[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 5 (Monday, January 8, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 795-796]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00108]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2018-ICCD-0001]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Impact 
Evaluation of Departmentalized Instruction in Elementary Schools

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is 
proposing a new information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
March 9, 2018.

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-2018-ICCD-
0001. 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 216-32, 
Washington, DC 20202-4537.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Thomas Wei, 202-341-0626.

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

[[Page 796]]

response to this notice will be considered public records.
    Title of Collection: Impact Evaluation of Departmentalized 
Instruction in Elementary Schools.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-NEW.
    Type of Review: A new information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 2,844.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 1,091.
    Abstract: This package requests clearance for data collection 
activities to support an evaluation of departmentalized instruction in 
elementary schools. This evaluation is authorized by Title VII Section 
8601 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended most 
recently in 2015 by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). ESSA gives 
states considerable flexibility in designing systems to hold their 
schools accountable for improving student achievement. This flexibility 
extends to the types of strategies that states encourage or require 
their low-performing schools to adopt. However, many strategies in use 
have little to no evidence of effectiveness. More research is needed to 
help states identify strategies that are likely to help their low-
performing schools improve.
    One potential strategy that has recently become more popular in 
upper elementary school grades is to departmentalize instruction, where 
each teacher specializes in teaching one subject to multiple classes of 
students instead of teaching all subjects to a single class of students 
(self-contained instruction). However, virtually no evidence exists on 
its effectiveness relative to the more traditional self-contained 
approach. This evaluation will help to fill the gap by examining 
whether departmentalizing fourth and fifth grade teachers improves 
teacher and student outcomes. The evaluation will focus on math and 
reading, with an emphasis on low-performing schools that serve a high 
percentage of disadvantaged students.
    The evaluation will include implementation and impact analyses. The 
implementation analysis will describe schools' approaches to 
departmentalization and benefits and challenges encountered. The 
analysis will be based on information from schools' study agreement 
form; meetings to design each school's approach to departmentalization; 
monitoring and support calls with schools; a principal interview; and a 
teacher survey. The impact analysis will draw on data from a teacher 
survey, videos of classroom instruction, a principal interview, and 
district administrative records to estimate the impact of 
departmentalized instruction on various outcomes. The outcomes include 
the quality of instruction and student-teacher relationships, teacher 
satisfaction and retention, and student achievement and behavior. These 
various data collection activities will be carried out between spring 
2018 and fall 2020, although most of the activities with the exception 
of the administrative data will take place only once during the first 
year treatment schools implement departmentalized instruction (2018-
2019 school year).

    Dated: January 3, 2018.
Stephanie Valentine,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Office of 
the Chief Privacy Officer, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2018-00108 Filed 1-5-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P