[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 181 (Monday, September 19, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64146-64147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-22443]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2016-ICCD-0102]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Program for International Student Assessment (PISA 2018) 
Recruitment and Field Test

AGENCY: National Center for Education Statistics (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 revision of an existing 
information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
October 19, 2016.

ADDRESSES: To access and review all the documents related to the 
information collection listed in this notice, please use http://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED-2016-ICCD-
0102. Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted 
electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number 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 2E-347, 
Washington, DC 20202-4537.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact NCES Information Collections at 
[email protected].

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: Program for International Student Assessment 
(PISA 2018) Recruitment and Field Test.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0755.
    Type of Review: A revision of an existing information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 14,392.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 8,775.
    Abstract: We are announcing a second 30-day comment period for the 
Program for International Student Assessments (PISA) 2017 Field Test to 
include additional survey items in the field test questionnaires, as 
recently stipulated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 
Development (OECD).
    The Program for International Student Assessments (PISA) is an 
international assessment of 15-year-olds which focuses on assessing 
students' reading, mathematics, and science literacy. PISA was first 
administered in 2000 and is conducted every three years. The United 
States has participated in all of the previous cycles, and will 
participate in 2018 in order to track trends and to compare the 
performance of U.S. students with that of students in other education 
systems. PISA 2018 is sponsored by the Organization for Economic 
Cooperation and Development (OECD). In the United States, PISA is 
conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 
within the U.S. Department of Education. In each administration of 
PISA, one of the subject areas (reading, mathematics, or science 
literacy) is the major domain and has the broadest content coverage, 
while the other two subjects are the minor domains. PISA emphasizes 
functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of 
mandatory schooling (aged 15 years), and students' knowledge and

[[Page 64147]]

skills gained both in and out of school environments. PISA 2018 will 
focus on reading literacy as the major domain. Mathematics and science 
literacy will also be assessed as minor domains, with additional 
assessments of global competence and financial literacy. In addition to 
the cognitive assessments described above, PISA 2018 will include 
questionnaires administered to assessed students, school principals, 
and teachers. To prepare for the main study in 2018, NCES will conduct 
a PISA field test from April-May 2017 to evaluate newly developed 
assessment and questionnaire items, to test the assessment operations, 
and to test school recruitment, data collection, and data management 
procedures. The PISA main study will be conducted in the U.S. from 
September-November 2018. This submission requests approval for: 
Recruitment and pre-assessment activities for the 2017 field test 
sample; administration of the field test; and recruitment of schools 
for the 2018 main study sample.

    Dated: September 14, 2016.
Kate Mullan,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Office of 
the Chief Privacy Officer, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2016-22443 Filed 9-16-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P