[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 36 (Thursday, February 25, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11509-11510]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03918]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No. ED-2021-SCC-0030]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Program for International Student Assessment 2022 (PISA 2022) 
Main Study Recruitment and Field Test

AGENCY: Institute of Educational 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 change to a currently existing information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
March 29, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for proposed 
information collection requests should be sent within 30 days of 
publication of

[[Page 11510]]

this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this information 
collection request by selecting ``Department of Education'' under 
``Currently Under Review,'' then check ``Only Show ICR for Public 
Comment'' checkbox. Comments may also be sent to [email protected].

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: Program for International Student Assessment 
2022 (PISA 2022) Main Study Recruitment and Field Test.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0755.
    Type of Review: Change to a currently existing information 
collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals and Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 11,733.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 5,716.
    Abstract: 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 typically conducted every three 
years. The United States has participated in all of the previous cycles 
and planned to participate in 2021 in order to track trends and to 
compare the performance of U.S. students with that of students in other 
education systems. PISA 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 skills 
gained both in and out of school environments. The next administration 
of PISA will focus on mathematics literacy as the major domain. Reading 
and science literacy will also be assessed as minor domains, with 
additional assessment of financial literacy. In addition to the 
cognitive assessments described above, PISA 2022 will include 
questionnaires administered to school principals and assessed students. 
To prepare for the main study, PISA countries will conduct a field test 
in the spring of the year previous, primarily to evaluate newly 
developed assessment and questionnaire items but also to test the 
assessment operations. The request to conduct PISA 2021 main study 
recruitment and field test was approved in December 2019 (OMB #1850-
0755 v.23-24). This request: (1) Updates the package to reflect all of 
the changes made to respond to the global coronavirus pandemic, 
including delaying the field test that was previously scheduled for 
2020 to 2021 and the main study data collection to 2022; (2) updates 
the field test recruitment materials and student video; (3) adds COVID-
19 protocols; (4) replaces the state, district and school letters for 
the 2021 field test and 2022 main study; and (5) adds coronavirus 
pandemic-related items in the school and student questionnaires.

    Dated: February 22, 2021.
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. 2021-03918 Filed 2-24-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P