[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 192 (Friday, October 3, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59761-59762]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-23641]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2014-ICCD-0101]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and approval; Comment 
Request; Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2016) 
and ePIRLS Online Reading 2016 Assessment Field Test and Recruitment 
for Main Study

AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education 
Statistics (IES-NCES), Department of Education (ED).

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 a reinstatement of a 
previously approved information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
November 3, 2014.

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-2014-ICCD-
0101 or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. If the 
regulations.gov site is not available to the public for any reason, ED 
will temporarily accept comments at [email protected]. Please note 
that comments submitted by fax or email and those submitted after the 
comment period will not be accepted; ED will ONLY accept comments 
during the comment period in this mailbox when the regulations.gov site 
is not available. 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, Mailstop L-OM-2-
2E319, Room 2E105, Washington, DC 20202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Kashka Kubdzela, 202-502-7411.

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

[[Page 59762]]

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: Progress in International Reading Literacy 
Study (PIRLS 2016) and ePIRLS Online Reading 2016 Assessment Field Test 
and Recruitment for Main Study.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0645.
    Type of Review: A reinstatement of a previously approved 
information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 3,745.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 5,772.
    Abstract: We are announcing a second 30-day comment period for the 
Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016 Field 
Test to include ePIRLS as a new extension to PIRLS in 2016. The 
additional ePIRLS assessment makes it possible for countries to 
understand how successful they are in preparing fourth grade students 
to read, comprehend, and interpret online information as compared to 
students in other participating countries. We propose to utilize the 
2015 field test to determine feasibility of including ePIRLS during the 
PIRLS 2016 main study.
    The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016 
is coordinated by the International Association for the Evaluation of 
Educational Achievement (IEA) and in the U.S. administered by the 
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Since its inception in 
2001, PIRLS has continued to assess students every five years (2001, 
2006, 2011, 2016). It is typically administered in more than 40 
countries and provides data for internationally benchmarking U.S. 
performance in fourth-grade reading. PIRLS also collects background 
information on students, parents, teachers, schools, curricula, and 
official education policies. Each successive round of participation in 
PIRLS provides trend information about U.S. 4th-grade students' 
knowledge and abilities in reading relative to other countries, and 
about the cultural environments, teaching practices, curriculum goals, 
and institutional arrangements that are associated with student 
achievement, and how these change over time in different countries. 
This submission describes the overarching plan for all phases of the 
data collection, including the field test and the main study. The field 
test will take place in March-April, 2015, and the main study in the 
spring of 2016. The purpose of the PIRLS field test is to evaluate new 
assessment items and background questions to ensure that classroom and 
student sampling procedures proposed for the main study are successful. 
This submission requests approval for recruiting for the 2015 field 
test and 2016 main study; conducting the 2015 field test data 
collection; and a description of the overarching plan for all of the 
phases of the data collection, including the 2016 main study.

    Dated: September 30, 2014.
Stephanie Valentine,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Privacy, 
Information and Records Management Services, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2014-23641 Filed 10-2-14; 8:45 am]
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