[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 38 (Wednesday, February 26, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11058-11059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-03799]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No. ED-2020-SCC-0038]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; High 
School and Beyond 2020 (HS&B:20) Base-Year Full-Scale Study Data 
Collection

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, ED is 
proposing a revision of an existing information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
April 27, 2020.

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-2020-SCC-0038. 
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. If the regulations.gov 
site is not available to the public for any reason, ED will temporarily 
accept comments at [email protected]. Please include the docket ID 
number and the title of the information collection request when 
requesting documents or submitting comments. 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 Strategic Collections and Clearance Governance and 
Strategy Division, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, 
LBJ, Room 6W-208B, Washington, DC 20202-4537.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Kashka Kubzdela, 202-245-6347 or 
email [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: High School and Beyond 2020 (HS&B:20) Base-
Year Full-Scale Study Data Collection.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0944.
    Type of Review: A revision of an existing information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or Households.

[[Page 11059]]

    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 120,761.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 49,477.
    Abstract: The High School and Beyond 2020 study (HS&B:20) will be 
the sixth in a series of longitudinal studies at the high school level 
conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 
within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department 
of Education. HS&B:20 will follow a nationally-representative sample of 
ninth grade students from the start of high school in the fall of 2020 
to the spring of 2024 when most will be in twelfth grade. The study 
sample will be freshened in 2024 to create a nationally representative 
sample of twelfth-graders. A high school transcript collection and 
additional follow-up data collections beyond high school are also 
planned. The NCES secondary longitudinal studies examine issues such as 
students' readiness for high school; the risk factors associated with 
dropping out of high school; high school completion; the transition 
into postsecondary education and access/choice of institution; the 
shift from school to work; and the pipeline into science, technology, 
engineering, and mathematics (STEM). They inform education policy by 
tracking long-term trends and elucidating relationships among student, 
family, and school characteristics and experiences. HS&B:20 will follow 
the Middle Grades Longitudinal Study of 2017/18 (MGLS:2017) which 
followed the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 
2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011), thereby allowing for the study of all 
transitions from elementary school through high school and into higher 
education and/or the workforce. HS&B:20 will include surveys of 
students, parents, students' math teachers, counselors, and 
administrators, plus a student assessment in mathematics and reading 
and a brief hearing and vision test. In preparation for the HS&B:20 
base-year full scale study, scheduled to take place in the fall of 
2020, the request to conduct the HS&B:20 base year field test data 
collection and the base year full scale sampling and state, school 
district, school, and parent recruitment activities was approved in 
December 2018, with the latest update approved in December 2019 (OMB# 
1850-0944 v.1-5). This request is to conduct the base-year full scale 
study data collection, scheduled to begin in August 2020. A new draft 
of Appendix B that will contain a Spanish translation of the Student 
Questionnaire will be added by April 20, 2020.

    Dated: February 20, 2020.
Stephanie Valentine,
PRA Coordinator, Strategic Collections and Clearance Governance and 
Strategy Division, Office of Chief Data Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-03799 Filed 2-25-20; 8:45 am]
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