[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 20, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65642-65643]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-30899]



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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Assessment Governing Board; Public Forum

AGENCY: National Assessment Governing Board; Education.

ACTION: Notice of Information Collection Activity.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the National Assessment Governing 
Board (NAGB) will submit an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the 
Office of Management and Budget for approval. The ICR is: NAEP Consumer 
Survey Research Study of the Achievement Levels for the U.S. History 
NAEP and the Geography NAEP.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before February 20, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted by February 20, 1996. 
Mail to: Susan Cooper Loomis, NAEP ALS Project Director, American 
College Testing, 2201 N. Dodge Street, Iowa City, Iowa 52243. Copies of 
the complete ICR and accompanying appendices may be obtained from the 
NAEP ALS Project Director at the address above. Comments may also be 
submitted electronically by sending electronic mail (e-mail) to 
[email protected]. Electronic comments must be submitted as an ASCII file 
and exclude any special characters and forms of encryption. Electronic 
comments must be identified by the title of the ICR. No confidential 
business information should be submitted through e-mail.
    Information submitted as a comment concerning this document may be 
claimed confidential by marking any part or all of that information as 
confidential business information (CBI). Information so marked will not 
be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR 
part 2. A copy of the comment that does not contain CBI must be 
submitted for inclusion in the public record. Information not marked 
confidential may be disclosed publicly by NAGB without prior notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Susan Loomis, NAEP ALS Project Director, American College Testing, 

[[Page 65643]]
2201 N. Dodge Street, Iowa City, Iowa 52243, Telephone: (310) 337-1048 
or (800) 525-6929, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Electronic copies of this ICR can be 
obtained from the contact person listed above.

I. Information Collection Request

    NAGB is seeking comments on the following Information Collection 
Request (ICR).
    Title: NAEP Consumer Survey Research Study of the Achievement 
Levels for the U.S. History NAEP and the Georgraphy NAEP.
    Affected Entities: Parties affected by this information collection 
are persons included in a broadly representative sample including 
persons identified as nominators of achievement levels-setting (ALS) 
panelists for pilot studies and ALS, as well as samples of subscribers 
to the Smithsonian magazine (for U.S. History) and The National 
Geographic for georgraphy.
    Abstract: The purpose of this information collection activity is to 
gather information for NAGB regarding the achievement levels set for 
the 1994 NAEP in U.S. History and in Georgraphy. In particular, 
Congress has deemed that the achievement levels must be shown to be 
reasonable, valid, and informative to the public. This survey is 
designed to collect responses from individuals who are likely to have 
some interest in the ALS process (having been invited in 1994 to 
nominate individuals to serve as panelists for the ALS process) and 
individuals who are likely to have some interest in the subjects for 
which achievement levels have been developed.
    A report has been developed in the form of a newspaper (The NAEP 
Reporter) to provide respondents information about the NAEP, and about 
the achievement levels. The ``newspaper'' report was developed as a 
means of providing information in a format that would be interesting to 
the respondent. Unlike actual newspaper articles that have reported on 
the recently-released results of the NAEP, this account does not judge 
the outcomes regarding student performances. That is, this report is 
objective and neither applauds nor decries the performance of students 
on the NAEP. A brief questionnaire elicits responses to questions 
regarding the usefulness and informativeness of the achievement levels 
for reporting NAEP results. The survey is printed on a postage-paid, 
self-mailer card.
    No third party notification or public disclosure burden is 
associated with this collection.
    Burden Statement: The estimated total respondent burden is 924 
hours, and the average burden per respondent is .44 hours. This is a 
one-time survey. Individuals included in the survey will not be 
contacted for follow-up comments.
    No small businesses nor other small entities are included in the 
survey.

II. Request for Comments

    NAGB solicits comments to:
    (i) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is an 
appropriate method to determine the usefulness and informativeness of 
the achievement levels to the public.
    (ii) Enhance the accuracy, quality, and utility of the information 
to be collected.
    (iii) Evaluate whether the design of this survey maximizes the 
response rate, i.e. the number of persons who will respond, given the 
desire to have the sample be broadly representative of persons with 
some interest in the educational progress of K-12 students and in the 
general content of the disciplines of geography and U.S. history.
    Records are kept of all public comments and are available for 
public inspection at the U.S. Department of Education, National 
Assessment Governing Board, Suite 825, 800 North Capitol Street, NW, 
Washington, DC, from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
Roy Truby,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board.
[FR Doc. 95-30899 Filed 12-19-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-M