Study of the Title III Native American and Alaska Native Children in School (NAM) Program

JANUARY 2015

Task Order 24: Study of the Title III Native American and Alaska Native Children in School (NAM) Program

Office of Management and Budget Clearance Request

Appendix B: Notification Letters

Prepared for

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development

Policy and Program Studies Service

By

American Institutes for Research

June 29, 2016

Appendix B. Notification Letters

This appendix includes a letter to grant coordinators informing them about the study. Grant coordinators are required participants in the study and will be instrumental in recruiting additional stakeholders. An additional letter notifies tribal leaders about the study in the 24 tribes in which there are current Native American and Alaska Native Children in School (NAM) program grantees.

Letter to Grant Coordinators

Dear [Grant Coordinator]:

The U.S. Department of Education is conducting a study about the Title III Native American and Alaska Native Children in School (NAM) Grant Program. The Department is interested in learning more about how NAM grantees provide services to students, how they measure progress, and about the challenges and lessons grantees learn in providing services. Results from this study are intended to help the Department better support grantees and to help grantees learn from each other’s experiences. In addition, the study responds to a long-standing need expressed by leaders in Native American and Alaska Native (NA/AN) communities for research about language instruction for NA/AN students.

The study includes all 22 NAM grantees that were funded in FY 2011 and FY 2013, including [grantee name]. We appreciate your help as we gather and disseminate information about how NAM grantees implement practices to improve academic outcomes for Native American and Alaska Native students. The study will consist of three components:

1. Analysis of your application and other publicly available documentation

2. A telephone interview with you

3. In-depth site visits to conduct interviews or focus groups with your grant’s key stakeholders

The research will result in a report that identifies cross-site lessons, reveals how practices work on the ground, and discusses implementation challenges and solutions.

We are committed to culturally and linguistically relevant and appropriate research. Study team members would appreciate your input about the study questions, methodologies, and stakeholders as they plan the study. As the study proceeds, the team members will seek your assistance in identifying and reaching out to stakeholders, and a team member will interview you about your experiences with the NAM program.

The study team will protect the confidentiality of the information respondents provide, to the extent provided by law. After the study team collects responses, respondents’ names and the institution's or school's name will be disassociated from the data. Pseudonyms will be used for each grantee. Responses will be used to summarize findings in an aggregate manner (across groups of grantees), or will be used to provide examples of program implementation in a manner that does not associate responses with a specific site or individual. Although participating institutions will be acknowledged in the final report, they will not be identified in the text of any report.

We look forward to learning more about the interesting work that you are doing. A representative from American Institutes for Research (AIR), which is conducting the study, will contact you soon to discuss the study. If you have any questions about the study, please contact AIR’s Study Director, Erin Haynes, at 781-373-7017 or ehaynes@air.org, or Joanne Bogart, U.S. Department of Education, at 202-205-7855 or joanne.bogart@ed.gov.

Sincerely,

Libia Gil Assistant Deputy Secretary Office of English Language Acquisition

Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger Director Policy and Program Studies Service

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1875-New. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 60 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is voluntary. If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this survey, please contact Ivan Metzger at ivan.metzger@ed.gov or (202) 453-5693 directly.

Letter to Tribal Leaders

Dear [Tribal Leader]:

The U.S. Department of Education is conducting a study to learn more about the Title III Native American and Alaska Native Children in School (NAM) grant program. The NAM program provides grants to improve academic outcomes for Native American and Alaska Native (NA/AN) students. NAM funding supports language instruction educational programs, including those that provide instruction in NA/AN languages. The study includes all 22 NAM grantees that were funded in FY 2011 and FY 2013, including [program name], which serves [tribe name] students.

The Department is interested in learning more about how NAM grantees provide services to students, how they measure progress, and about the challenges and lessons grantees learn in providing services. Results from this study are intended to help the Department better support grantees and to help grantees learn from each other’s experiences. In addition, the study responds to a long-standing need expressed by leaders in NA/AN communities for research about language instruction. We hope you will provide support for this study.

The study will consist of three components:

1. Analysis of the grant application and other publicly available documentation

2. A telephone interview with the NAM grant coordinator

3. In-depth site visits to conduct interviews or focus groups with the grant’s key stakeholders, including tribal education directors, teachers, and school and district administrators

We are committed to culturally and linguistically relevant and appropriate research. Study team members would appreciate your input about the study questions, methodologies, and stakeholders as they plan the study.

The study team will protect the confidentiality of the information respondents provide, to the extent provided by law. After the study team collects responses, respondents’ names and the institution's or school's name will be disassociated from the data. Pseudonyms will be used for each grantee. Responses will be used to summarize findings in an aggregate manner (across groups of grantees), or will be used to provide examples of program implementation in a manner that does not associate responses with a specific site or individual. Although participating institutions will be acknowledged in the final report, they will not be identified in the text of any report.

We look forward to learning more about the interesting work that [grantee name] is doing. A representative from American Institutes for Research (AIR), which is conducting the study, will contact the grant coordinator soon to discuss the study. If you have any questions about the study, please contact AIR’s Study Director, Erin Haynes, at 781-373-7017 or ehaynes@air.org, or Joanne Bogart, U.S. Department of Education, at 202-205-7855 or joanne.bogart@ed.gov.

Sincerely,

Libia Gil Assistant Deputy Secretary Office of English Language Acquisition

Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger Director Policy and Program Studies Service

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1875-New. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 60 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is voluntary. If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this survey, please contact Ivan Metzger at ivan.metzger@ed.gov or (202) 453-5693 directly.

4880_01/16