[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 239 (Wednesday, December 12, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73994-73995]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-29924]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No. ED-2012-ICCD-0063]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Annual Mandatory Collection of Elementary and Secondary 
Education Data for EDFacts

AGENCY: Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, 
Department of Education (ED).

[[Page 73995]]


ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction of 1995, ED is 
proposing a revision of an existing information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
January 11, 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-
0063 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: Annual Mandatory Collection of Elementary and 
Secondary Education Data for EDFacts.
    OMB Control Number: 1875-0240.
    Type of Review: Revision of an existing information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local or Tribal Governments.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 55.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 116,325.
    Abstract: The collection, use, and reporting of education data is 
an integral component of the mission of the U.S. Department of 
Education (ED). EDFacts, an ED initiative to put performance data at 
the center of ED's policy, management, and budget decision-making 
processes for all K-12 educational programs, has transformed the way in 
which ED collects and uses data. EDFacts provides an electronic 
submission system for state education agencies (SEAs), and centralizes 
within ED the availability of the performance data supplied by SEAs to 
enable better analysis and use in policy development, planning, and 
management. ED is currently in the process of collecting data for the 
2010-11, 2011-12, and 2012-13 school years as approved by OMB (1875-
0240). ED seeks another three-year approval for this collection. The 
proposed collection includes the 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16 school 
years. (As part of this approval, it should be understood that ED is 
authorized to collect the data about these school years over whatever 
time is required to secure complete and accurate data from each state 
education agency.) ED seeks OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act to collect the elementary and secondary education data from state 
education agencies as described in the five sections of Attachment B 
that document all of the data groups. ED encourages the public to 
review, at a minimum, Attachment C, which outlines the changes between 
what is currently collected and what is newly proposed for collection. 
To the extent that any of these proposed new data groups are not 
available as of the 2013-14 school year, ED seeks to know from the SEA 
data providers if those data will be available in future years. If 
information for a data group is not currently available, please provide 
information beyond the fact that it is not available. Are there 
specific impediments to providing this data that you can describe? Is 
the definition for the data group unclear or ambiguous? Do the 
requested permitted values align with the way your state collects the 
data? This is very important information because the collection of 
these data is mandatory. ED also seeks to know if the SEA data 
definitions are consistent and compatible with the EDFacts definitions 
and accurately reflect the way data is stored and used for education by 
state education agencies. The answers to these questions by the data 
providers will influence the timing and content of the final EDFacts 
proposal for the collection of these data.

    Dated: December 6, 2012.
Stephanie Valentine,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Privacy, 
Information and Records Management Services,Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2012-29924 Filed 12-11-12; 8:45 am]
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