[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 193 (Wednesday, October 6, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61710-61711]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-25153]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Notice of Proposed Information Collection Requests

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Comment request.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Education (the Department), in accordance 
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with 
an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing collections of 
information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its 
information collection requirements and minimize the reporting burden 
on the public and helps the public understand the Department's 
information collection requirements and provide the requested data in 
the desired format. The Director, Information Collection Clearance 
Division, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of 
Management, invites comments on the proposed information collection 
requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
December 6, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Comments regarding burden and/or the collection activity 
requirements should be electronically mailed to [email protected] or 
mailed to U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., LBJ, 
Washington, DC 20202-4537. Please note that written comments received 
in response to this notice will be considered public records.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires that Federal agencies provide 
interested parties an early opportunity to comment on information 
collection requests. The Acting Director, Information Collection 
Clearance Division, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office 
of Management, publishes this notice containing proposed information 
collection requests at the beginning of the Departmental review of the 
information collection. The Department of Education is especially 
interested in public comment addressing the following issues: (1) Is 
this collection necessary to the proper functions of the Department; 
(2) will this information be processed and used in a timely manner; (3) 
is the estimate of burden accurate; (4) how might the Department 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 
collected; and (5) how might the Department minimize the burden of this 
collection on the respondents, including through the use of information 
technology.

    Dated: September 30, 2010.
James Hyler,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Regulatory 
Information Management Services, Office of Management.

Institute of Education Sciences

    Type of Review: New.
    Title of Collection: Integrated Evaluation of ARRA Funding, 
Implementation and Outcomes.
    OMB Control Number: Pending.
    Agency Form Number(s): N/A.
    Frequency of Responses: One time.
    Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal Government, State 
Educational Agencies or Local Educational Agencies.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 5,551.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 1,774.
    Abstract: On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed the American 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law (Pub. L. 111-50). ARRA 
supports investments in innovative strategies that are intended to lead 
to improved results for students, long-term gains in school and local 
education agency (LEA) capacity for success, and increased productivity 
and effectiveness.
    This evaluation will focus on answering four sets of research 
questions:
     Money: Which states/districts/schools get which program 
funds, when, and how much? What do they spend it on? How much overlap 
is there across ARRA funding streams in terms of who receives the 
funding or what grantees do with it?
     Strategies: What efforts and activities are underway as a 
result of each of the ARRA programs and overall? What state policies 
are changing or being enacted? What specific interventions are 
districts and schools implementing? How do the strategies line up with 
the four assurances or with the specific strategies promoted by the 
different programs?
     Implementation Process: How much coordination do states 
and

[[Page 61711]]

districts report in the decision-making and planning for implementation 
across the various streams of funds? Are districts that receive funds 
directly (e.g., thru I3) employing strategies that are consistent with 
their state's policies and plans (e.g., under Race to the Top)? On an 
ongoing basis, what challenges do grantees face in enacting their plans 
and what successes have they had?
     Outcomes: Is receiving more ARRA funds or certain types of 
funds associated with improvement in student outcomes or other key 
measures (e.g., more equitable distribution of teacher quality)?
    The integrated evaluation will draw on existing data, including ED 
data collections, ED ARRA program files, ARRA required reporting, and 
databases of achievement and other outcomes. The evaluation will also 
collect new information through surveys of (1) The 50 states and the 
District of Columbia, (2) a nationally representative sample of school 
districts, and (3) a nationally representative sample of schools within 
the sampled school districts. Surveys are planned for spring 2011, 
spring 2012, and spring 2013. Subsamples of school districts will also 
be drawn to receive a smaller set of questions (polls); these polls 
will be administered twice between 2011 and 2013.
    A report will be prepared in the first year of the evaluation to 
describe the distribution of funding. A report and state tabulations 
will be prepared after each annual survey. The first report, based on 
the 2011 surveys, will focus on early ARRA implementation and 
strategies. The second report, based on the 2012 surveys, will expand 
upon strategies implemented under ARRA. The final report will draw upon 
existing data on outcomes as well as data from the 2013 surveys.
    Requests for copies of the proposed information collection request 
may be accessed from http://edicsweb.ed.gov, by selecting the ``Browse 
Pending Collections'' link and by clicking on link number 4413. When 
you access the information collection, click on ``Download 
Attachments'' to view. Written requests for information should be 
addressed to U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 
LBJ, Washington, DC 20202-4537.
    Requests may also be electronically mailed to [email protected] or 
faxed to 202-401-0920. Please specify the complete title of the 
information collection and OMB Control Number when making your request.
    Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) 
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-
8339.
[FR Doc. 2010-25153 Filed 10-5-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P