[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 3, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 52309]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20801]



[[Page 52309]]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No. ED-2014-ICCD-0101]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2016) 
Field Test and Recruitment for Main Study

AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education 
Statistics (IES-NCES), Department of Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing a reinstatement of a 
previously approved information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
October 3, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Comments submitted in response to this notice should be 
submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov by selecting Docket ID number ED-2014-ICCD-
0101 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 note 
that comments submitted by fax or email and those submitted after the 
comment period will not be accepted; ED will ONLY accept comments 
during the comment period in this mailbox when the regulations.gov site 
is not available. Written requests for information or comments 
submitted by postal mail or delivery should be addressed to the 
Director of the Information Collection Clearance Division, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, Mailstop L-OM-2-
2E319, Room 2E105, Washington, DC 20202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Kashka Kubdzela, 202-502-7411.

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: Progress in International Reading Literacy 
Study (PIRLS 2016) Field Test and Recruitment for Main Study.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0645.
    Type of Review: A reinstatement of a previously approved 
information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 2,815.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 5,694.
    Abstract: The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 
(PIRLS) 2016 is coordinated by the International Association for the 
Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and in the U.S. 
administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). 
Since its inception in 2001, PIRLS has continued to assess students 
every five years (2001, 2006, 2011, 2016). It is typically administered 
in more than 40 countries and provides data for internationally 
benchmarking U.S. performance in fourth-grade reading. PIRLS also 
collects background information on students, parents, teachers, 
schools, curricula, and official education policies. Each successive 
round of participation in PIRLS provides trend information about U.S. 
4th-grade students' knowledge and abilities in reading relative to 
other countries, and about the cultural environments, teaching 
practices, curriculum goals, and institutional arrangements that are 
associated with student achievement, and how these change over time in 
different countries. This submission describes the overarching plan for 
all phases of the data collection, including the field test and the 
main study. The field test will take place in March-April, 2015, and 
the main study in the spring of 2016. The purpose of the PIRLS field 
test is to evaluate new assessment items and background questions to 
ensure practices that promote low exclusion rates, and to ensure that 
classroom and student sampling procedures proposed for the main study 
are successful. This submission requests approval for recruiting for 
the 2015 field test and 2016 main study; conducting the 2015 field test 
data collection; and a description of the overarching plan for all of 
the phases of the data collection, including the 2016 main study.

    Dated: August 27, 2014.
Stephanie Valentine,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Privacy, 
Information and Records Management Services, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2014-20801 Filed 9-2-14; 8:45 am]
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