[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54542-54543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19420]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

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


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; High School and Beyond 2021 (HS&B:21) 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 to an existing information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
October 2, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for proposed 
information collection requests should be sent within 30 days of 
publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find 
this particular information collection request by selecting 
``Department of Education'' under ``Currently Under Review,'' then 
check ``Only Show ICR for Public Comment'' checkbox.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Carrie Clarady, 202-245-6437.

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 2021 (HS&B:21) 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: State, Local and Tribal Governments.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 121,952.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 50,361.
    Abstract: The High School and Beyond 2021 study (HS&B:21) 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:21 will follow a nationally representative sample of 
ninth grade students from the start of high school in the fall of 2021 
to the spring of 2024 when most will be in twelfth grade. A field test 
will be conducted one year prior to the full-scale study. The study 
sample will be freshened in 2024 to create a nationally representative 
sample of twelfth-grade students. A high school transcript collection 
and additional follow-up data collections beyond high school are also 
planned.
    In preparation for the HS&B:21 Base-Year Full-Scale study (BYFS), 
scheduled to take place in the fall of 2021, the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) approved (OMB #1850-0944 v.1-5) a request to conduct 
the HS&B:21 Base-Year Field Test (BYFT) and the BYFS sampling and 
state, school district, school, and parent recruitment activities, both 
of which began in the fall of 2019. These activities include collecting 
student rosters and selecting the BYFS sample.

[[Page 54543]]

BYFT activities ended in December 2019.
    The study initially planned to conduct its BYFS data collection in 
the fall of 2020 and published all materials for a 60D review in 
February 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided to postpone 
this collection for one year and pause the review after the 60D period 
was completed in April 2020. OMB provided approval to adjust the 
schedule in June 2020 (OMB #1850-0944 v.6). This submission for 30D 
review is to request approval for the Fall 2021 BYFS study data 
collection. A document describing all changes between the documents 
presented in the 60D review and those presented in the 30D review is 
attached to this package.
    Part A of this submission presents information on the basic design 
of HS&B:21. Part B discusses the statistical methods employed. Part C 
presents justification for the questionnaire content. Appendix A 
provides the communication materials to be used during state, school 
district, school, and parent BYFS recruitment and data collection 
activities. Appendix B provides the full-scale data collection 
instruments. The primary contractor to NCES for this study is RTI 
International (Contract #919900-18-R0018).

    Dated: August 28, 2020.
Stephanie Valentine,
PRA Coordinator, Strategic Collections and Clearance Governance and 
Strategy Division, Office of Chief Data Officer, Office of Planning, 
Evaluation and Policy Development.
[FR Doc. 2020-19420 Filed 9-1-20; 8:45 am]
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