[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 198 (Tuesday, October 13, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64450-64451]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-22465]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2020-SCC-0147]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2021 
Materials Update

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 
November 12, 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, 202-245-6347.

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: National Assessment of Educational Progress 
(NAEP) 2021 Materials Update.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0928.
    Type of Review: A revision of an existing information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 329,909.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 180,233.
    Abstract: The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 
conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), is a 
federally authorized survey of student achievement at grades 4, 8, and 
12 in various subject areas, such as mathematics, reading, writing, 
science, U.S. history, civics, geography, economics, technology and 
engineering literacy (TEL), and the arts. The National Assessment of 
Educational Progress Authorization Act (Pub. L. 107-279 Title III, 
section 303) requires the assessment to collect data on specified 
student groups and characteristics, including information organized by 
race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, disability, and limited 
English proficiency. It requires fair and accurate presentation of 
achievement data and permits the collection of background, 
noncognitive, or descriptive information that is related

[[Page 64451]]

to academic achievement and aids in fair reporting of results. The 
intent of the law is to provide representative sample data on student 
achievement for the nation, the states, and subpopulations of students 
and to monitor progress over time. The request to conduct NAEP 2021, 
including operational assessments and pilot tests: Operational 
national/state/TUDA Digitally Based Assessments (DBA) in mathematics 
and reading at grades 4 and 8, and Puerto Rico in mathematics at grades 
4 and 8; and operational national DBA in U.S. history and civics at 
grade 8 was approved in April 2020, with a further update to the 
materials approved in July 2020. This request is to conduct NAEP 
operational assessments in 2021 and will follow the traditional NAEP 
design which assesses each student in 60-minutes for one cognitive 
subject. Given the COVID-19 outbreak, NAEP requires personal protective 
equipment for field staff and must plan for additional sessions given 
that students may attend school on a staggered schedule. NAEP was not 
able to secure additional funding from Congress to cover the additional 
costs for personal protective equipment, necessary increases in field 
staff, and other operational costs that would be required to assess the 
full sample. As such, this Amendment reflects the elimination of the 
national-only assessments (grade 8 U.S. History and Civics, and age 17 
Long-Term Trend), a smaller sample of students within each state for 
reading and mathematics, and the elimination of TUDAs from the 2021 
sample. This Amendment also includes the addition of an online version 
of the student questionnaires that will be available to sampled 
students who are remote and not able to be assessed in-person, as well 
as the addition of some questionnaire items on teacher, student, and 
school experiences conditioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. The final 
Materials Update #3 is scheduled for October of 2020. The NAEP results 
will be reported to the public through the Nation's Report Card as well 
as other online NAEP tools.

    Dated: October 6, 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. 2020-22465 Filed 10-9-20; 8:45 am]
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