[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 16, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32214-32215]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15284]


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CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Corporation for National and Community Service.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Corporation for National and Community Service's 
(hereinafter the ``Corporation''), as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 ((PRA 95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program helps to 
ensure that the requested data can be provided in the desired format, 
reporting burden (time and financial resources), is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed.
    Currently, the Corporation is soliciting comments concerning its 
request for approval of a new information collection from organizations 
conducting literacy and tutoring activities under the sponsorship of 
Corporation grants in order to assess the impact of these literacy and 
tutoring activities on children's reading proficiencies and other 
related outcomes. This request is a follow-up to the evaluation 
currently being conducted that describes the Corporation's literacy and 
tutoring programs. Approval to conduct the descriptive study was 
granted by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in February, 1999 
under the condition that the current outcome study to assess program 
impact would subsequently be conducted. This form will be used by the 
Corporation to solicit information regarding the programs' impacts on 
children's reading skills.
    Copies of the information collection requests can be obtained by 
contacting the office listed below in the ADDRESSES section of this 
notice.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by August 16, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to the Corporation for National and Community 
Service, Attn: Susan Labin, Office of Evaluation, 1201 New York Avenue, 
NW, 9th floor, Washington, DC 20525.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Labin, (202) 606-5000, ext. 160.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comment Request

    The Corporation is particularly interested in comments which:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Corporation, including whether the information will have practical 
utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Propose ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity 
of the information to be collected; and
     Propose ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of 
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., 
permitting electronic submissions of responses.

Background

    One of the missions of the Corporation is to ``provide 
opportunities to engage in service that addresses the nation's unmet 
educational * * * needs'' (42 U.S.C. 12501(b)). President Clinton's 
America Reads initiative calls on all Americans to help ensure that 
every child can read well and independently by the end of the third 
grade. The Corporation is playing an important role in this initiative 
by supporting efforts to recruit and train tutors in local communities 
to work with children to improve their reading skills. The Corporation 
is dedicating a significant portion of its resources to literacy and 
tutoring efforts. In addition, the Corporation places a high priority 
on evaluating the effects of these efforts and thus, is now seeking 
approval to conduct this new outcome evaluation.

Current Action

    The Corporation seeks approval to conduct an outcome evaluation of 
the Corporation's literacy and tutoring programs that it supports 
through grants. The study will provide estimates of the impact on 
students' (in grades 
K-3) reading proficiencies and other outcomes as a result of their 
participation in the literacy and tutoring programs. The study will 
have two parts: (1) A national study using a representative sample of 
program students in grades K-3; and (2) three local evaluations of 
purposively selected programs.
    The national study will provide important information to the 
Corporation in the form of generalizations about overall program 
effects on students' reading skills and about relationships between 
program characteristics and student effects. The evaluation will be 
strengthened further by conducting three local evaluations in which 
appropriate comparison groups will be constructed against which the 
performance of program students can be compared. Taken together, the 
national study and the local evaluations, will provide the Corporation 
with important

[[Page 32215]]

information about the effects of their literacy and tutoring efforts on 
children's reading proficiencies.
    The data to be collected includes: (1) Measures of student reading 
performance as measured by the standardized reading skills sub-tests; 
(2) teacher ratings of student classroom behavior (academic motivation 
and competence, problem behaviors, social skills); (3) tutor 
perceptions of student academic and social competence; and (4) measures 
of the school climate within which the literacy and tutoring activities 
are being conducted.
    Type of Review: New approval.
    Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
    Title: Outcome Evaluation of Literacy and Tutoring Programs.
    OMB Number: None.
    Agency Number: None.
    Affected Public: Public school students in grades K-3. Public 
school teachers in grades K-3. Corporation members (the tutors).
    Total Respondents: Approximately 3,000 students. Approximately 200 
teachers. Approximately 500 Corporation members (tutors).
    Frequency: Two waves of data collection.
    Average Time Per Response: Students--40 minutes. Teachers--10 
minutes per student. Corporation members (tutors) 10 minutes per 
student.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 4,200 hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval of the information collection request; these will also become 
a matter of public record.

    Dated: June 10, 1999.
Thomas L. Bryant,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 99-15284 Filed 6-15-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6050-28-U