that meets NCES/ED's precision requirements and other study requirements (see section G, Birth Cohort Study Design). The contractor's plan for selecting this sample shall be submitted to NCES/ED for review and approval prior to its implementation. A revised version of the plan included in the contractor's technical proposal shall be submitted to NCES/ED within 36 weeks of contract award. Following NCES/ED review, the contractor shall make any necessary revisions to the plan and submit the revised plan to NCES/ED for review. The revised plan shall be submitted within one week of receipt of NCES/ED's comments on the draft plan. The revised plan is expected to be the final sample design. The contractor shall select the sample following the specifications and procedures contained in its approved sample design. Three weeks prior to the sample being drawn, the contractor shall provide NCES/ED with the computer specifications that will be used to select the sample along with copies of other written materials (e.g., instructions, specifications) that document the derivation, justification, and implementation of the operations that lead to the selection of the sample, including 1) selection of PSUs; 2) sample allocation; and 3) stratification. Task 5. Study Design Report The contractor shall prepare a Study Design Report. This report shall be in large part a compilation of the materials prepared under Tasks 3 and 4. At a minimum, it shall contain an introduction to the study with a comprehensive statement of its intended purpose and overall design. The report shall include a description of the methods and procedures that will be used to collect data from parents/guardians and other study respondents. The report shall outline how the data collected through the ECLS-B may be used to address key research and policy questions. A copy of the 1) content outline, 2) sample design plan, and 3) assessment plan shall be included as appendices. The contractor shall also append copies of all instruments with the exception of those found in the ECLS-B assessment battery. The contractor shall prepare the Study Design Report as a loose-leaf binder. The contractor shall submit an outline of the Study Design Report to NCES/ED for approval no later than 15 weeks after contract award. Once the outline of the report is approved by NCES/ED and no later than 40 weeks after contract award, the contractor shall submit a draft of the Study Design Report to NCES/ED. Within two weeks of receipt of the draft report, NCES/ED will provide the contractor with comments on the draft document. The contractor shall revise the Study Design Report incorporating NCES/ED's comments and suggestions. The revised draft Study Design Report shall be submitted to NCES/ED within one week of receipt of NCES/ED's review comments on the draft report. The contractor shall provide the COTR and members of the ECLS-B TRP with copies of the draft report for their review and comment. The contractor shall request that the members of the TRP provide written comments and be prepared to discuss the ECLS design at a TRP meeting. With NCES/ED approval, the contractor shall modify the draft Survey Design Report (and the ECLS-B design) based on the suggestions of the TRP members. The contractor shall continually update the Survey Design Report based on the outcomes of the field test. Task 6. IMT/OMB Clearance The contractor shall prepare a forms clearance package for obtaining both IMT (Information Management Team of the Department of Education) and OMB approval of the ECLS-B field test and the first three waves of data collection. A draft package shall be submitted to NCES/ED not less than 180 working days prior to the start of the base-year field test data collection. In preparing the clearance package, the contractor shall follow instructions for completing Standard Form 83-I and writing the supporting statement required for Paperwork Reduction Act submissions. The contractor shall expect that several iterations of the forms clearance documents will be required before a final draft will be ready for submission to IMT/OMB.. When preparing the package, the contractor shall draw heavily on the material found in the draft Study Design Report. Following NCES/ED review of the draft package, the contractor shall revise the package incorporating NCES/ED's comments and suggestions and resubmit the package. Following this review, the contractor shall revise the package and submit it for final NCES/ED approval. Following approval, the contractor shall provide NCES/ED with 10 copies of the Clearance Package. The contractor shall submit these copies no later than 150 days prior to the start of the base-year field test data collection. NCES/ED will submit the package to IMT/OMB. Task 7. Develop CATI/CAPI System The contractor shall use CATI/CAPI technologies to collect data from study participants when the contractor's approach involves interviewing respondents. To the greatest extent possible, the contractor shall design the CATI/CAPI system in such a way as to minimize disruptions to the system when requests for changes are made. 7.1 Specification of Range and Logic Checks. The contractor shall prepare specifications for every questionnaire item response that detail the allowable range of response and of internal consistency checks between sets of related items. For example, if the age of the respondent is collected in the demographic items, then other items relating to the person s age should be consistent with the reported age. All year fields shall be formatted as a four digit year, so as to be compatible with dates in the year 2000 and after. The contractor shall develop range codes that distinguish between "Not applicable" (i.e., valid skips) and item nonresponse. The contractor shall develop procedures for insuring the overall quality of the data collected in the ECLS-B. Most of the data editing associated with the conduct of the ECLS-B shall take place during the interview session via edits contained in the CATI/CAPI system. However, even with elaborate edit specifications for the study instruments, it is assumed that errors in the data still may occur. As a consequence, the contractor shall implement manual editing procedures. Procedures shall be developed and in place for resolving unanticipated problems. At a minimum, editing during the conduct of the interview shall include range checks (both hard and soft) and consistency checks. Inappropriate characters (such as words in a numeric field) should be prevented from being entered by the interviewer. Procedures shall be established that permit interviewers to respond appropriately to participants who provide out-of-range or inconsistent information. In developing these procedures, the contractor shall weigh the needs for accurate information and limited interviewer interference against the need for completing the interview as efficiently as possible. For each instrument, the contractor shall prepare CATI/CAPI edit specifications. (Post-CATI/CAPI edit specifications are covered in Task 11.1, below.) These specifications shall be submitted to NCES/ED for review and comment no later than six weeks prior to the start of data collection. NCES/ED will provide comments within two weeks, and CATI/CAPI edit specifications revised in response to NCES/ED review shall be submitted two weeks later. Revised CATI/CAPI specifications are expected to be the final version; the draft submitted should be considered as a final version with only minor modifications to be incorporated. Open-ended items (such as an occupation or care provider name) shall be coded and edited either online (with screens that provide precoded response categories) or handled in post-interview manual edits. The online capability is most desirable but would need to work seamlessly with the rest of the CATI/CAPI software. The contractor shall develop an approach for handling such open-ended items. 7.2 Programming of Study Instruments. Programming the study instruments into the CATI/CAPI system is one of the key activities of the project. For the instrument to capture the data reported by respondents accurately, the CATI/CAPI system shall be able to appropriately handle all contingencies associated with the conduct of the interview. Each response shall lead to the next appropriate point in the instrument and each response provided by the participants shall be accounted for. The contractor shall develop the procedures and materials necessary to insure that all program specifications are correct and complete. At a minimum, this shall include the creation of flowcharts and hard-copy screens and the development and use of project staff and programmer review procedures for these materials. 7.3 Testing the CATI/CAPI System. Prior to the conduct of the field test (see Task 8), the contractor shall test all features of the CATI/CAPI system, including those features of the system associated with sampling, scheduling, interview management (e.g., skip patterns), data entry and editing, and case control. Testing of the system shall involve the review of project staff at all levels of the project (e.g., project management, staff with substantive expertise pertaining to the collection, telephone operations staff, and programmers). It shall also involve the use of interview scenarios so that the system can be tested under simulated interview conditions. Every branch of the interview skip patterns shall be tested, and corrected if necessary, prior to field use, to be sure that all contingencies have been foreseen. 7.4 CATI/CAPI Screens. The contractor shall also prepare hard-copy versions of the CATI/CAPI monitor screens for each of the instruments. At a minimum, these screens shall include: 1. the item number and text; 2. all displays that are to appear in the body of an item (e.g., names, wording alternatives, responses to previously asked items); 3. all information that is being provided to the interviewers to assist them in conducting the interview accurately and smoothly (e.g., respondent's or subject's name, age, and sex, and the type of early childhood program being discussed); 4. information that identifies the next item to be asked for each response; and 5. the response range specifications. The contractor shall provide copies of the CATI/CAPI English and Spanish screens six weeks prior to the field test. NCES/ED shall provide comments on these materials within two weeks of receipt. Revised screens shall be delivered one week after receipt of NCES/ED comments. 7.5 Delivery of Testable CATI/CAPI Instruments. The COTR shall have a minimum of 5 days to test the CATI/CAPI system. The contractor shall make the CATI/CAPI system available to the COTR for testing at NCES. A testable CATI/CAPI is one in which all screens are ready to be tested. It shall be possible for the COTR or other assigned project staff to go through a variety of simulated interviews, testing out the responses to various scenarios and types of respondents. It is not necessary for the CATI/CAPI system to be complete in all details, but the screen routing program shall be considered final. The COTR shall notify the contractor promptly of all questions or problems with the CATI/CAPI programming. The contractor shall remedy all problems reported during the testing phase. CATI/CAPI instruments shall be made available to the COTR no later than two weeks prior to the Field Test to allow time for reprogramming as necessary. Task 8. Field Test of Survey Instruments and Procedures 8.1 Submit Field Test Plan. The contractor shall design a field test for the ECLS-B. The contractor shall use the field test to "shake out" the CATI/CAPI system, to evaluate items in the ECLS-B instruments and to evaluate other methods and procedures planned for the main study. Many of the items that will be in the ECLS-B instruments have been fielded before. Therefore, the contractor shall design and implement a field test that concentrates on new items or items that have been adapted from studies designed for different purposes from the ECLS-B. The contractor shall submit a short description of its plans for conducting a field test of the ECLS-B instruments and procedures no later than 24 weeks after contract award. This plan shall update, if necessary, the plans outlined in its technical proposal. Once the contractor has completed its cognitive laboratory work and the data collection instruments are complete and approved (by NCES/ED and OMB), the contractor shall conduct a field test of the instruments and the CATI/CAPI system. The contractor shall allow enough time between the completion of this field test and the commencement of interviewer training (Task 10) to permit an analysis of the field test and to allow for any proposed changes to the data collection instruments and procedures to be evaluated and made. Recommended changes to the data collection instruments shall be submitted to NCES/ED for approval and to OMB through the COTR. 8.2 Conduct Field Test. The contractor shall conduct a field test of each ECLS instrument prior to its full-scale implementation. All sampling and data collection procedures scheduled for the full-scale study (see Draft Survey Design Report under Task 5) shall be used to the extent feasible during the conduct of the field test; however, purposive sampling may be substituted in order to guarantee a sufficient number of respondents for specific populations. The field test shall be used to test the entire CATI/CAPI system, including scheduling and interview progress reporting functions. It shall also be used to test the wording and flow of the questionnaire items including appropriate skip patterns. The contractor shall review, analyze and document the responses of field test sample members. The contractor shall pay special attention to skip pattern errors, consistency and other edit checks, the variability of responses to questions, and the sensitivity of items. 8.3 Report on Field Test. The contractor shall prepare a short summary of the field test for review by NCES/ED and, at NCES/ED's request, by members of the ECLS-B TRP. Any problems encountered during the conduct of the field test and the contractor's recommendations for overcoming these problems shall be documented and reported. This short summary report shall be submitted no later than three weeks after completing field test data collection. 8.4 Submit Design/Instrument Changes in IMT/OMB Memo. Based upon field test results, modifications may be called for in the data collection procedures and instruments. Following NCES/ED approval of any revisions to the survey instruments and procedures, the contractor shall submit these changes to IMT/OMB through NCES/ED. Notification of these changes shall be made in the form of a memorandum from NCES/ED to IMT/OMB. A draft of the memorandum shall be prepared by the contractor and submitted to the COTR at the same time it submits the field test report. The contractor shall modify the memorandum based on the comments of NCES/ED staff and submit a final memorandum to NCES/ED within one week of receipt of NCES/ED comments. Task 9. Hiring and Training CATI/CAPI Interviewers The success of the ECLS-B will be due in large part to the skills and dedication of the contractor's CATI/CAPI interviewers. It is critical that all persons assigned to these positions have the necessary verbal, interpersonal and typing skills required for successful CATI/CAPI interviewing. These skills are developed through a combination of prior experiences working on other projects and training. 9.1 Develop Interviewer Training Materials. In order to ensure that the interviewers assigned to the ECLS-B have the skill levels necessary to perform successfully the demanding tasks associated with the conduct of the study, the contractor shall design and implement an interviewer training program. Prior to developing any training materials and not later than 12 weeks prior to the start of data collection, the contractor shall submit an outline of its interviewer training program to NCES/ED for review. This outline shall include: 1) a training program agenda that identifies the format of the session (lecture, interactive, role-playing, etc.), the topics to be covered (e.g., study background, overview of instruments, survey topical component), and the length of time the session is scheduled to run; 2) an outline of the study materials that interviewers will be provided; 3) a preliminary training program schedule that identifies when and where each group of interviewers will be trained; and, 4) the contractor's plan for evaluating the training program and the performance of individual trainees during and after training. Following NCES/ED review and approval of the interviewer training program outline, the contractor shall develop and submit draft copies of all training materials to NCES/ED for review at least five (5) weeks prior to the start of the first interviewer training session and six (6) weeks prior to the start of data collection. The contractor shall make revisions as necessary based on NCES/ED's review of the materials and submit 10 copies of the final training materials to the COTR at least five (5) working days prior to their being distributed to CATI interviewer trainees. The contractor shall monitor all data collection activities to assure consistent high quality data throughout the collection period. Therefore, as a part of the training plan, the contractor shall include awareness of interviewer responsibilities under the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), the Privacy Act Regulations (34 CFR Part 5b), and the National Center for Education Statistics Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-382, Section 9007). The contractor shall also follow NCES Standards and Policies and design methods of review and checking which will take place during and after training to assure that only high quality personnel are retained and utilized. In addition to supervisory monitoring, the contractor shall include plans that address issues of quality control such as tracking interviewer performance, maintenance of standards, identification of poor performance, and procedures for correcting such performance. 9.2 Recruitment of Interviewers. The contractor shall recruit and hire all interviewers needed to complete the data collection within the time constraints imposed by the project schedule. Whenever possible, the contractor shall recruit interviewers with prior CATI/CAPI interviewing experience. Because the ECLS-B most likely will oversample Hispanic children and other language minority children, the contractor shall have staff who are qualified to conduct the interviews in languages other than English. At a minimum, the contractor shall have staff who can conduct the interviews in Spanish, and a sufficient number of such staff to conduct the interviews within the contractor's data collection schedule. Confidentiality requirements in NCES contracts mandate that interviewers complete a sworn Affidavit of Nondisclosure. These affidavits shall be signed in the presence of a public notary and must be dated the first day the interviewer is on the payroll. (This requirement applies to all project staff having access to the data.) 9.3 Interviewer Training Sessions. The contractor shall have responsibility for the conduct of the training sessions. All sessions shall take place at the contractors' facilities or facilities arranged for by the contractor. The contractor shall be responsible for assuring that all interviewers assigned to the project successfully complete the training program as specified in the training plan. The contractor shall have responsibility for the production of all interviewer training materials and shall have sufficient materials available for all staff trained during the conduct of the project. The contractor shall provide standardized training to all staff who will be working with a particular instrument. Due to the large numbers of individuals that will need to be trained, training may take place at different times and at different sites. The contractor shall develop materials and use technologies, as needed, to insure that all staff receive the same training in their respective assignments. Interviewer training shall occur at least one week prior to the start of data collection. Task 10. Data Collection The contractor shall collect all base year, first, and second followup data according to the plans contained in its technical proposal and the Study Design Report. All interviewing associated with the ECLS-B, unless otherwise approved by NCES/ED, shall be done using a CATI/CAPI methodology. All CATI interviewing shall be conducted at the contractor's facilities. CATI/CAPI interviewing shall be under the supervision of the contractor's staff. 10.1 Data Collection Schedule. The contractor shall develop and adhere to a data collection schedule that achieves the goals of the study and minimizes the effect of children's age on data that are captured at each wave of the study. Interviews with children's parents shall be scheduled so as to maximize the number of completed interviews and minimize the number of non-productive interviewer hours charged to the project. At least 14 attempts over a two-week period shall be made to contact and conduct an interview with the parent of each sampled child. These attempts shall be scheduled so that they cover different days of the week and hours of the day. 10.2 Quality Control Procedures. The contractor shall develop and implement a set of quality control procedures that will assure the collection of high quality data throughout the data collection period. Project supervisory staff shall closely monitor interviewer activities in order to ensure that all data collection procedures are followed and that all standards are adhered to. Problems that are identified shall be addressed immediately and consistently. Statistics on interviewer response rates should be maintained and checked regularly to pinpoint response rate problems. Because of the number of staff who will be assigned to the ECLS-B data collection activities (both supervisory and interviewer staff), it is important that any decisions that are made about the conduct of the survey be disseminated immediately and clearly to all staff involved in the project. The contractor shall have procedures in place from the beginning of staff training until the end of data collection to assure that all parties involved with the collection of data use the same solutions to and interpretations of problems that arise during the course of the study. 10.3 Progress Reports. Throughout the data collection period, the contractor shall provide the COTR with weekly progress reports. The contractor shall have a receipt control system at its facilities. The contractor's CATI/CAPI system (receipt control system) shall be designed in such a way as to be able to produce computer-generated reports that show the progress that is being made during the interview phase of the project. These reports shall contain detailed information on the initial and final status of all interviews. At a minimum, they shall include information on the total number of interviews to be completed, the number of cases for which contact has been attempted and established, the number of cases for which interviews have been completed or refusals have occured, the number of cases by reason for all types of noninterviews, the number of missed scheduled interviews, the number of interviewer hours (aggregated), the number of cases referred to refusal conversion, and the number of initial refusals that were completed during refusal conversion. Where appropriate this information shall be reported separately by key characteristics of sampled cases (e.g., race-ethnicity, region, urban-rural). The contractor shall report estimated response rates as well as completion rates for all cases to the COTR on a weekly basis. In addition to the computer-generated reports described above, these weekly reports shall identify any problems encountered and either describe how these problems were resolved or recommend alternative ways of resolving these problems. The report shall include a short summary certifying that progress is at or above target levels for data collection, or explaining why sufficient progress is not being made and the steps that are being taken to rectify this. These weekly progress reports are in addition to the monthly reporting requirements described in Section III (Study Requirements, A. Reporting). Any problems encountered that either have consequences for the project's budget or time schedule shall be brought to the attention of the COTR in these weekly progress summaries. 10.4 Nonresponse Follow-up and Refusal Conversion. The ECLS-B will encounter initial refusals and other types of nonresponse. The potential for nonresponse and its effects on study estimates shall be given special consideration in the contractors' design of the ECLS-B. In addition, the contractor shall develop and implement a set of procedures for converting initial nonrespondents to completed interviews in order to meet NCES response rate standards. 10.5 Tracking sample One of the challenges facing the ECLS-B is limiting the adverse effects of sample mobility. To help maintain a high response rate, the contractor shall develop methods and procedures for collecting locating information on each child/parent sample member. The contractor shall create and maintain a tracking system data base. At a minimum, the data base system shall include the following: 1) child/case identification number, 2) parent(s) names, 3) home address and telephone number, and 4) names, addresses, and phone numbers of two other individuals who would always know the whereabouts of the child. The contractor shall also have a set of proven procedures for locating sample members who change addresses between data collections. The contractor shall locate all child/parent sample members who change addresses between data collections using these procedures and the tracking system data base. The contractor shall submit its final specifications for the tracking system to the NCES COTR within 24 weeks of the contract's start date. These specifications shall update and revise those found in the contractor's technical proposal. Task 11. Data File Preparation and Documentation Much of the data collected during the conduct of the ECLS-B will be entered directly into a computer file through the CATI/CAPI system. Nevertheless, additional steps will be necessary to prepare these data and others collected through other means for public release and analysis. The contractor shall take the necessary steps to convert the raw data to a more useable form. The contractor shall develop and implement a set of quality control procedures that assures high quality data conversion and accuracy. 11.1 Data Coding and Editing. Although most data edits shall occur online as responses are entered during CATI/CAPI interviews (see task 7), the contractor shall perform additional data editing and coding at the conclusion of the data collection period. These editing and coding activities shall involve both computer-assisted (e.g., CADE) and manual activities. Respondent data records shall be reviewed by contractor staff for completeness and for any other problems (e.g., inappropriate skips, out-of-range values, input errors) that may have occurred during the conduct of the interview. Problem records shall be identified and appropriate corrective actions taken. The contractor shall submit a plan for post-CATI/CAPI editing to NCES/ED by the start of data collection. NCES/ED will review the plan and provide comments and suggestions within two weeks of receipt. The contractor shall revise its post-CATI/CAPI editing plan based on NCES/ED's comments and submit a revised plan. The contractor shall maintain for NCES/ED inspection the records and results of the data editing and corrective actions. These records shall be delivered to NCES/ED on request. A status report of the data editing and corrective actions shall be delivered to NCES/ED four weeks after the end of data collection. This status report shall include cumulative summary statistics by instrument on the number of problems detected for the various types of items and the status and method of corrective actions taken. The contractor shall submit specifications for the coding of open-ended items by the start of data collection. Coding specifications shall be reviewed by NCES/ED and comments from NCES/ED provided within two weeks of receipt. The contractor shall revise the specifications based on NCES/ED's comments and submit the final coding specifications to NCES/ED one week later. The contractor shall code responses to all open-ended questions according to the approved coding specifications. Data collected through methods other than CATI/CAPI (e.g., self-administered questionnaires) shall be edited and coded by the contractor. The methods and procedures the contractor uses to edit and code data collected through these other means shall be consistent, and of similar quality, to those used for CATI/CAPI interviews. 11.2 Data Conversion. The contractor shall design, establish, and carry out the procedures necessary to convert the data in the CATI/CAPI (and CADE) system to CD-ROM with electronic codebooks. The data set on the CD-ROM shall be made available in three formats: 1)ASCII format; 2)SAS/PC; 3)SPSS/PC. ASCII-readable input files shall be used by the contractor to create Electronic Codebooks (ECBs) for the separate files. The contractor shall submit a plan to the COTR that describes the proposed structure and specifications for these data files. This plan shall be submitted by the start of base year data collection. NCES/ED will review the plan and provide comments within two weeks. A revised plan shall be submitted two weeks after the receipt of NCES/ED's review comments. The plan shall not be implemented without the approval of NCES/ED. 11.3 Creation of Composite and Classification Variables. The contractor shall propose and create a limited number of composite (e.g., SES using income measures, parent's education and occupation) and classification variables (e.g., race/ethnicity, highest level of parent education, family/household composition, count of adults in household, etc.) for use by analysts. A plan for the creation of composite and classification variables shall be submitted by the start of base year data collection. NCES/ED shall review the plan and provide comments and suggestions within two weeks. A revised plan incorporating the changes requested by NCES/ED shall be submitted within one week of receipt of NCES/ED's comments. Once approved, these variables shall be amended to the public use data files and their definitions included in the ECLS-B data file user's manual. 11.4 Item Nonresponse. The contractor shall consider the impact of item nonresponse on study estimates and analyze the level of item nonresponse for individual items and assess the merits of imputing for missing item data. When considering whether or not to impute for missing data, the contractor shall weigh the advantages and disadvantages of including the imputed values on the public release files (with appropriate documentation and flags). These analyses shall be performed and the findings reported to NCES/ED prior to the production of the final data files. The findings of the contractor's analysis of item nonresponse shall be reported to the COTR and included in the methodology report (see Task 13). Recommendations regarding the imputation for missing data on the public release files shall be submitted to NCES/ED. These recommendations shall not be implemented without prior approval of the COTR. 11.5 Sample Weights. The contractor shall develop sample weights to apply to the data. The weights shall incorporate an adjustment for differential questionnaire response rates for individuals in different "weighting classes." Weighting classes and adjustment procedures shall be consistent with NCES Standards. The contractor shall document the procedures planned for use in developing the weights and submit these plans to NCES/ED by the start of base year data collection. Two weeks shall be allowed for NCES/ED review. The contractor shall have one week to make any revisions resulting from NCES/ED's review and submit a revised plan. 11.6 Public Release Files and User's Manuals. The contractor shall prepare data files and documentation following NCES standards. The contractor shall submit preliminary or draft copies of the following computer-related products 12 weeks after the end of data collection: 1. ECLS-B restricted-use files on CD-ROM in ASCII, SAS/PC, and SPSS/PC formats, with Electronic Codebook. 2. ECLS-B public-use files on CD-ROM, in ASCII, SAS/PC, and SPSS/PC formats, with Electronic Codebook. 3. User's manual (patterned after those developed for NELS:88 and NHES:95) for each of the files. The User's Manuals will also include a codebook print file containing well-documented, weighted and unweighted frequency tables for all variables contained in the master files. 4. READ.ME files that will be included on the CD-ROM that will provide guidelines for accessing the data files and describing the data files contained on the CD-ROM. The construction of these files and the associated documentation shall be modeled after those in NELS:88 second follow up and the 1995 National Household Education Survey. For NCES/ED review, the contractor shall provide separate ASCII data files with SPSS for Window code on CD-ROMs. All preliminary files and all documentation (including linking IDs) needed to access and read the data stored in each file shall be delivered within 16 weeks of the end of data collection activities. NCES/ED review of data files and User's Manuals will be completed four (4) weeks after receipt of the draft/preliminary deliverables. The contractor shall have two (2) weeks to submit revised copies of the tapes and manuals following NCES/ED review. NCES/ED's comments and suggestions shall be taken into consideration when developing these final products. Following NCES/ED approval, 20 copies of the User's Manuals shall be sent to NCES/ED along with the final public use data files. At the same time, the contractor shall deliver two masters of a CD containing the ASCII data files, SAS/PC and SPSS/PC data files, and the ECB. 11.7 Restricted-use Data Files and User's Manuals. Following the same steps presented in Task 11.6 above, the contractor shall produce data files that contain restricted-use data. These data files will contain all the variables that reside on the public-use files plus variables with potential identifiers of respondents (e.g., State codes, Census zipcode data, etc.). These files will be distributed by the government through NCES site-license agreements. 11.8 Disclosure Review Board. NCES Standards for release of public-use data require that the data ready for release be submitted to the Disclosure Review Board (DRB). This process usually entails having the dataset tested out and ready to certify as "clean," meaning that all of the procedures in NCES Statistical Standard for Machine-Readable Products (IV-06-92) are followed, and that data suppression or conversion has been performed on individually-identifiable data (NCES Statistical Standard for Maintaining Confidentiality, IV-01-92). There should be a data release product, usually a Statistics in Brief (see task 12), and a User s Manual to submit to the DRB at the same time. The contractor shall conduct a thorough confidentiality analysis of the ECLS-B data when preparing the public use files. This analysis shall ensure that the confidentiality provisions contained in PL 100-297 are fully complied with. To protect the privacy of respondents as required by PL 100-297, respondents with high disclosure-risk will be identified. Data that can potentially be used to identify these respondents will be masked. Disclosure-risk can be increased as more information is collected during future rounds of ECLS-B and as this information is added to the data records of the sample members. The contractor shall consider this type of disclosure risk when planning and conducting confidentiality analysis for the ECLS-B. 11.9 Maintenance of Necessary Data Files. The contractor shall maintain complete data files for all waves and components of the ECLS and all supplemental files created and obtained in support of this study. Maintenance of data files means keeping data file documentation available for reproduction on request from data users on a cost-reimbursable basis and keeping a machine-readable copy of each data file so that copies can be supplied to NCES/ED on request. Certain data files that shall be maintained may not be made available to the public because of privacy considerations. In these cases, file maintenance means that the data files shall be kept intact, in a form that can be updated or copied. Data files shall not be allowed to expire, to be released, to be overwritten, or otherwise destroyed. These files shall be maintained with a software system capable of easily interlinking them for analytic (or other) purposes while, at the same time, preserving the necessary confidentiality requirements of the study. Task 12. Data Analysis and Reporting 12.1 Descriptive Reports. The contractor shall analyze the ECLS-B data and prepare two Statistics in Brief publications. The first Statistics in Brief serves two purposes: 1) To adjudicate the public release data files (see task 11), and 2) To stimulate interest in the ECLS-B data. The second Statistics in Brief will serve to futher stimulate interest in the ECLS-B. A Statistics in Brief report is anywhere from 12-20 pages in length and shall contain the following information: 1) A short introduction with a brief review of relevant literature; 2) A brief description of the ECLS-B; 3) Findings; 4) Summary and conclusions; 5) A number of major tables, with standard errors; 6) Figures from table data (optional); 7) A short methodology section that describes the study design and methods, including: the characteristics of the sample used in the analysis, operational definitions of the variables found in the report, and tests of significance used; and 8) An acknowledgments section. The contractor shall use as a model appropriate extant NCES/ED publications. The exact format will be determined by the COTR and all reports prepared by the contractor shall follow NCES publication standards. The contractor shall submit an outline for the Statistics in Brief reports to NCES/ED 8 weeks before the end of data collection. NCES/ED will take two weeks for review, and the contractor shall submit the revised outline, incorporating NCES/ED review comments, one week later. Once the outline is approved by NCES/ED, the contractor shall begin preparation of the reports. NCES/ED expects that several iterations will be required for each report. The first draft of the first-release report shall be due 20 weeks after the end of data collection. NCES/ED shall require a minimum of two weeks for the review of at least one of the iterations. In addition to hardcopy, the briefs shall be submitted on floppy diskette using Microsoft Word 7.0 or above. The contractor and NCES/ED will jointly author the report. No information in a report shall be released prior to NCES/ED approval of the report. All differences cited in the text of the report shall be supported by an appropriate statistical test (e.g., Bonferroni-adjusted t-test, chi square, etc.). Standard errors of the estimates presented in the brief shall be reported in the technical appendix. Statistics in Briefs and most other published products (Working Papers are an exception) go through a peer review process termed "adjudication." This process involves internal review within NCES, and requires that the publication be sent out to other parts of the Department of Education and to several academic or government reviewers who are chosen for their expertise in the subject area. Two weeks should be allowed for circulation of the report to be adjudicated. An adjudication meeting is scheduled at the end of the review period, and all members convene or send in their comments and all comments are discussed. Comments are accepted, modified, or rejected, by consensus, and the contractor must incorporate the comments and write up a memorandum to the Adjudicator detailing the changes within two weeks following the meeting. At that point, once all parties have given their approval, the contractor shall prepare a camera-ready copy and electronic file copy within two weeks. 12.2 Standard Error Calculations. The contractor shall develop and implement procedures (see NCES Statistical Standards) to enable users of the ECLS-B to estimate the sampling errors of study estimates. The contractor shall calculate estimates of design effects for a minimum of thirty variables for the total sample and for various subgroups of selected respondent characteristics (e.g., sex, race/ethnicity, SES, and at least two other variables recommended by the contractor). Means and standard deviations of the design effect distributions shall be calculated. The same set of procedures shall be followed for each public release tape developed under this contract. The data files created by the contractor for each ECLS-B component shall contain the elements necessary to support the calculation of standard errors for complex designs using one of three possible methods--balanced repeated replication (BRR), jackknife repeated replication (JRR), or Taylor series procedures (TSP). If the contractor uses a software package to calculate these standard errors other than those available to NCES/ED, it shall make this package available to NCES/ED. If BRR or JRR is used, the contractor shall provide replicate codes that indicate the computing strata and the half-sample to which each sample unit belongs and the contractor shall provide, for each sample unit, the replicate weights for all replicates that were formed in order to calculate variances. If TSP is used, the contractor shall provide the stratum code and PSU code that identifies each sample unit. Regardless of the method used, the contractor shall describe in detail the method used to calculate the standard errors in the User's Manual. This description shall instruct users how to use the data elements and the associated software to calculate sample variances for the ECLS-B. A short example of the method and the use of the available software shall be provided in the manual. The contractor shall submit to NCES/ED its plan for 1) computing standard errors, 2) analyzing patterns of nonresponse and 3) estimating nonresponse bias for key items in each study instrument by the start of base year data collection. The plan will be reviewed within two weeks by NCES/ED, and the contractor shall submit a revised plan within one week of receipt of comments. The contractor shall include results of these analyses in the User's Manual (see task 11) and in the Methodology Report (see task 13). Task 13. Methodology Report The contractor shall submit a methodology report that documents the entire ECLS-B project including: a description of the sample design, weighting, and imputation scheme (sample design report); item nonresponse rates, unit nonresponse rates, and bias analysis (nonresponse and bias report); instrument development and CATI specifications (CATI methodology report); and data collection procedures (field report). This report shall be submitted 24 weeks after the end of base year data collection. This report shall describe the study design and all procedures used to conduct the ECLS-B. The contractor shall describe special features of the study in detail and any problems encountered either during the design or implementation of the study identified. Changes that were made to the design and/or procedures in response to unanticipated problems shall be documented. The Methodology Report shall include major findings pertaining to the methods used and/or experimented with during the conduct of the study and discuss their implications for future surveys. After a two week NCES/ED review, the contractor shall revise the report based on the comments and suggestions of NCES/ED staff. The revised methodology report shall be submitted to NCES/ED within two weeks of receipt of NCES/ED review comments. Once NCES/ED has approved the final report, the contractor shall submit 20 copies of the report to NCES/ED. In addition to hardcopies, each final methodology report shall be delivered on floppy diskette. The electronic version of the report shall be delivered to NCES/ED in Word version 7.0 or later. The contractor and NCES/ED will jointly author the report. No information contained in a report shall be released prior to NCES/ED approval of the report. The COTR may request that the methodological reports also be prepared in Web-readable format. The contractor shall update this report after each subsequent round of data collection. The contractor shall submit modifications and changes to the report based on the first and second followup experience. These modifications and changes shall be submitted within 24 weeks of completing each round of data collection. The schedule for NCES/ED's review will be the same as for the base-year methodology report. C. Optional Special Studies and Supplements In addition to the core tasks (tasks 1 through 13), this procurement includes five optional special studies and supplements. The requirements for each are described below. C.1 Oversample of American Indian Children During the study design phase of the ECLS-K, NCES/ED supported work to look into the feasibility of oversampling American Indian children in order to support separate national estimates for this group of children. Several different methods for increasing the number of American Indian children in the ECLS-K sample were investigated. These methods are described in the ECLS Study Design Report. The ECLS-B contractor shall develop and implement a plan for increasing the number of American Indian children sampled for the ECLS-B. The contractor shall oversample American Indian children in order to support national estimates for this group of children. The contractor shall oversample American Indian children in order to increase the total number of these children in the ECLS-B sample to 1,000. Once selected for participation in the ECLS, the contractor shall ensure that these children, their parents/guardians, and child care providers participate fully in the study. The contractor shall complete tasks 3 through 13. C.2 Children with Disabilities One of the benefits arising from a national study of children is the collection of data on a wide range of early learning experiences and environments for different groups of children. The core ECLS-B sample will include 1) children with disabilities who have been identified and are receiving special education related services, 2) children with disabilities who are not receiving special education related services, 3) children who are at risk but have not yet been identified, and 4) children who have received special education related services but are no longer receiving these services. As children age, the distribution of children in these different groups will change. While it appears that the core ECLS-B sample will include sufficient numbers of children receiving special education services to support independent analyses of this group as a whole, a sufficient number of children to support independent analyses of children with specific disabilities (i.e., blindness, deafness, orthopedic impairment) is not expected unless such children are oversampled. In addition, without augmentations to the design, other key issues related to the population of children with disabling conditions and their special education needs will not be adequately addressed in the core ECLS-B. The longitudinal study of children with disabling conditions, if incorporated into the ECLS-B study design, will be funded by the U. S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education. The design of the optional study of children with disabilities requires that the members of this sample be followed for the same period of time as the main ECLS-B sample. C.3 Food and Consumer Service One of the purposes of the ECLS-B is to study the influence of children's physical characteristics and household circumstances on their behavior and development. A proposed area of investigation for the ECLS-B is the relationship between children's nutrition and participation in nutrition programs and their physical, social and emotional, and cognitive development. NCES/ED plans to collect information in the ECLS-B about the participation of children's families in federal assistance programs (e.g., food stamps, WIC, AFDC). An additional supplement to the ECLS-B would be to collect measures of infant feeding practices, children's physical activity, children's height and weight, their mothers' participation in prenatal care programs, and their families' food sufficiency situations. Information on how often children engage in activities requiring physical exertion would be obtained from parent and nonparental care provider reports; information on children's height and weight would be collected at each scheduled wave of the study; and, data on infant feeding practices and families' abilities to get enough to eat would be acquired from the parent interview. If this additional supplement is included in the ECLS-B, it will be funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Service (FCS). The contractor shall work with FCS and NCES/ED to identify measures of infant feeding practices, children's physical activity, children's height and weight, their mothers' participation in prenatal care programs, and their families' food sufficiency situations. The contractor shall design and implement an approach for collecting these data. The contractor shall complete tasks 3 through 13 for this supplement. C.4 Home Assessment An important goal of the ECLS-B is to obtain a clearer understanding of the relationship between the environments in which early learning takes place and children's preparation for school. The study is interested in the different settings in which early learning takes place, especially the home environment. The design of the ECLS-B shall lead to the collection of data on a range of characteristics that define the structure of the home environment and the activities and interactions that occur within the home. NCES/ED believes that valuable information can be obtained from the parents on the activities and interactions that take place in the home with the use of traditional interview methods. However, it also recognizes the value of collecting data through other means (e.g., observational studies). The contractor shall design and implement a study that enhances the data that are available to describe and analyze children's homes and the impact of the home on child outcomes. The contractor shall carefully weigh the need for such data, the quality of the data that will result from the use of these methods, and the cost of collecting these data. C.5 Father Data In recent years, attention on the role of fathers has increased at the federal level. As a result, more information on fathers, whether they live in or out of their child's household, has been collected. Nonetheless, the recent studies collecting this information have generally relied upon a sampled child's mother to answer questions regarding the child's father. While mothers may be able to adequately provide factual information about their child's father (e.g., age and level of education), they are less likely to be adequate proxy respondents when it comes to providing information on the father's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. As a result, a proposed area of study for the ECLS-B is to conduct supplemental interviews with fathers. NCES/ED plans to collect demographic, education, and employment information in the ECLS-B about fathers residing with sampled children whether or not they are the actual respondents. An additional supplement to the ECLS-B would collect information directly from fathers regarding their parental role identification (e.g., specific duties versus "co-parents"), their perception of their financial situation, their involvement and expectations with regards to their children, their family of origin (i.e., what kind of fathers they had), and their relationship with their wives. The contractor shall develop and implement a methodology for collecting data from all or a sample of the fathers of ECLS-B sampled children. The contractor shall complete tasks 3 through 13 for this supplement. THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK