[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 83 (Friday, April 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24006-24007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10505]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Notice of Proposed Information Collection Requests

AGENCY: Department of Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice of proposed information collection requests.

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SUMMARY: The Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, 
Privacy, Information and Records Management Services, Office of 
Management, invites comments on the proposed information collection 
requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: An emergency review has been requested in accordance with the 
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 3507 (j)), since public harm is reasonably 
likely to result if normal clearance procedures are followed. Approval 
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been requested by May 
5, 2011. A regular clearance process is also beginning. Interested 
persons are invited to submit comments on or before June 28, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Education Desk Officer, 
Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW., Room 10222, New 
Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503, be faxed to (202) 395-
5806 or e-mailed to [email protected] with a cc: to 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires that the Director of OMB 
provide interested Federal agencies and the public an early opportunity 
to comment on information collection requests. The Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) may amend or waive the requirement for public 
consultation to the extent that public participation in the approval 
process would defeat the purpose of the information collection, violate 
State or Federal law, or substantially interfere with any agency's 
ability to perform its statutory obligations. The Director, Information 
Collection Clearance Division, Privacy, Information and Records 
Management Services, Office of Management, publishes this notice 
containing proposed information collection requests at the beginning of 
the Departmental review of the information collection. Each proposed 
information collection, grouped by office, contains the following: (1) 
Type of review requested, e.g., new, revision, extension, existing or 
reinstatement; (2) Title; (3) Summary of the collection; (4) 
Description of the need for, and proposed use of, the information; (5) 
Respondents and frequency of collection; and (6) Reporting and/or 
Recordkeeping burden. ED invites public comment.
    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 
respondents, including through the use of information technology.


[[Page 24007]]


    Dated: April 26, 2011.
Darrin A. King,
Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Privacy, 
Information and Records Management Services, Office of Management.

Office of Innovation and Improvement

    Type of Review: Reinstatement.
    Title: DC School Choice Incentive Program.
    OMB #: 1855-0015.
    Abstract: The DC School Choice Incentive Program, authorized by the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004, awarded a grant to the DC 
Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation that will administer 
scholarships to students who reside in the District of Columbia and 
come from households whose incomes do not exceed 185% of the poverty 
line. Priority is given to students who are currently attending schools 
in need of improvement, as defined by Title I. To assist in the student 
selection and assignment process, the information to be collected will 
be used to determine the eligibility of those students who are 
interested in the available scholarships. Also, since the authorizing 
statute requires an evaluation we are proposing to collect certain 
family demographic information because they are important predictors of 
school success. Finally, we are asking to collect information about 
parental participation and satisfaction because these are key topics 
that the statute requires the evaluation to address.
    Additional Information: This is a request for emergency clearance 
to collect basic, time critical information about scholarship 
applicants for the DC School Choice Incentive Program, and preliminary 
information for the evaluation. The Program was recently reauthorized 
on April 15, 2011 through ``District of Columbia, Federal Funds, 
Federal Payment for School Improvement''. Speaker Boehner introduced 
the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act which reauthorized the 
DC School Choice Incentive Program for another five years beginning in 
FY 2011. Pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.13, the Department requests that OMB 
review the DC School Choice Incentive data collection tool under its 
emergency procedures. The request for an emergency clearance is 
twofold: (1) Public harm is likely to result as more than 1,150 
students on the current waiting list must be selected and approved to 
receive funding by the end of June, a process that requires 
approximately eight weeks to complete; and (2) receiving funding was an 
unanticipated event as funding for this program was previously 
discontinued.
    The purpose of the DC School Choice Incentive Program (Program) is 
to provide low-income parents residing in the District of Columbia with 
expanded options for the education of their children. The statute for 
this Program requires scholarships to be awarded to students who reside 
in the District of Columbia and come from households whose incomes do 
not exceed 185% of the poverty line. Priority is given to students who 
are currently attending Title I schools in need of improvement, 
corrective action or restructuring as defined by Title I. To assist in 
the student selection and assignment process, the information to be 
collected as requested under this emergency clearance will be used to 
determine the eligibility of those students who are interested in the 
available scholarships. Also, the authorizing statute requires the 
mandated evaluation to address changes in parents' school involvement 
and satisfaction and so initial levels of those factors need to be 
assessed at the time of application.
    Failure to collect this information in a timely manner will hinder 
the grantee's ability to:
    (1) Administer scholarships (approximately $15 million) for this 
fiscal year as required by the statute;
    (2) Perform outreach into low income communities to make them aware 
that new scholarships are available;
    (3) Collect and process scholarship applications to determine 
eligibility;
    (4) Administer the student lottery;
    (5) Sign-up schools to participate in the program and verify they 
meet legislatively mandated requirements;
    (6) Identify the number of slots by grade available in 
participating schools;
    (7) Collect and disseminate information on participating schools to 
facilitate parents' school search process;
    (8) Facilitate parents' application process to schools and enroll 
their child(ren);
    (9) Place students in school through a student/school match 
process;
    (10) Update scholarship invoicing and payments system to 
accommodate new legislatively identified scholarship caps and published 
tuition and fees;
    (11) Effectively manage the distribution of scholarships to low-
income parents of students; and,
    (12) Meet certain evaluation and reporting requirements, as 
required by the statute.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour Burden: Responses: 3,000. Burden 
Hours: 1,000.
    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 4583. 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 the Internet address 
[email protected] or faxed to 202-401-0920. Please specify the 
complete title of the information collection when making your request.
    Comments regarding burden and/or the collection activity 
requirements should be electronically mailed to [email protected] 202-
260-8916. 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. 2011-10505 Filed 4-28-11; 8:45 am]
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