[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67-68]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-28516]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

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


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; School Pulse Panel 2023-24 Preliminary Field Activities

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 (PRA) of 1995, 
the Department is proposing a new information collection request (ICR).

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
February 2, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for proposed 
information collection requests should be submitted within 30 days of 
publication of this notice. Click on this link www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain to access the site. Find this information collection request 
(ICR) by selecting ``Department of Education'' under ``Currently Under 
Review,'' then check the ``Only Show ICR for Public Comment'' checkbox. 
Reginfo.gov provides two links to view documents related to this 
information collection request. Information collection forms and 
instructions may be found by clicking on the ``View Information 
Collection (IC) List'' link. Supporting statements and other supporting 
documentation may be found by clicking on the ``View Supporting 
Statement and Other Documents'' link.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 Preliminary Field 
Activities.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-NEW.
    Type of Review: New ICR.
    Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local or 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 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.


[[Page 68]]


    Dated: December 28, 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. 2022-28516 Filed 12-30-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P