[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 25, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28090-28091]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11057]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2021-SCC-0078]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 
Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) Survey 2021-2023

AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences (IES), 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 a currently approved collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
July 26, 2021.

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-2021-SCC-0078. 
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 PRA 
Coordinator of the

[[Page 28091]]

Strategic Collections and Clearance Governance and Strategy Division, 
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, LBJ, Room 6W208B, 
Washington, DC 20202-8240.

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: Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) 
Survey 2021-2023.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0933.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Governments.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 112.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 140.
    Abstract: The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), of 
the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), within the U.S. Department 
of Education, is requesting clearance to continue the Statewide 
Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) Survey collection, which is intended to 
provide insight on State and U.S. territory SLDS capacity for automated 
linking of K-12, teacher, postsecondary, workforce, career and 
technical education (CTE), adult education, and early childhood data. 
The SLDS Survey will continue to be collected annually from State 
Education Agencies (SEAs), and will help inform NCES ongoing evaluation 
and targeted technical assistance efforts to enhance the quality of the 
SLDS Program's support to States regarding systems development, 
enhancement, and use. The request to conduct all activities related to 
SLDS 2020-22, including materials and procedures, was approved by OMB 
in May 2020 (OMB#1859-0933 v.8), with a nonsubstantive change request 
(OMB#1859-0933 v.9) approved in August 2020. The SLDS 2020-22 package 
included a new data collection tool, a Google Form developed for an 
electronic data collection. That tool was not as successful in the 2020 
data collection as NCES would like (see section A.3 for a richer 
discussion of this). This revised request is to conduct all activities 
related to SLDS 2021-23. It submits enhancements to the OMB-approved 
Survey, intended to bring consistency to questions across sectors, 
provide greater definition and clarity to terminology and questions 
used within the SLDS Survey, and address pandemic-related response 
across states. In addition, this request submits screenshots of the new 
Qualtrics information collection tool that will replace the Google Form 
introduced for SLDS 2020 and which will be used in the 2021 SLDS Data 
Collection (for proposed changes, see Appendix E) and is planned for 
use in subsequent collections. Finally, this request submits 
screenshots of the updated webinar, as the SLDS Program proposes the 
option to host one or two SLDS Survey webinars to familiarize 
respondents with the collection tool and completion process. All 
proposed changes are captured within these documents, including 
accompanying appendices.

    Dated: May 20, 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. 2021-11057 Filed 5-24-21; 8:45 am]
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