[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 238 (Thursday, December 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79484-79485]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-27153]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2020-SCC-0184]


Notice of Revision to the National Assessment of Educational 
Progress Survey by Suspending Data Collection for 2021

AGENCY: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Department of 
Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice of change to data collection.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the intention of the National Center for 
Education Statistics (NCES) not to collect student assessment data for 
the currently approved information collection, the National Assessment 
of Educational Progress, originally planned for January-March 2021.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
January 11, 2021.

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-2020-SCC-0184. 
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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#723b31361d111917063f15003217165c151d04"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6a23292e0509010f1e270d182a0f0e440d051c">[email protected]</span></a>. 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 
Director 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 James L. Woodworth, Commissioner, 
National Center for Education Statistics, or email 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#622c2127314c2b0c040d100f03160b0d0c4c210d0e0e0701160b0d0c112207064c050d14"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="236d6066700d6a4d454c514e42574a4c4d0d604c4f4f4640574a4c4d506346470d444c55">[email protected]</span></a>.

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: National Assessment of Educational Progress.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-NEW (relates to 1850-0928).
    Type of Request: To suspend a portion of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Abstract: The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 
conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), is a 
federally authorized survey of student achievement at grades 4, 8, and 
12 in various subject areas, such as mathematics, reading, writing, 
science, U.S. history, civics, geography, economics, technology and 
engineering literacy (TEL), and the arts. It requires fair and accurate 
presentation of achievement data and permits the collection of 
background, noncognitive, or descriptive information that is related to 
academic achievement and aids in fair reporting of results. The intent 
of the law is to provide representative sample data on student 
achievement for the nation, the states, and subpopulations of students 
and to monitor progress over time.
    NCES has determined that it cannot at this time conduct a national-
level assessment (20 U.S.C. 9622(b)(2)(A)) in a manner with sufficient 
validity and reliability to meet the mandate of the law due to school 
closures resulting from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The NAEP 
assessments are a key indicator of educational progress in the United 
States with trends going back decades. The change in operations and 
lack of access to students to be assessed means that NAEP will not be 
able to produce estimates of what students know and can do that would 
be comparable to either past or future national or state estimates. 
Therefore, NCES will not be collecting student assessment data in 
January through March 2021 as originally planned. NCES will continue to 
provide public updates on any further changes to the NAEP assessments 
through our NAEP COVID-19 Planning and Resources web page, found here: 
https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about/covid19.aspx.
    Authority: The National Assessment of Educational Progress 
Authorization Act (Pub. L. 107-279 Title III, section 303) requires the 
assessment to collect data on specified student groups and 
characteristics, including information organized by race/ethnicity, 
gender, socio-economic status, disability, and limited English 
proficiency.
    Estimate of Burden: There will be no further public reporting 
burden for this collection of information.


[[Page 79485]]


    Dated: December 7, 2020.
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. 2020-27153 Filed 12-9-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P


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