[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 207 (Thursday, October 27, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65047-65048]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23425]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2022-SCC-0132]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; School 
Pulse Panel 2023-24 Preliminary Field Activities

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 new information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
December 27, 2022.

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-2022-SCC-0132. 
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 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, 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. The Department is soliciting comments on the 
proposed information collection request (ICR) that is described below. 
The Department 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: School Pulse Panel 2023-24 Preliminary Field 
Activities.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-NEW.
    Type of Review: A new information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Governments.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 9,939.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 2,661.
    Abstract: The School Pulse Panel (SPP) is a data collection 
originally designed to collect voluntary responses from a nationally 
representative sample of public schools to better understand how 
schools, students, and educators are responding to the ongoing 
stressors of the coronavirus pandemic. It is conducted by the National 
Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part of the Institute of 
Education Sciences (IES), within the United States Department of 
Education, in cooperation with the U.S. Census Bureau. Due to the 
immediate need to collect information from schools during the pandemic 
to satisfy the requirement of Executive Order 14000, an emergency 
clearance was issued to develop and field the first several monthly 
collections of the SPP in 2021, and a full review of the SPP data 
collection was completed in 2022 (OMB# 1850-0969). SPP's innovative 
design and timely dissemination of findings have been used and cited 
frequently among Department of Education senior leadership, the White 
House Domestic Policy Counsel, the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Congressional 
deliberations, and the media. The ongoing, growing interest by 
stakeholders has resulted in the request for dedicated funding to 
create an established NCES quick-turnaround data collection vehicle, 
with the goal of standing up a post-pandemic panel to begin with the 
2023-24 school year.
    One notable difference for the next SPP study will be the addition 
of a district-level survey. The purpose of the district component is 
two-fold: (1) to collect data on topics that schools cannot report 
about such as facilities, supply chain issues and finances; and (2) to 
reduce burden on schools by allowing district staff to report on 
district policies and school level data tracked at the district. The 
district component will enhance the breadth of data that can be 
collected in SPP. For the 23-24 school year, the survey may ask school 
and district staff about a range of topics, including but not limited 
to instructional mode offered; enrollment counts of subgroups of 
students for various subject interests; strategies to address learning 
recovery; safe and healthy school mitigation strategies; mental health 
services; use of technology; information on staffing, nutrition 
services, absenteeism, usage of federal funds, facilities, and overall 
principal and district staff experiences. Some new content will be 
rotated in and out monthly.
    As in previous waves, for SPP 2023-24 roughly 5,000 (4,000 in an 
initial sample and 1,000 in a reserve sample) public elementary, 
middle, high, and combined-grade schools will be randomly selected to 
participate in a panel. It is expected these schools will come from 
roughly 3,000 districts with a reserve sample of 300 districts to 
replace district refusals. The goal is national representation from 
1,000 responding schools and districts to report national estimates. 
School and district staff will be asked to provide requested data as 
frequently as monthly during the 23-24 school year. This approach 
provides the ability to collect detailed information on various topics

[[Page 65048]]

while also assessing changes over time for items that are repeated. 
Given the high demand for data collection, the content of the survey 
will change monthly.
    This request is to conduct the SPP 2023-24 preliminary activities, 
including contacting and obtaining research approvals from public 
school districts with an established research approval process 
(``special contact districts''), notifying sampled schools and 
districts of their selection for the survey, and inviting them to 
complete short Screener Surveys to establish a point of contact at 
their school and at the district.

    Dated: October 24, 2022.
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. 2022-23425 Filed 10-26-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P