[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 2, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5841-5842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-2285]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Submission for OMB review; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) has submitted the 
following information collection requirement to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. This is the second 
notice for public comment; the first was published in the Federal 
Register at 75 FR 68829, and no substantial comments were received. NSF 
is forwarding the proposed renewal submission to OMB for clearance 
simultaneously with publication of this second notice. The full 
submission may be found at: http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Comments regarding: (a) Whether the collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the 
accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden, including the validity 
of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 
(d) 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 should be addressed 
to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention: 
Desk Officer for National Science Foundation, 725 17th Street, NW., 
Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503, and to Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports 
Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, 
Suite 295, Arlington, VA 22030, or send e-mail to [email protected]. 
Comments regarding these information collections are best assured of 
having their full effect if received within 30 days of this 
notification. Copies of the submission(s) may be obtained by calling 
(703) 292-7556.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton at (703) 292-7556 
or send e-mail to [email protected]. Individuals who use a 
telecommunications devise for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 
p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
    NSF may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless 
the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control 
number and the agency informs potential persons who are to respond to 
the collection of information that such persons are not required to 
respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently 
valid OMB control number. Under OMB regulations, NSF may continue to 
conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission 
is pending at OMB.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title of Collection: EHR Generic Clearance.
    OMB Approval Number: 3145-0136.
    Abstract: The National Science Foundation requests renewal of 
program accountability and communication data collections (e.g., 
surveys, face-to-face and telephone interviews, observations, and focus 
groups) that describe and track the impact of NSF funding that focuses 
on the Nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 
(STEM) education and STEM workforce. NSF funds grants, contracts, and 
cooperative agreements to colleges, universities, and other eligible 
institutions, and provides graduate research fellowships to individuals 
in all parts of the United States and internationally.
    The Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), a unit 
within NSF, promotes rigor and vitality within the Nation's STEM 
education enterprise to further the development of the 21st century's 
STEM workforce and public scientific literacy. EHR does this through 
diverse projects and programs that support research, extension, 
outreach, and hands-on activities that service STEM learning and 
research at all institutional (e.g., pre-school through postdoctoral) 
levels in formal and informal settings; and individuals of all ages 
(birth and beyond). EHR also focuses on broadening participation in 
STEM learning and careers among United States citizens, permanent 
residents, and nationals, particularly those individuals traditionally 
underemployed in the STEM research workforce, including but not limited 
to women, persons with disabilities, and racial and ethnic minorities.
    At the request of OMB an EHR Generic Clearance was established in 
1995 to integrate management, monitoring, and evaluation information 
pertaining to the NSF's Education and Training (E&T) portfolio in 
response to the Government Performance and Results Acts (GPRA) of 1993. 
Under this generic survey clearance (OMB 3145-0136), data from the NSF 
administrative databases are incorporated with findings gathered 
through initiative-, divisional-, and program-specific data 
collections. The scope of the EHR Generic Clearance primarily covers 
descriptive information gathered from education and training projects 
that are funded by NSF. Most programs subject to EHR Generic data 
collection are funded by the EHR Directorate, but some are funded in 
whole or in part by disciplinary directorates or multi-disciplinary or 
cross-cutting programs. Since 2001 in accordance with OMB's Terms of

[[Page 5842]]

Clearance (TOC), NSF primarily uses the data from the EHR Generic 
Clearance for program planning, management, and audit purposes to 
respond to queries from the Congress, the public, NSF's external merit 
reviewers who serve as advisors, including Committees of Visitors 
(COVs), and the NSF's Office of the Inspector General.
    OMB has limited the collection to three categories of descriptive 
data: (1) Staff and project participants (data that are also necessary 
to determine individual-level treatment and control groups for future 
third-party study); (2) project implementation characteristics (also 
necessary for future use to identify well-matched comparison groups); 
and (3) project outputs (necessary to measure baseline for pre- and 
post- NSF-funding-level impacts).
    Use of the Information: This information is required for effective 
administration, communication, program and project monitoring and 
evaluation, and for measuring attainment of NSF's program, project, and 
strategic goals, and as identified by the President's Accountable 
Government Initiative; the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, and the 
NSF's Strategic Plan. The Foundation's FY 2006-2011 Strategic Plan 
describes four strategic outcome goals of Discovery, Learning, Research 
Infrastructure, and Stewardship. NSF's complete strategic plan may be 
found at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf0648.
    Since the EHR Generic Clearance research is primarily used for 
accountability purposes, including responding from queries from COVs 
and other scientific experts, a census rather than sampling design 
typically is necessary. At the individual project level funding can be 
adjusted based on individual project's responses to some of the 
surveys. Some data collected under the EHR Clearance serve as baseline 
data for separate research and evaluation studies.
    In order to conduct program- or portfolio-level evaluations, 
however, both experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation research 
studies on STEM education interventions require researchers to identify 
individual-level and organization- or project-level control and 
treatment groups or comparison groups. NSF-funded contract or grantee 
researchers and evaluators in part may identify control, comparison, or 
treatment groups for NSF's E&T portfolio using some of the descriptive 
data gathered through OMB 3145-0136 to conduct well-designed, rigorous 
research and portfolio evaluation studies.
    In accordance with the 2001, 2005, and 2008 OMB TOCs, NSF requests 
separate stand-alone clearance (and separately announces for comment in 
the Federal Register) any program or portfolio research or evaluation. 
Two examples of third-party evaluations that used EHR OMB 3145-0136 
data to inform study design are: OMB No. 3145-0187 (Expiring 8/2011) 
Evaluation of the NSF's Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) 
Program and OMB No. 3145-0182 (Expiring 3/2011) Evaluation of the NSF's 
Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) 
Program: Follow-up Study of IGERT Graduates, both conducted by Abt 
Associates.
    Respondents: Individuals or households, not-for-profit 
institutions, business or other for profit, and Federal, State, local 
or tribal government.
    Number of Respondents: 7,470.
    Burden of the Public: The total estimate for this collection is 
49,556 annual burden hours. This figure is based on the previous 3 
years of collecting information under this clearance and anticipated 
collections. The average annual reporting burden is between 1 and 72 
hours per ``respondent,'' depending on whether a respondent is a direct 
participant who is self-reporting or representing a project and 
reporting on behalf of many project participants.

    Dated: January 28, 2011.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2011-2285 Filed 2-1-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P