[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