[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 21, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 69814]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-28332]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2012-ICCD-0057]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2014-16 System 
Clearance

AGENCY: Department of Education (ED), Institute of Education Sciences 
(IES).

ACTION: Notice

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing an extension of an 
existing information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
January 22, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Comments submitted in response to this notice should be 
submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov by selecting Docket ID number ED-2012-ICCD-
0057 or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. Please 
note that comments submitted by fax or email and those submitted after 
the comment period will not be accepted. Written requests for 
information or comments submitted by postal mail or delivery should be 
addressed to the Director of the Information Collection Clearance 
Division, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, 
Room 2E117, Washington, DC 20202-4537.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Electronically mail 
[email protected]. Please do not send comments here.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Education (ED), 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, revised, and continuing 
collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact 
of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's 
information collection requirements and provide the requested data in 
the desired format. ED is soliciting comments on the proposed 
information collection request (ICR) that is described below. 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. Please note that 
written comments received in response to this notice will be considered 
public records.
    Title of Collection: National Assessment of Educational Progress 
(NAEP) 2014-16 System Clearance.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0790.
    Type of Review: Revision of an existing information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal Governments.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 1,609,126.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 758,329.
    Abstract: The National Center for Education Statistics is 
requesting a three year generic system clearance for the National 
Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) to be administered in the 2014-
2016 timeframe. The primary reason for the system clearance request is 
that it enables NAEP to meet its large and complex assessment reporting 
schedules and deliverables through a more efficient clearance process. 
NAEP is a federally authorized survey of student achievement at grades 
4, 8, and 12 in various subject areas, such as mathematics, reading, 
writing, science, U.S. history, civics, geography, economics, 
technology and engineering literacy, and the arts. The National 
Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (Pub. L. 107-279 
Title III, section 303) requires the assessment to collect data on 
specified student groups and characteristics, including information 
organized by race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, disability, 
and limited English proficiency. It requires fair and accurate 
presentation of achievement data and permits the collection of 
background, noncognitive, or descriptive information that is related to 
academic achievement and aids in fair reporting of results. The intent 
of the law is to provide representative sample data on student 
achievement for the nation, the states, and subpopulations of students 
and to monitor progress over time. The nature of NAEP is that burden 
alternates from a relatively low burden in national-level 
administration years to a substantial burden increase in state-level 
administration years when the sample has to allow for estimates for 
individual states and some of the large urban districts. Consequently, 
the estimated respondent burden is substantially lower for the 2014 and 
2016 versus the 2015 administration of NAEP. The NAEP results will be 
reported to the public through the Nations Report Card as well as other 
online NAEP tools.

    Dated: November 16, 2012.
Darrin A. King,
Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Privacy, 
Information and Records Management Services, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2012-28332 Filed 11-20-12; 8:45 am]
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