[Federal Register: May 11, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 91)]
[Notices]
[Page 26801-26803]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11my07-43]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Notice of Proposed Information Collection Requests
AGENCY: Department of Education.
SUMMARY: The IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management
Services, Office of Management, invites comments on the proposed
information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
July 10, 2007.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires that the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) provide interested Federal agencies and the public an
early opportunity to comment on information collection requests. OMB
may amend or waive the requirement for public consultation to the
extent that public participation in the approval process would defeat
the purpose of the information collection, violate State or Federal
law, or substantially interfere with any agency's ability to perform
its statutory obligations. The IC Clearance Official, Regulatory
Information Management Services, Office of Management, publishes that
notice containing proposed information collection requests prior to
submission of these requests to OMB. Each proposed information
collection, grouped by office, contains the following: (1) Type of
review requested, e.g. new, revision, extension, existing or
reinstatement; (2) Title; (3) Summary of the collection; (4)
Description of the need for, and proposed use of, the information; (5)
Respondents and frequency of collection; and (6)
[[Page 26802]]
Reporting and/or Recordkeeping burden. OMB invites public comment.
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.
Dated: May 8, 2007.
Angela C. Arrington,
IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management Services,
Office of Management.
Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development
Type of Review: Revision.
Title: Annual Mandatory Collection of Elementary and Secondary
Education Data for EDFacts.
Frequency: Annually.
Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal Gov't, SEAs or LEAs.
Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour Burden:
Responses: 59.
Burden Hours: 105,754.
Abstract: EDFacts is in the implementation phase of a multiple year
effort to consolidate the collection of education information about
States, Districts, and Schools in a way that improves data quality and
reduces paperwork burden for all of the national education partners. To
minimize the burden on the data providers, EDEN seeks the transfer of
the proposed data as soon as it has been processed for State, District,
and School use. These data will then be stored in EDFacts and accessed
by federal education program managers and analysts as needed to make
program management decisions. This process will eliminate redundant
data collections while providing for the timeliness of data submission
and use.
Additional Information: The Department of Education (ED) is
specifically requesting the data providers in each the State Education
Agency (SEA) to review the proposed data elements to determine which of
these data can be provided for the upcoming school year and which data
would be available in later years and which data, if any, is never
expected to be available from the SEA. If information for a data group
is not available, please provide information beyond the fact that it is
not available. Are there specific impediments to providing this data
that you can describe? Is the definition for the data group unclear or
ambiguous? Do the requested permitted values align with the way your
state collects the data? This is very important information because ED
intends to make the collection of these data mandatory. ED also seeks
to know if the SEA data definitions are consistent and compatible with
the EDEN definitions and accurately reflect the way data is stored and
used for education by the States, Districts, and Schools. The answers
to these questions by the data providers will influence the timing and
content of the final EDEN proposal for the collection of this
elementary and secondary data.
Additional Information for State Data Providers: In addition to
overall public comments, ED would also like state education data
providers to respond to a number of specific questions that were
developed during the recent data definition cycle.
(1) Data Groups--An underlying purpose of the EDFacts Data Set is
to inventory the data collected by ED. That inventory is organized into
data groups and categories. In general, each table data group is its
own file. Three data groups (Title I SWP/TAS Participation Tables ID
548, N or D Academic Outcomes Table (LEAs) ID 629, and N or D Academic
Outcomes Table (State agencies) ID 628) were split so that the data
groups would meet the definition of ``a specific aggregation (i.e.
group) of related data that is stored in EDFacts to satisfy the
specific information need of one or more ED program office.'' Are there
any other data groups that should be split? Are there any data groups
that should be combined?
(2) Categories--Data on students is collected by categories
(characterizations used to aggregate data e.g. race/ethnicity, sex,
grade level). In some cases, the data by these characterizations isn't
required on all students. For example, data on the results of NCLB
assessments is required to be aggregated by students with a disability
status (IDEA) and by students who have been assessed as limited English
proficient. Data is not required by statute to be aggregated by either
students without a disability status (IDEA) or students who have not
been assessed as limited English proficient. However, that data is
useful to the Department for both data quality and analysis. There are
times when data is required to be aggregated for all students. For
example, data on the provision of educational services during expulsion
is required by statute to be aggregated for both students with a
disability status (IDEA) and without a disability status (IDEA). What
is the burden for the SEA when aggregating data for only those students
with the characteristics in comparison to aggregating for both students
with the characteristic and without it for the following
characteristics: Disability status (IDEA), assessed for limited English
proficiency, homeless status, homeless served under McKinney-Vento
status, economically disadvantaged status, and migrant status?
(3) Status Files--The status files contain the non-table data
groups. The non-table data groups included in the NCLB Start of School
Year File (N/X101) are:
District Totals, ID 460
Improvement Status--LEA, ID 662
Improvement Status--School, ID 34
Integrated Technology Status, ID 524
Persistently Dangerous Status, ID 36
School Poverty Percentage, ID 31
School Totals, ID 454
Shared Time Status, ID 573
Title I School Status, ID 22
Magnet Status, ID 665
Classroom Teachers (FTE), ID 644
The non-table data groups included in the NCLB End of School Year
File (N/X102) are:
Economically Disadvantaged Students, ID 56
Combined MEP Funds Status Table, ID 514
GFSA Reporting Status, ID 603
REAP Alternative Funding Indicator, ID 614
Average Daily Attendance, ID 595
Supplemental Services--Applied to Receive Services, ID
575
Supplemental Services--Eligible to Receive Services, ID
578
Supplemental Services--Received Services, ID 546
Supplemental Services--Funds Spent, ID 651
School Choice--Funds Spent, ID 652
Truants, ID 664
MEP Students Eligible Regular School Year, ID 110
Are these status files properly organized to ensure the timely
submission of data and reduce burden? If not, how should the non-table
data groups be organized?
(4) Migrant Education Program--The EDFacts data set did not
completely align with the collection of data for the Migrant Education
Program (MEP), Title I, Part C through the Consolidated State
Performance Report (CSPR) and Migrant Child Count Form. The data groups
[[Page 26803]]
collecting data on the MEP Program have been revised accordingly. The
chart below displays the relationship among the data groups for
students.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type of MEP count
Type of MEP student ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12-month Regular school year Summer/ intersession
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eligible......................... 634 (SEA)................ 110 (school)............ ........................
Served (no Schoolwide)........... ......................... 636 (SEA)............... 637 (SEA)
Eligible and Served.............. ......................... ........................ 635 (SEA)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are the revised definitions and comments sufficient to describe the
data that should be collected?
(5) School Operational Status--The data group School Operational
Status (ID 531) has the following permitted values: Open, closed, new,
added, changed agency, inactive, future school, reopened. Is a new
permitted value needed for restructured under NCLB? Do SEAs create new
schools when a school is restructured under NCLB? Are new state school
identification numbers assigned when a school is restructured under
NCLB? Do schools that are restructured under NCLB met the definition of
open which is ``no significant change in instructional levels and
programs?''
(6) GEPA--As discussed in Attachment B-4, the General Education
Provisions Act (GEPA), Section 424 mandates reporting on the
distribution of federal education funds to school districts and other
entities, such as libraries, colleges and universities, state agencies,
individual schools and private recipients. In the past, the data for
the GEPA report has been collected through a separate collection. For
the GEPA report on FYs 2006 and 2007, the data will be obtained for
state administered grants to LEAs through EDFacts. How will this change
impact SEAs? What must ED do to make this transition successful? How
should ED collect data on state administered grants that do not go to
SEAs or LEAs?
(7) Reading NCLB State Assessments--EDFacts collects data on
participation and results of NCLB state assessments. Data is collected
on mathematics, reading, and science. The data on participation is
collected in one file (N/X081) using permitted values to differentiate
between the academic subjects. The data on the results of NCLB state
assessments is collected in separate files. For mathematics and
science, the participation file has one permitted value for each and
both have one file to collect the results of state assessments. For
reading, the participation file has three permitted values and the
results of state assessments are collected using three files. The three
values and files are entitled reading, reading/language arts, and
language arts. Can the reading participation and results of state
assessments be collected using only one permitted value (reading) and
one file (reading)?
Requests for copies of the proposed information collection request
may be accessed from http://edicsweb.ed.gov, by selecting the ``Browse
Pending Collections'' link and by clicking on link number 3334. When
you access the information collection, click on ``Download
Attachments'' to view. Written requests for information should be
addressed to U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
Potomac Center, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20202-4700. Requests may also
be electronically mailed to ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or faxed to 202-245-
6623. Please specify the complete title of the information collection
when making your request.
Comments regarding burden and/or the collection activity
requirements should be electronically mailed to ICDocketMgr@ed.gov.
Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
[FR Doc. 07-2354 Filed 5-10-07; 8:45 am]
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