[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 27, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59370-59371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23424]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2021-SCC-0149]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; School 
Pulse Panel Data Collection

AGENCY: Institute of Educational Science (IES), Department of Education 
(ED).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is 
requesting the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct an 
emergency review of a new information collection.

DATES: Approval by OMB has been requested by October 22, 2021. The 
Department has waived the comment period for this notice.

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-0149.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Carrie Clarady, 202-245-6347.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request contains 
(1) Title of Collection: School Pulse Panel Data Collection; (2) OMB 
Control Number: 1850-0963; (3) Type of Review: A revision of a 
currently approved collection; (4) Respondents/Affected Public: State, 
Local, and Tribal Governments; (5) Total Estimated Number of Annual 
Responses: 17,280; (6) Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 
4,752.

[[Page 59371]]

    Abstract: The School Pulse Panel is a new study conducted by the 
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part of the Institute 
of Education Sciences (IES), within the United States Department of 
Education, to collect extensive data on issues concerning the impact of 
the COVID-19 pandemic on students and staff in U.S. public primary, 
middle, high, and combined-grade schools. The survey will ask school 
district staff and sampled school principals about topics such as 
instructional mode offered; enrollment counts of subgroups of students 
using various instructional modes; learning loss mitigation strategies; 
safe and healthy school mitigation strategies; special education 
services; use of technology; use of federal relief funds; and 
information on staffing. Because this data collection is extremely high 
priority and time sensitive, it will undergo Emergency Clearance. The 
administration of the School Pulse Panel study is in direct response to 
President Biden's Executive Order 14000: Supporting the Reopening and 
Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education 
Providers. It will be one of the nation's few sources of reliable data 
on a wealth of information focused on school reopening efforts, virus 
spread mitigation strategies, services offered for students and staff, 
and technology use, as reported by school district staff and principals 
in U.S. public schools. About 1,200 public elementary, middle, high, 
and combined-grade schools will be selected to participate in a panel 
where school and district staff will be asked to provide requested data 
monthly during the 2021-22 school years. This approach provides the 
ability to collect detailed information on various topics while also 
assessing changes in reopening efforts over time. Given the high demand 
for data collection during this time, the content of the survey may 
change on a quarterly basis.
    Emergency Justification: In September 2021, NCES made the decision 
to suspend data collection for the months of October, November, and 
December 2021, as the response rate for the first month of the 
collection was under 10 percent and not expected to provide sufficient 
data for accurate and unbiased estimates to be produced. The reason for 
the delay was to provide the Institute of Education Sciences sufficient 
time to redesign the study to improve response rates. A primary 
strategy is to reduce burden in each month's collection and to rotate 
content to address data needs of the agencies across months. The 
January SPP collection will be based on updated materials cleared 
through OMB in previous submissions for the study. The SPP study itself 
is extremely important particularly now that COVID-19 has not waned, 
and the pulse model is one that the agency will need after the pandemic 
subsides for other quick-turnaround data needs.

    Dated: October 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. 2021-23424 Filed 10-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P